Fr Alan in South Sudan – Vaccine Status: Denied.

“It’s official. Last week a journalist from the Irish Times tweeted that vaccines distributed throughout Africa would not be recognised by the countries of the European Union. This was initially thought to be directed against vaccines manufactured outside of the EU, but is now understood to include even the vaccines donated from the US, the UK, and the EU itself.

So what does this mean in practice? On one level, not much. To date, South Sudan has just received 60,000 first and second doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine. There has been a commitment from the US for just over 100,000 Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccines. That’s it. For a country of over eleven million people, these donations are only a drop in the bucket, but, to paraphrase Mother Theresa, it would be a drop in the bucket that would be missed if it were not there.

You might well ask, why are African countries not producing their own vaccines? Well, they are, but there’s a catch. Earlier this year a company in South Africa produced 10 million Johnson and Johnson vaccines. The continent clearly has the know-how and the technology. What they don’t have is the buying power. The entire ten million doses were sold to the EU as part of their vaccine drive. At this point, it might be good to look at the disparity in COVID health care. As of the last week in September, there is 74.4% full vaccination coverage in Ireland and just 4% coverage throughout Africa. It was only after international outcry at the manifest injustice of the act that the vaccines were returned to South Africa to be distributed there.

As I have mentioned before, we have been lucky in South Sudan that the number of COVID infections have been quite low. This has been variously attributed to the country’s low average age, hot climate, and relative inaccessibility of the towns and cities. Whatever it is, it is evident that our luck is running out. Only yesterday, two of the religious sisters in our Diocese were diagnosed with COVID, with another going for testing today. One of the sisters working in a nearby hospital has also tested positive. Given the modest budget for testing, the emergence of these cases among front-line religious sisters is indicative of a significantly higher infection rate among the general population.”

“This is the time for solidarity, not division; for unity, not injustice.”

“However, there is good news too. Ten days ago, the second dose of the Astra Zeneca vaccines were delivered to Rumbek. Last time, we had so many people come from Loreto to receive the first dose that the hospital saved us a trip and sent a dedicated team to our Mary Ward Primary Health Care Clinic. We now have almost two hundred teachers, nurses, religious sisters, and agricultural workers who are fully vaccinated against COVID.

While a welcome relief, this level of take up was not easy to achieve. Rumours and the most ridiculous conspiracy theories abound about vaccines. The fact that the leadership team of Loreto were the first to take the vaccine gave others the confidence to go for their own. This frustrating reality is that this is not restricted to South Sudan, but is something of a global challenge.

Many of these rumours are easily dismissed as pure nonsense. However, the latest ruling by the EU quite reasonably has provoked doubts and concerns. We have been asked what the problem is with the vaccine that is been distributed in South Sudan. In spite of the fact that the entire enterprise is been undertaken by the World Health Organisation and their partners, the decision by the EU further emphasises the divide between the global north and south. We have many dedicated, professional medical personnel here who are entirely committed to an efficient vaccine roll-out. To disregard their work in such a cavalier manner is sheer prejudice. This is the time for solidarity, not division; for unity, not injustice.”

Bi Nhialic arrer kek yin,
Fr Alan

Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:

• Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
• Building a Better Future in South Sudan
• Christmas Greetings from Fr Alan in South Sudan
• A Cup of Sugar and Maybe a Goat
• Mock Exams and Real Life in South Sudan
• As Easy as Baking a Cake
• Holy Week on the Move
• Three Arrivals and a Party
• Celebrating the Missionary Life
• Seeds of Hope
• Young People Fighting COVID-19 in Rumbek
• Ticket to Ride
• Lions, Snakes, and the World’s Deadliest Predator

PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN

Photos of Loreto School courtesy of Life on Earth Pictures

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Fr Alan in South Sudan: Lions, Snakes, and the World’s Deadliest Predator

When you are asked what is the deadliest animal that you’ve come across in South Sudan, people are hoping for something dramatic. On my first weekend here, when I was mapping out a potential jogging route around the Loreto campus, I came across a snake thicker than my arm struggling with his evening meal. Now I walk and as I do so I keep my eyes firmly on the ground. My godson has been delighted to hear that I have found scorpions on four different occasions wandering around my bedroom. All were dispatched with a trusty badminton racket that was left behind by my room’s previous tenant. Considering how difficult it is to play badminton by yourself, especially with no shuttlecock, I suspect they may have used it for a similar purpose.

