Apr 30, 2024
Image Source: NBC
All of us here in the MSC Community are sending our warmest congratulations as he is nearing his first anniversary on becoming a fully ordained MSC. Â Â Â This is a piece that NBC Digital News did on his ordination.
Fr Gabriel was ordained as a Deacon by Bishop Emeritus Hugh Slattery, MSC in Otjiwaronago on 10 December 2022 and his ordination to the priesthood took place on Saturday the 17th June 2023. The Archbishop of Windoek presided over the ordination which took place at Holy Rosary Parish, Swakopmund and Fr Carl Tratner MSC, our former Irish Provincial was also in attendance. It was such a joyous occasion for Fr Gabriel, his very proud family, his community, The South African Section of the MSC and the Irish Province.
Dec 29, 2017
Anita, a youth worker and teacher from outside Athlone, shares some of her adventures with MSC Volunteering …
Games are a big part of the programme
“With our final week fast approaching I am taking the time to reflect and share my volunteering experience with you. Holy Family is an amazing place, Sr Sally and her team have created a family for everyone who comes through the gate. The welcome we received lit up my weary heart and from the moment we arrived we were flooded in hugs and loving little hands wanting to show us their home. I feel such sadness knowing I have only a short few days left with them however I hope to return. An experience like this has opened my eyes and my heart to the importance of, well put simply, love…
There is no shortage of budding artists
Each morning the children, who have been awake since very early are playing games with each other, braiding hair or crocheting among many other things. They see us coming through the quad and it’s a lively loud chorus of hellos and hugs. Each day we arranged a variety of activities and were invited on their occasional days out during the winter holidays. The children were thrilled and excited to be going out for the day, they truly enjoyed it. The morning trip up one of the mountains close by with Fr Vince was a favourite of mine. It was here we were introduced to the splendour and beautiful scenes Mother Nature has to offer and reminded that nature has so much to show us and I was silenced in my astonishment of its vastness and majesty. We are situated close to the Drakensberg Mountains. This is the first lesson I have learned from the children at Holy Family. Make the most from each moment, minute and day enjoy your time together and be grateful to have the opportunities that you are experiencing. These children are some of the strongest people I have ever met and they are so young. The way they embrace each new day, new challenge, new experience without trepidation. Its 100 % engagement in life to the best of their ability.  Those smiles will recharge you, reward you, reignite in you your childish sense of play and I began to engage with a new perspective. (more…)
Nov 9, 2017
On Monday last, 06th November, we were delighted to welcome Sr Orla Treacy to the MSC Office to discuss the outstanding work she has been doing in Rumbek, South Sudan.
Fr Alan, Sr Orla and Fr Michael
Sr Orla Treacy is a Loreta Sister who was missioned to South Sudan in 2006. She is the Principal of Loreto Secondary School in Rumbek. Â As you will know the MSC dedicated our Summer 2017 Appeal to South Sudan with the aim of raising vital funds to support Sr Orla and the Loreto Sisters working tirelessly in the war-torn country.
Sr Orla with her Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty Humanitarian Award
On her recent trip back to Ireland to receive the Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty Humanitarian Award, Sr Orla paid us a visit. Her enthusiasm and passion for her work is quite infectious and we could have sat and listened to her speaking of her work in Rumbek for hours on end.  Sr Orla’s gratitude for the donation simply could not be measured. Sr Orla wants to extend her sincerest thanks to everyone who supported the MSC South Sudan Summer Appeal 2017. We were elated to hear that the funds raised through the Summer Appeal are already being put to great use. The money raised will be spent across three main areas: food, clinical services and education.
Graduate HousingÂ
The majority of the finances will be spent on building housing for the female graduates. Having completed their government exams and before moving onto university, some of the graduates choose to take a year off to undertake an Internship Programme which was developed by the Loreto Sisters. This programme allows the graduates to work for one year in various positions such as nurse’s aides, teacher’s assistants, office secretaries and in financial roles within the compound in order to gain practical work experience before progressing to university.
“52% of girls in South Sudan are married by 18 and in most cases these are forced marriages.”
The Loreto Sisters developed the Internship Programme in order to challenge this troubling statistic. By introducing this programme and providing this housing, graduates are guaranteed secure accommodation and are provided with practical work experience for one year.
We are excited to announce that building of this housing has already begun. It will consist of 4 rooms which will house 16 prosperous young graduates.
