27 Jan 2022
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) are a vital part of our Sacred Heart Family,
working all over the world, often in partnership with MSCs, under our shared motto:
“May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved.”
OLSH MINISTRY IN BRAZIL
There are currently 30 Sisters living in a house for aging members of the OLSH community in Vila Formosa, São Paulo. Several of these Sisters need special care, and Sisters in Vila Formosa are raising funds to purchase 3 bath chairs, 2 hospital beds, 2 hospital chairs, a digital pressure device, and 10 sets of linen for the hospital beds.
€2,600 will provide enormous comfort for aging OLSH Sisters who are in ill health.
OLSH Sisters in Alfenas run a second-hand clothing shop, where money raised from sales is used to buy food supplies for poor families in the area.
Every month, OLSH Sisters in Alfenas distribute 65 food parcels to families in real need. The Sisters are currently renovating the shop to make it more practical and attractive, for the dual purposes of encouraging donations, and also to make the shopping experience a more pleasant one for those in need, who go to this shop to cater for their own needs.
The Sisters need €2,000 to continue the necessary renovations,
and €400 for washing powder to launder the clothes for resale.
OLSH Sisters in Marahao are asking for your help in buying essential liturgical items for Mass, such as missals, chalices, and lectionaries, for several of the 18 mission stations they cover in remote locations across northern Brazil.
€2,300 will provide liturgical items for families in remote communities
to continue to celebrate Mass together.
The Daughters of the Lady of the Sacred Heart in São Paulo run a social centre which facilitates a number of workshops, including English lessons, yoga, and crafts for the aged. In addition, the elderly are taught how to comfortably use computers and smartphones.
The centre is currently using 15 old computers, 12 of which are in serious need of repair. The Sisters are working to raise funds to bring their computers back to working order, and continue to provide a comfortable, pleasant space for local people to learn valuable skills and share friendships.
€7,500 will repair the computers, allowing the Sisters to continue
to provide a space for people to meet, to learn, and to share.
HEALTH CARE IN MAKA KAHONE, SENEGAL
The OLSH Sisters in Maka Kahone, Senegal, run a health centre named for MSC founder Fr Jules Chevalier. Caring for the medical needs of families and vulnerable individuals who are living in conditions of severe poverty and hardship, the Sisters experience serious and concerning issues with security. The threat of violence and theft is an extremely worrying one, and the OLSH Sisters in Maka Kahone are appealing for funds to erect a security fence at the medical centre, along with metal grilles on the windows.
€9,200 will give the Sisters the opportunity to minister to their patients safely,
providing patients with peace of mind to recover.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR OLSH SISTERS IN THEIR GLOBAL OUTREACH
EMPOWERING YOUTHS IN INDONESIA
OLSH Sisters in Indonesia are appealing for help in running an Empowerment and Basic Leadership Training Youth Programme in Central Java.
The programme will provide leadership training for young people, giving the youths involved a wonderful skill set to use as they embark into the world of work, along with the confidence to implement it.
€4,000 will pay for four retreats, an LCD projector, a guitar, a keyboard,
20 floor mats, and a projector screen.
OLSH OUTREACH IN AFRICA
OLSH Sisters in Burkina Faso are responsible for the running of the Jules Chevalier School in the town of Zagtouli, where 198 students currently attend the pre-school, and 321 students are enrolled in the primary school.
Over 500 children are provided with one main meal and two nutritious snacks every day – a lifeline to children coming from backgrounds where poverty is rife and diet is poor, who are in real need of sustenance and good nutrition.
The OLSH community in Burkina Faso are working to raise
€19,465 to install a solar energy system in the school,
and to renovate a large area of the school to create a safe learning area for students.
The Bakhita Village Outreach Project is run by OLSH Sisters in Dwars River. This programme allows for OLSH Sisters to visit vulnerable girls in their villages twice weekly, ensuring their safety and healthy development, teaching basic life skills, and keeping up with their educational progress, including school attendance, homework, and general behaviour. The carers also deliver food parcels, toiletries, and clothing.
The Bakhita Village Sisters need €10,000 to cover daily costs,
allowing them to continue to support and encourage young girls.
The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart has a long-standing friendship with the Holy Family Care Centre in Ofcolaco, a residential home that cares for children up to the age of 18, who suffer with life-threatening illnesses and have often been orphaned or abandoned.
The care centre is home to 75 children, from newborns to teenagers. Sr Sally Duigan, OLSH Regional Leader and community leader at Holy Family, is currently raising funds to help with the daily costs of running the centre.
€10,000 will be allocated to vital health care for seriously ill children, essential educational supplies,
and outreach programmes for children who are being reunited with their families.
The OLSH South Africa Outreach Programme cares for 150 families in Nzhelele, including children living with HIV/AIDS, and families who have suffered bereavements or abandonments, and are run by grandmothers or older children.
The Nzehele Outreach Team are working to raise €10,000 to establish a vegetable garden project,
which will contribute to the nutritional needs of children living with HIV/AIDS,
while teaching valuable skills and promoting self-sufficiency.
RENOVATING A MATERNITY WARD IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
The Jules Chevalier Health Centre was established by the OLSH community in Mbandaka, in Democratic Republic of Congo, 10 years ago, and serves as a maternity clinic for local women in the extended area. Many of the women who use the health centre live across the Congo River, and even making the journey can in itself prove hugely difficult.
Currently, whenever it rains, a significant amount of water gets into the maternity ward at the centre, making conditions extremely uncomfortable and unsanitary for women in varying stages of pre- and post-natal care.
Renovations to stop the leaks will cost a total of €9,887.
Can you help?