When it comes to dangerous animals, Hollywood with its big budgets and daring adventures has got it badly wrong. Sharks, the subject of several blockbusters, languish in 15th place killing about ten people a year. Lions are responsible for up to a hundred deaths. Hippos, or ‘Rou’ as they are known locally, are at 11th place, killing five hundred people annually. Snakes earn something of their fearsome reputation with fifty thousand deaths and clock in at 3rd place. Surprisingly our most fearsome enemy is also among the smallest. Each year an incredible two million deaths are caused by mosquitos. The toxic and highly evolved diseases that the female carries, make this tiny insect that weighs the same as a grape seed, our greatest predator.

As I have mentioned before, we have been waiting for months for rain. Since the arrival of the rainy season, the community around the school have been working feverishly preparing the soil, sowing the seeds, and keeping an eye on the weeds. The rains were late this year and so far have been sporadic. We are waiting to see how good the crop will be. However, as sure as night follows day, the rains also meant the return of mosquitos. In the dry months, they are not much in evidence and those who fancy themselves thrill-seekers sleep without a net. Not now. They are back, and once again, the number of malaria cases are soaring.

The Primary Health Care Clinic was originally set up to look after the two thousand primary and secondary students, the local workers, and the staff on the ground in Loreto every day. This number does not even include the people our nursing teams looks after in our community outreach programme. Last week alone we had 302 cases of malaria just from the primary school.

The problem is that in the evening families prepare and eat their meals around a fire in front of their homes. This is the time that the mosquito hunts. In addition, people’s houses or tukuls are often made with rough blocks and a grass roof, although some are fortunate to have corrugated metal. Anyone who has been on holidays in warmer climates know how good mosquitos are at exploiting even the smallest crack in a wall or hole in a net.

The situation this year has been complicated further by a lack of testing kits to determine if someone has malaria and if so, which type it is. Each requires different treatment. Insecurity on the roads mean that trucks from Nairobi stopped coming for a week, so deliveries are backlogged. We are fortunate to have a good working relationship with local NGOs and were able to make up a shortfall, before getting an emergency supply flown in from Juba.

While COVID continues to dominate the headlines, the challenges of malaria have been largely overlooked by the international community. It is a forgotten epidemic by an almost invisible predator that is wreaking havoc on already vulnerable populations. It has been pointed out by more than one commentator that if malaria was as big an issue in Western society as it is here, we would already have developed several effective vaccines. If these past two years have taught us anything, it is that we have the ability if we really want to. Until the situation changes, our nursing team is working flat out and will continue to do so until the rainy season ends in November. It’s going to be a long three months. Please keep them in your prayers.

Bi Nhialic arrer kek yin,
Fr Alan

Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:

• Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
• Building a Better Future in South Sudan
• Christmas Greetings from Fr Alan in South Sudan
• A Cup of Sugar and Maybe a Goat
• Mock Exams and Real Life in South Sudan
• As Easy as Baking a Cake
• Holy Week on the Move
• Three Arrivals and a Party
• Celebrating the Missionary Life
• Seeds of Hope
• Young People Fighting COVID-19 in Rumbek
• Ticket to Ride

PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN

Fr Alan in South Sudan: Ticket to Ride

Every couple of months in Loreto Rumbek, we have a celebration. It’s something of a bittersweet gathering with pizza, Coke, a few tears, and plenty of good humour. We had one only last Wednesday. They mark the departure of the graduates from our intern programme as they go on to further education. This time, we had three go to university in Nairobi, where two will study business, and one brave soul will train to become a social worker. Where she will even begin when she returns here is a mystery to me, but it is a welcome start. They will be welcomed in Nairobi by twenty other Loreto graduates who have gone before them and have, in fact, paved the way for them. Among our alumni we have women studying nursing, teaching, logistics, child protection, commerce, and medicine.

As I have mentioned before, decent education is a rare and precious commodity in South Sudan. Anytime I’m driving to a nearby school or going into the local town, I’m struck by the number of children who are out tending cattle, instead of being in class. Boy and girls, who are younger than my own niece of seven spend their entire day bringing the goats, sheep, and cows to the watering hole and back again. Many are dwarfed by the size of the animals they look after. Their education will be sporadic at best, but more likely non-existent.