Foundations for Graduate Housing
Loreto Primary & Secondary SchoolsÂ
As well as aiding with the Internship Programme housing, the funds raised will also be spent on the further development of both the Loreto Primary and Secondary Schools in Rumbek. It costs approximately €1600 per pupil annually to attend the Loreto Secondary School in Rumbek which is a boarding school – a sum which the students cannot afford to pay in full. In the Western world we often associate boarding schools with the children of those more financially comfortable. This is not the case in South Sudan. Sr Orla commented that a “women’s refuge” would be a much more suitable term for their boarding school. The Loreto Girls Secondary School numbers are growing year on year and the Sisters are accepting 280 girls next year. The funds raised by the MSC will allow the Loreto Sisters to offer a number of scholarships to students and to subsidise the costs for others.
Sr Orla with her students
Presently, there are 900 children attending the Loreto Primary School at a cost of approximately €400 per child annually. Children attending the primary school are guaranteed a teacher every day – something which is not guaranteed if they attend a government school in South Sudan. Each child gets a meal every day – in many cases this is the only food the child will consume that day.
“10% of babies in South Sudan will die before reaching 3 months old and 14% of our children are dead by the age of 5”.
Children attending the Loreto Primary School have free access to medication which they would not receive outside of the school. The €400 cost covers a student’s meals, medication and education for the year.
What struck us most listening to Sr Orla speak about South Sudan was the fact that at no point did she dwell on the negative aspects of her work, of which there are many. The UN has called South Sudan the “most vulnerable country in the world” and Sr Orla expects conditions to get worse before they get better. However, this has not hindered Sr Orla and she is still as committed and driven towards educating the South Sudanese woman as she was when she arrived in the country 12 years ago.
We look forward to tracking the progress of the Graduate Housing project and it’s development over the coming months.
Jul 28, 2017
Joy begins her day in the clinic, helping some of the children get ready for the day.
Joy O’Donnell, a nurse from Mayo, shares some of her experiences with the MSC Volunteering Project in the Holy Family Centre, South Africa.
“So, our adventure began just over three weeks ago, from Dublin to Limpopo, where we met the wonderful Holy Family – and that is what I can truly say it is, a family. We arrived tired but excited after our long journey. We were also nervous about meeting the kids, but all I can say is that the welcome we were given overwhelmed us all. We were greeted with open arms, smiling faces, and loads of hugs and cuddles from the kids. They made us feel instantly welcome, and all our nerves left us, as we could see these kids were full of love, fun, life, and liveliness! And that was just the first day!” (more…)
Nov 24, 2014
Vocations ministry in Ireland is busy at the best of times, but it looks like 2015 is going to be exceptional! Pope Francis has continued to revolutionise and encourage the Church by designating November 30th 2014 until February 2nd 2016 the Year of Consecrated Life. He believes that, “Religious life ought to promote growth in the church by way of attraction. The church must be attractive. Wake up the world! Be witnesses of a different way of doing things, of acting, of living! . . . It is this witness that I expect of you. Religious should be men and women who are able to wake the world up.”
A Year for Getting Up and Going!
This year in Ireland we are going to continue and expand our vocations ministry. We will have opportunities to walk the road less traveled along pilgrim pathways to Lourdes, Medjugorge and Santiago de Compostella. We’re going to take part in festivals at home and abroad where you can celebrate what it really means to be a Catholic with thousands of others. We’ll have Samuel groups, discernment weekends and Road Trips for those of you who are perhaps looking to really listen to where God is calling you, whether it’s marriage, the single life, priesthood or a religious vocation. We’ll also have our third year of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Volunteering Project for people wanting to work in solidarity with the margnialised in South Africa. If the challenge is to wake up the world, then the question must be, ‘Why are you still lying around?!”
Over the coming week we are going to be advertising all of our programmes for 2015. Like our Facebook page or subscribe to our blog to make sure you get all the up to date information for the Year of Consecrated Life.
Aug 31, 2014
Clare Brady, a nurse from Monaghan, shares her experience in South Africa with MSC Volunteering.
We arrived in South Africa on 12th June and traveled to Holy Family Care Centre with Fr Frank Bray one of the MSC priests. On arrival to Holy Family we were greeted by the children, Sisters and other volunteers. From the moment arrived we were welcomed into their family and it really began to feel like home.
So far I have really enjoyed getting to know the children and as time goes on I am beginning to learn their routine, their likes and dislikes. At the moment some of the girls are teaching me the games they like to play. I enjoy spending time with the older girls and boys who tell me about their local traditions, and are eager to learn about other traditions. I am having a great time here and I just hope that the children are having half as much fun as the volunteers are. (more…)