Last week, we had our entrance of our Loreto Primary and take up was brisk. Families contribute the equivalent of the cost of a chicken for a year’s education, a daily meal, and free healthcare in our clinic. When we had the entrance exam for our secondary school last month, demand was once again far in excess of what we had available. The secondary girls have just finished their end of term exams and started their holidays, but we are looking forward to welcoming them back, along with our new first years at the beginning of September.

The children who get into primary school are fortunate to have access to basic education denied to many of their peers. Girls who manage to get into secondary school even more so, but where do they go to from there? One of Loreto’s most successful programmes is the internship programme. Each year, secondary school graduates apply to return to the school to become an intern. This means they work across a wide variety of roles, such as teaching assistants, translators in the clinic, administrators in the school office, or team leaders in the agricultural project.

Interns who work for one year will have their third-level course funded anywhere within South Sudan. However, if they successfully complete two years, we fund their university education in Kenya, where the standard is significantly higher, and the options afterwards are far greater. At €5,000 per university student for studies, accommodation, health, and food, it is a significant investment, but one that is ultimately worth it.

Coming back to the three women from last week’s celebration, they took off from Rumbek on Saturday with their tickets firmly in hand. They will have only a week to prepare their documentation, arrange passports, and sort out COVID tests before flying to Kenya. It is undoubtedly an exciting time. To reach as far as they have demonstrates their extraordinary commitment to education in the face of nearly overwhelming odds. Each one has a story of determination and sacrifice that is simultaneously unbelievable and inspiring. This latest step is only one more in a journey which will hopefully lead them home, and they can help in the building up of their community, especially opportunities for girls and women in South Sudan.

Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:

• Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
• Building a Better Future in South Sudan
• Christmas Greetings from Fr Alan in South Sudan
• A Cup of Sugar and Maybe a Goat
• Mock Exams and Real Life in South Sudan
• As Easy as Baking a Cake
• Holy Week on the Move
• Three Arrivals and a Party
• Celebrating the Missionary Life
• Seeds of Hope
• Young People Fighting COVID-19 in Rumbek

PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN

Fr Alan in South Sudan: Young people fighting COVID-19 in Rumbek

There seemed to be a dreadful inevitability to it, but no one was surprised last week when Uganda joined the list of East African countries that have gone into lockdown in response to a surge of coronavirus infections. Along with Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, Uganda has seen an increase in community transmissions and hospital admissions. All these countries roughly surround South Sudan, but to date our numbers have remained exceptionally low. How long that stays that way remains to be seen.

“When these young women commit to something, there are no half measures.”

In the meantime, we are not sitting idly by in the face of the crisis. In fact, the students of Loreto Rumbek Secondary School decided themselves to take a more proactive, hands-on approach. So it was, on Fr Alan’s day off, that we loaded up three minibuses with students, mops, buckets, sponges, disinfectant, a few dedicated teachers, and a decidedly rumpled, certainly sleepy Fr Alan, and headed off to Rumbek Hospital. The hospital is our main health centre for the entire Lakes State area and is run by an Italian Catholic charity.

The students spent the morning washing down the walls, brushing floors, and cleaning windows. Shortly after my arrival I was dispatched to go into town and buy more mops. Apparently, my cleaning skills were not up to scratch. When these young women commit to something, there are no half measures. They blitzed both surgical wards and the paediatric ward from top to bottom. They also brought along mandazis, a local pastry, for patients and staff alike. They went down especially well in the maternity ward.

“When the pandemic makes its way to Rumbek, we will be as ready for it as we can be.”

It was only a week later when we were back in Rumbek Hospital again. This time we were on the receiving end of their care. A couple of thousand doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been delivered and the hospital were on a drive to get as many people vaccinated as possible. In fact, the vaccine rollout took place in one of the large tents that our students had just cleaned. The process was quick and efficient, and we were registered, injected, and sat down for our own mandazis in no time at all.

The programme for COVID vaccines here will take time due to challenges around cold chain storage availability, as well as a large, geographically dispersed population. Still, there is a determination among the people involved that when the pandemic makes its way to Rumbek, we will be as ready for it as we can be. There will be many people who will be at risk due to underlying health issues, poor nutrition, and lack of access to even basic medication. Please do keep us in your prayers.

Ben Nhialic areer keg a way,
Fr Alan

Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:

• Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
• Building a Better Future in South Sudan
• Christmas Greetings from Fr Alan in South Sudan
• A Cup of Sugar and Maybe a Goat
• Mock Exams and Real Life in South Sudan
• As Easy as Baking a Cake
• Holy Week on the Move
• Three Arrivals and a Party
• Celebrating the Missionary Life
• Seeds of Hope

PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN

Fr Alan in South Sudan: Seeds of Hope

Like Ireland, South Sudan has a rich tradition of farming. Whether it is the cattle they tend or the small vegetable gardens they plant, the people here survive on the land. We have just begun rainy season and when it rains in Rumbek it pours. So far, I have experienced only a few storms and while they are short lived, they are Biblical in scale. It is not uncommon to have an hour of high winds and heavy rain, with thunder and lightning, before the blue skies and gentle breezes return like nothing happened. A decent pair of wellingtons is a must!

Self-sufficiency and valuable life lessons

This year, though, the rain has been sporadic. The people are not worried just yet, but they are certainly concerned. A bad season can mean the difference between having one meal a day or having no food at all. Women with young families are most especially vulnerable, because they use the proceeds of what they can sell in the market to support their families. With poor rains, they have to water their small fields by hand. Only last week on a drive back from town, we saw a family carrying water from a local well, including two preschool children each bringing a full two-litre container.

In the school, we are working away as we begin a new term, and we too are busy planting. The Loreto compound includes land that we can use for farming. Agriculture is one of the courses on the secondary curriculum and the girls enjoy the experience to get out from behind the desks every now and then. They have planted maize and ground nuts, which are staples that we will use in the school kitchen. This self-sufficiency allows us to reduce our expenditure, while teaching the students valuable life lessons.

Beginning to reap a great harvest

However, other types of seeds are now coming into fruition. At the moment, one of our graduates is back with us during a break in her studies in Kenya. She is working with the child protection team to help educate our students about children’s rights, as well as the importance of healthy and appropriate relationships. In the next week, another graduate will be here teaching English literature in the secondary school. After thirteen years of careful tending, we are seeing the first generation of our students return from further studies abroad. They are among the first, but they won’t be the last. These are bright, confident young women who are committed to their community. They are the pioneers of education for girls and they are determined to support those who follow after them.

This coming Sunday for our Gospel, we have the parable of the mustard seed, something tiny and unremarkable that can grow into a mighty tree, where people can shelter and birds can make a home. The same is true for what happens here in Loreto. Thanks to a team of gifted teachers who journey with the girls, to their parents who value education for the daughters, and to a student who commits herself whole heartedly to her studies, we are beginning to reap a great harvest. It is the fruit of tremendous work; it is a wonder to behold; and it is an absolute good to give thanks to God for.

Fr Alan

Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:

• Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
• Building a Better Future in South Sudan
• Christmas Greetings from Fr Alan in South Sudan
• A Cup of Sugar and Maybe a Goat
• Mock Exams and Real Life in South Sudan
• As Easy as Baking a Cake
• Holy Week on the Move
• Three Arrivals and a Party
• Celebrating the Missionary Life

PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN

Fr Alan in South Sudan: Celebrating the Missionary Life

The motto of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is the same as ourselves; after all, we are family. It is short and to the point, but also profound, rich, and as relevant today as it ever was. It is, “To be on earth the Heart of God.” You could spend a lifetime considering what this might mean or you could simply look at what it is like when it is put into action.

In my first piece on my mission to South Sudan, I spoke about two of our sisters that I met by coincidence in Juba. They were on the same flight as me, but on arrival in Rumbek they still had a long journey before they got back to their community in Mapourdit, a former refugee town that has grown up around the hospital and school the Church built. The trip would take them along flooded roads, where they would need to wade hundreds of yards across water up to their waist, and through insecure areas, where violence is still depressingly commonplace. It is only journey of 88km, but could easily take them up to half a day, if not more.

Deo gratias

Still, they didn’t complain. They were used to it. In fact, they were used to considerably worse as the Daughters have been here for over twenty-five years. In that time, they have had to contend with the struggle for the independence of South Sudan, the subsequent and tragic civil war, imprisonment, far too many snakes, plenty of rats, you name it really. In the booklet for the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the mission the Daughters in South Sudan, they used two words to express what they felt after all that time: Deo gratias or thank God.

The reason I’m writing the article now is that last Saturday we travelled to Mapourdit to celebrate the 80^th birthday of one of the community, Sr Rita Grunke. Sr Rita has been here since 2004 and has devoted herself to the community building, especially among the local women. She would spend extended periods of time travelling around the countryside, building up grassroots development, and sleeping out under the stars in a rough, but practical, tent.

Living out the Good News

I was especially privileged to celebrate Mass for her that morning, with the other sisters, the members of the wonderful Comboni community next door who run the hospital, and the local people that have helped to build up the mission over the years. It was simple and beautiful as we broke the bread and shared the word of God together under a corrugated metal roof next to their kitchen. On the wall looking down on us was a painting of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart by a South Sudanese artist. In 1875, St Daniel Comboni, who was one of the pioneers of the Catholic mission in South Sudan, wrote to our founder, Fr Jules Chevalier, and consecrated the entire country to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

Almost 150 years later, we continue in that same gentle, but powerful spirituality. In many ways so much has changed and moved on, yet at the same time the needs remain the same. Religious sisters, brothers, and priests have set up schools and hospitals, working with local clergy and lay people to build a better future. Now with the arrival of the new bishop elect, we are looking towards a renewed sense of evangelisation that moves beyond just providing the necessities for survival. It is a living out of the Good News and the building up of the local Church. It is encountering the love of Jesus in the people that we serve and together building up the Kingdom of God. For that opportunity we can only say, Deo gratias.

Fr Alan

Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:

• Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
• Building a Better Future in South Sudan
• Christmas Greetings from Fr Alan in South Sudan
• A Cup of Sugar and Maybe a Goat
• Mock Exams and Real Life in South Sudan
• As Easy as Baking a Cake
• Holy Week on the Move
• Three Arrivals and a Party

PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN

Three Arrivals and a Party – Fr Alan in South Sudan.

Looking back on my previous entries, I think I begin all of them with the same idea, namely that it is a busy time here in Loreto Rumbek. Being something of a traditionalist, I’ll continue in that vein, at least for now anyway. Since I wrote last, we have had a number of welcome visitors and one big celebration.

The first arrival was the truck. Once a year a large container lorry trundles northward from Nairobi to the border post of Nadapal between Kenya and South Sudan, before passing through Juba and finally arriving at our school. It is a mammoth journey at the best of times, but with the terrible road conditions, the beginning of the first rains, and persistent insecurity it can be perilous. Its arrival is greeted with great enthusiasm and I think the best description is that it is like Christmas with really sensible, practical presents. The basics that we can pick up in any Dunnes, Spar or Woodies back home are luxuries here. There are really no local shops that can supply the needs of a school, let alone a clinic or an agricultural project. The truck was filled with mundane essentials like school uniforms, tools, desks, two sowing machines, medical equipment, and textbooks. There was also a small fridge for me. The absolute luxury! While I’m writing this in 40C, I’m sipping some ice-cold water. It is like a little corner of Heaven!

Last Wednesday the Governor of Lakes State, along with the local Minister for Education and the Minister for Labour paid our school a visit. They took the time to walk around the compound with Sr. Orla, dropping into the clinic and taking look at our primary school. The clinic is tearing busy, looking after over four thousand patients a month, while the primary school is closed due to Covid restrictions. Thankfully, we received word last night that they will begin to reopen on May 3rd, allowing life to return to some measure of normality. Anyway, back to the Governor and the Ministers. They spoke at length to the students about the importance of education and how they were committed to fighting early forced marriage. How these words will be transformed into action remains to be seen, but even the public commitment itself is a powerful witness for the rights of young women to be allowed to determine their own future.

On Thursday we welcomed Bishop-Elect Fr. Christian Carlassare to Rumbek. Our Diocese has been without a bishop for almost ten years and his arrival was greeted with wonderful enthusiasm. He is originally from Italy, but has lived and ministered in South Sudan since 2005. As the only two schools currently open in the state, the students from Loreto joined the boys from La Salle Catholic Secondary School to provide a guard of honour. In his opening speech he shared his vision for the future drawing on Galatians Chapter 3 to have a community of faith unified in the love of Jesus. He dropped by the school yesterday to say thank you to the students and to meet the team here. There will be exciting times ahead. Please do keep him in your prayers.

In addition to all the arrivals, we also had to celebrate a birthday. Loreto Secondary School officially became a teenager last Tuesday, celebrating thirteen years educating the girls in Rumbek. To mark the occasion Sr. Orla, the director, and Mrs. Njuguna, the principal of the school, turned a sod for a new grotto for Our Lady. We had a simple prayer service with all the students, teachers, and support staff, followed by a celebration of music and dance in the dining hall. Considering its humble beginnings, it is a truly remarkable achievement. We have gone from a situation where people were predicting no girl would want to attend the school when it opened to today, where we had an entrance exam for ten places in Senior 2 and Senior 3 and over 160 applicants turned up! It has been a long road, but people here and those who support the school have kept the faith.

We are beginning end of term holidays this coming Friday, so many of the girls and staff will be heading home. We will have around sixty students staying with us, because they come from far away or they are at risk of an enforced marriage. It should be a quieter, gentler couple of weeks. After all they busyness, it will be welcome.

Ben Nhialic areer keg a way,

Fr. Alan.

Read more of Fr Alan’s journey:

– Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
– Building a Better Future in South Sudan
– Chirstmas greetings from Fr Alan in South Sudan
– A Cup of Sugar and Maybe a Goat
– Mock Exams and Real Life in South Sudan
– As Easy as Baking a Cake
– Holy Week on the Move

HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN

Holy Week on the Move – Fr Alan’s Easter Journey.

It’s a busy time here in Loreto Rumbek. I have just arrived back from leave and we are straight into Holy Week. As we are a boarding school, we have been able to maintain a rigorous lockdown and this has allowed us to celebrate the Easter Triduum. What a gift! When I was back in Ireland at the beginning of March, I had not realised the inability to join my parish would have affected me as much, but it did. There is something in the coming together; the meeting of old friends and new; and the raising hearts and minds to God as a community of faith that is an integral part of who we are as Catholics. It’s something I don’t think I’ll take for granted again.

Well now I’m back and we’re moving. It’s not just Holy Week that has me running around the place. Our final year students are sitting their Leaving Cert as I write this. It would normally happen earlier in the year, but understandably everything has been thrown up in the air. Each day I pass by the hall to wish them well. As I have explained before, there is a lot riding on the results of these exams. In fact, their outcome will determine the students’ future for themselves and their family. If they can do well and maybe even get a scholarship to university, they could raise an entire family out of poverty, while securing a better future for themselves. Simply put these two weeks will make all the difference in the world. Please do keep them in your prayers.

As the final year girls finish their exams, they begin their journey home, leaving Loreto for the last time as students. We saw a number of them off during the week with plenty of songs of joy and more than a few tears. God willing, they will return to the school when the results are published, but this time they will do so as graduates. Some will take part in the school’s intern programme. Here they work in the various departments for a two-year commitment, including translating for the patients in our clinic, acting as a teacher’s aid in primary school, helping with logistics, supporting the development programme, and working in the secondary school. Once they have completed their time, we fund their university course entirely. Many who are considering a future in teaching, nursing, or business get wonderful hands on training in the field. The intern programme has been a great success to date. It gives people an opportunity to study at third level that would never have been possible before.

Our celebrations for Holy Week were especially beautiful. On Holy Thursday for the Mass of the Last Supper we had the washing of the feet, with our builders, cooks, nurses, staff, students, and interns acting as the apostles. Good Friday was suitably quiet and reflective. The girls led the Stations of the Cross in the morning across the compound, finishing up at a large, simple metal cross we have by the clinic. In the afternoon we were well up towards 40C, but we still had the Passion and adoration of the Cross. On Holy Saturday our students spent a time of quiet prayer, waiting at the tomb of Jesus. Finally, for our Easter Vigil we began with a truly spectacular bonfire for the blessing of our Paschal candle. Then, under a perfectly clear African night, we processed by candlelight to begin our Mass. It was joyous, with all the readings, hymns, and rich liturgical symbolism. This time of Resurrection marks a new beginning, as we commit ourselves to be an Easter people of hope and joy. Alleluia is our song!

Happy Easter or as they say around here Miet puou jot rot Yesu Kristo,

Fr. Alan

Read more of Fr Alan’s journey:

– Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
– Building a Better Future in South Sudan
– Chirstmas greetings from Fr Alan in South Sudan
– A Cup of Sugar and Maybe a Goat
– Mock Exams and Real Life in South Sudan
– As Easy as Baking a Cake

HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN

As Easy as Baking a Cake – Fr Alan Neville MSC

The biggest dilemma at the start of the month was figuring how to fit the words ‘Celebrating Religious Life’ across a cake. It was for the second of February, the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life, when the Church acknowledges in a special the contribution of sisters, brothers, and religious priests in the building up of the Kingdom of God.

In the Diocese of Rumbek, we are a broad church with missionaries from around the world working alongside local diocesan clergy and our lay teams. There are sisters from the Missionaries of Charity and the Evangelising Sisters in Cathedral parish, as well as our own Loreto Sisters, along with the brothers from De La Salle community just up the road in their new school for boys. You also have the Jesuits, the Spiritans, and of course one Missionary of the Sacred Heart who wandered in a few months ago and everyone has been too polite to ask what he is actually doing there in the first place.

In all we have over thirty religious sisters, brothers and priests from all across Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. The ministry that they are involved in includes the usual schools and clinics that are usual in name only. The issues they face and the challenges they meet are well outside the norm of what we typically deal with in the West. This morning the Missionaries of Charity are going to a leper colony an hour outside of town. The Jesuits are setting up an English language course for their adult education programme and are trying to encourage as many women as possible to enrol to improve their future employment prospects. The Loreto sisters and the team in our clinic are getting ready for a possible surge in Covid cases, even though we have no testing kits and there are only four ventilators in the whole country of 11 million people. None are in Rumbek.

As for myself, I’m still working away on the local language. We had our first Children’s Liturgy last Sunday morning and when I enthusiastically greeted the kids in Dinka there was stony silence. Not a single word. Nothing. Then when one of the students said 100% exactly what I said they were beside themselves with excitement. When I said it again, I got nothing! Afterwards the student said I was doing well, but politely recommended that my accent needs a bit of work. I suspect she is going to be an excellent, if somewhat demanding, teacher one day!

Last Friday we had another wonderful celebration. The children from Year 8 graduated from Loreto Primary School and this very week they will sit the national exams. They are another group you will need to add to your prayers. Seventy-two boys and girls successfully completed their studies. When I spoke with them during Mass, they talked about how their first lessons took place under a large tree in junior infants. It has been a long road and a tumultuous few years, but they persevered. Despite the school’s best efforts many students dropped out along the way due early enforced marriage or the need to go and work to support their family. Still the number of those who persevere continues to grow and education is increasingly seen as the key pathway out of poverty to a better life.

At the graduation Sr. Orla, the Director of Loreto, and Mr. Yuga, the Compound Manager, presented the children with some stationery supplies for their exams and a Bible. In the homily of the Mass, I explained that in life they could go anywhere and do anything as long as they remembered that their education was their passport and their Bible was their guide for the journey. It was day of real thanksgiving for all that was achieved and touched by sorrow as the students will now go on to different schools.

We hope that most of the girls will continue into Senior 1 in Loreto Secondary School. Many of the boys will join the De la Salle Brothers in their school or go to the Comboni school in town run by the Evangelising Sisters and the Diocese. Education is a foundational ministry and one of a number that the sisters, brothers, and priests carry out. As for the cake, well the decorator ran out of space and decided that Celebrating Holy Life was grand. On reflection we all agreed.

“Ben Nhialic areer keg a way!”,

Fr. Alan

Read more of Fr Alan’s journey:

– Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
– Building a Better Future in South Sudan
– Chirstmas greetings from Fr Alan in South Sudan
– A Cup of Sugar and Maybe a Goat

Images via Fr Alan & Loreto Rumbeck on Facebook

HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN

 

 

 

Mock Exams and Real Life in South Sudan- Fr Alan.

Life is filled with key moments that help shape us into the person we are today. Many are unique to our story and depend on our different circumstances, but some are shared and have become part of our culture. I would argue that in Ireland one of the biggest, most profoundly impactful events we have is the Leaving Cert. Even mentioning the words brings back memories of feverish late night study, wild prayers for inspiration, and the occasion desperate gamble on what part of each subject you choose to focus your time on.

Last week, Loreto Rumbek held the South Sudanese version of the mock Leaving Cert. Students had a week and a half of tests on English, maths, the sciences, geography, history, religious education, and business. Each day I would drop by the exam hall to see how they were doing, give a word of encouragement where needed, and say a prayer for them all. That said, I wouldn’t swap places with them for all the tea in China!

The importance of studies cannot be overemphasised. The girls have made real sacrifices to be here, going against societal expectations and cultural pressures. It is still an unfortunate reality that teenage girls here are more likely to die in childbirth than they are to graduate secondary school. Let that sink in for a second. It sounds unbelievable, but it is true. It gives you an idea of what these girls are fighting for – a better future for themselves and for future generations of young women in South Sudan. The change that needs to happen begins in earnest in that large, dusty exam hall in a place you would struggle to find on a map.

My part in this societal and cultural revolution is tiny, but enthusiastically carried out. The Religious Education teacher finished in the school at the end of 2020, so I naively volunteered to correct and give feedback on the exam papers. I have always been told it is good to help out where you can. In my middle age what I had forgotten was that mocks are always traditionally marked a lot harder than normal. The idea is that it highlights what the students need to focus on and encourages them to study more before the real exams. I was lucky to get out alive after the feedback class. The girls fought and argued for every percentage point, disputing the finer questions of theology, sociology, and moral philosophy with the wit and wisdom of a St. Thomas Aquinas or a St. Catherine of Siena. Here exams really count!

Life has now returned to normal, at least for the time being. In a normal school year, the students would sit their state exams in December. Of course, last year was anything but normal. Now we hope that they will be held in March, but we are still waiting for confirmation. As it stands only exams classes are allowed back in school, but there are signs of a gradual return to education. Most of the children will have been out of class for a year and in a country with no national power grid, let alone internet and computers, home schooling was never an option. So, it’s a new beginning and it will take time, but we will get there. In the meantime, do keep the girls in your prayers. There is a lot riding on how well they do.

God bless or as they say here Ben Nhialic areer keg a way,

Fr. Alan

Read more of Fr Alan’s journey:

– Looking for a Sign on the Way to South Sudan
– Building a Better Future in South Sudan

Images via Loreto Rumbeck on Facebook

HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN

 

 

 

MSC World Projects Appeal 2021: Holy Family Centre South Africa

Founded in 2002, the Holy Family Care Centre in South Africa has been run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart with the support of the MSC for almost 20 years, under the leadership of Sr Sally Duigan FDNSC.

The Holy Family facility provides invaluable care to young children who are seriously ill, and who, in the majority of cases, have been orphaned or abandoned. These children are primarily HIV positive and are in need of specialised care.
“The reasons for admission to the Holy Family Centre vary, but many children have been abandoned, sexually abused, physically abused, orphaned,or made vulnerable because of HIV/AIDS,” says Sr Sally. “Some come from horrific backgrounds and arrive here very ill, malnourished, frightened, lacking social skills, and generally very bewildered.”
The Holy Family Care Centre is, above all, a place of family, unity, and love.

“We love these children unconditionally,” says Sr Sally. “It doesn’t take long for them to feel at home and to change once they feel loved and cared for.”

With the resources to accommodate 70 children, the centre’s facilities are stretched to full capacity and beyond on a daily basis. Today, 76 children are resident at the centre, and of this number, 56 children attend the local primary school.

Last year, due to the challenges brought about by COVID-19, Sr Sally and the Holy Family team made the decision to home school the children for the year.This has proven to be very beneficial for the students, particularly those children with special needs who require extra care and attention.
Now that the school is returning for the new year, the Holy Family children are in need of help. The students need uniforms, shoes, books, pens, pencils,and bags, to prepare for their return to school and to be able to receive an education that will give them a solid foundation for a brighter, more hopeful future.

“It is with deep appreciation that I say ‘Thank you!’ In the past year, you have helped our ministries very significantly, and in this time of uncertainty, you are helping us to help people affected by the coronavirus pandemic all over the world.”
“May you be blessed! Be assured of our continued prayers for your intentions, through the intercession of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.”
Sr Marife Mendoza FDNSC
Congregational Leader of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart

CAN YOU HELP EDUCATE THE HOLY FAMILY CHILDREN?

Your support greatly appreciated at Berea-Albion FC & Academy

Five academy learners that are greatly benefiting from your extremely generous donation very gratefully received : Koketso Mamogopodi, Lucky Marema, Vokois Mohlabini, Thato Moeti and Litha Lugalo.

Last year as part of our World Missions Appeal you helped us aid the students at Berea-Albion FC & Academy in Pretoria South Africa and we are glad to report the donations have been put to good use. The Academy helps young disadvantaged learners through quality education, accommodation, housing, nutrition, football training and development for a better future life. These youths often have struggled with poverty, HIV/AIDS, abuse, alcoholism, and poor educational backgrounds.

We are pleased to say that since then they have been able to fund the erection of water tanks and buildings which include an eatery/dining area and outdoor meeting and entertainment area for our academy learners.

Neil Bosman, co-founder of the Academy has expressed sincere gratitude for your continued support .

CAN YOU HELP OUR MSC MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA?