Feb 15, 2024
Congratulations are in order for the MSC community and their superb team at the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines. On December 15th, 2023, Fr Richie Gomez MSC, community leader at the Centre, attended an awards ceremony hosted by the Villar Foundation in Las Piñas City, where the MSC Centre for the Poor Agriculture Cooperative (MSC CEPAGCO) were honoured to accept an award for being one of the Outstanding Community Enterprises in the country.
Since its establishment five years ago, the MSC Centre for the Poor has gone from strength to strength, with the MSC CEPAGCO providing invaluable assistance to local communities throughout the COVID pandemic and beyond. With a dedicated focus on food sustainability and care of our common home, the agricultural cooperative aims to educate and empower both rural and urban families and communities with the skills they need to create sustainable livelihoods, while nurturing and caring for the earth for future generations to come.
From addressing plastic waste to organising clean water programmes, the MSC Centre for the Poor Agricultural Cooperative are tireless in their work to improve the quality of life of the people in their programmes, while working in harmony with the natural world.
“Thank you Villar Foundation for recognizing our effort and advocacy on organic sustainable agriculture, environmental protection, food security and poverty reduction,” posted the Facebook page for the MSC Centre for the Poor as they shared the news of the 2023 Villar Sipag Award. “Congratulations to Fr. Richie and to all MSC CEPAGCO staff and volunteers who have been instrumental in winning such award!”
We add our congratulations to theirs, and we wish Fr Richie and all the MSC CEPAGCO community continued success in their phenomenal efforts to make an instrumental difference to the lives of disadvantaged families in the Philippines.
Images via the Facebook page for the MSC Centre for the Poor
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE SUPPORT MSC CENTRE FOR THE POOR
Feb 8, 2024
The MSC Mission Office in the Philippines have been working in rapid response with the MSC Centre for the Poor to issue essential emergency aid to several communities that have been critically affected by severe flooding in the Mindanao region.
The relief project aims to help as many families as possible who have been displaced by catastrophic flooding across the Mindanao area in late January/early February. Flash flooding has caused landslides and as yet untold destruction in this region and beyond, with the death toll climbing to the high teens in the days following the disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, while homes and business premises alike have been destroyed, with power outages and interruptions to the water supply also reported.
On February 5th, the MSC Centre for the Poor began distributing vital emergency relief aid to families impacted in Tagbina, in Surigao del Sur. With the emergency response team springing to immediate action, a total of 142 families have received urgent aid so far, as they attempt to recover from the devastation wreaked by the flood waters.
The relief project is ongoing as the outreach team continue in their efforts to help families to repair and rebuild across different areas of the Mindano region. Together, the MSC Centre for the Poor and the MSC Mission Office Philippines are organising the next phase of the mission response project, to support families who have been displaced by flood waters in the districts of Talacogon and San Luis, Agusan del Sur.
Together, we keep our MSC brothers in the Philippines Province, and the communities of Mindanao, in our prayers, as they work to rebuild lives and livelihoods in the face of this overwhelming ordeal.
Images via the Facebook page for the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc.
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Jan 31, 2024
With the dawn of a new year, the team at the Holy Family Care Centre in Ofcolaco, South Africa, have hit the ground running. With more than 10 children joining the community at the centre in the space of a few days, the centre’s director Sr Sally Duigan writes, “The new year – and especially the school year – has got off to a very action-packed start!”
Founded in 2002 in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, the Holy Family Care Centre has been providing care for young children who are very ill, often with HIV, for over 20 years. Many of these children have been orphaned or abandoned, and have nowhere else to go. Run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, with the support of the MSC, the centre can accommodate 70 children and is stretched to capacity with many children needing urgent care.
Welcoming new manager JJ
The team at Holy Family recently welcomed a new manager, Jeanette Joalane Lesise, affectionately known as JJ.
“I never knew or even thought that I would ever leave the City of Gold, the hub of Gauteng to Ofcolaco,” writes JJ in an update on the Holy Family website. “Here I am, in the middle of mango and sweet corn farms. Surrounded by nature, fresh breezes of air, sweet melodies of birds, beautiful sunsets, hot summer days and showers of rain as the sun goes down.”
“I am surrounded by love, joy and happiness,” JJ continues, describing herself as a “special mom to 76 kids”. “These bundles of joy are from 0 to 18 years old. Upon my appointment, Lerato* was my first, a 4-day old baby girl. After three days here at Holy Family Care Centre… I had my first experience of welcoming a three-year-old Mpho. Well, Mpho* was temporarily placed with us and 4 days later his social worker fetched him to be placed with his relative who was willing to be his guardian. As for Lerato, she will be raised here unless of course, through the mercy of God she is adopted or fostered.”
“Holy Family Care Centre is a home away from home, for myself, for passionate Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the wonderful staff, the committed volunteers, and all children placed on our doorstep. This is now my life,” she finishes.
Grade 12 scholars
On January 24th, JJ attended the local high school, where a celebration took place for the Grade 12 class of 2023. Sr Sally tells us, “We are very proud of two of our girls, who just obtained their Grade 12 certificates. It is the first time we have had children in Grade 12 and we are very proud of them.”
With 2024 off to a promising start, we wish Sr Sally, JJ, and all the team at Holy Family a bright year ahead!
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE SUPPORT THE HOLY FAMILY COMMUNITY
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Dec 18, 2023
MSC CHRISTMAS RAFFLE 2023
🌟🎄 Christmas Raffle Prize Winners:🎄 🌟
1st Prize: Shopping voucher to the value of €1,000
M O’Malley,
Raheen,
Co. Limerick.
2nd Prize: Jingle Bells & Whistles Luxury Hamper value €500
E Irwin,
Ballymun,
Dublin 9.
3rd Prize: All I want for Christmas Hamper value €400
A Roberts,
Mallow,
Co.Cork.
4th Prize: Festive Feast Christmas Hamper value €300
J Hourigan,
Dungarvan,
Co. Waterford.
5th Prize: Christmas Eve Luxury Hamper value €200
A D’arcy,
Naas,
Co. Kildare.
6th Prize: Christmas Eve Luxury Hamper value €200
A McKeown,
Castleblaney,
Co. Monaghan.
7th Prize: Christmas Eve Luxury Hamper value €200
S O’Reilly,
Arva,
Co.Cavan.
8th Prize: Christmas Eve Luxury Hamper value €200
A Pigott,
Ennis,
Co. Clare.
9th Prize: Christmas Eve Luxury Hamper value €200
P Greene,
Athlone,
Co. Westmeath.
10th Prize: Christmas Eve Luxury Hamper value €200
A Doherty,
Derry,
Co. Derry.
Special Seller’s Prize: Christmas Eve Luxury Hamper value €200
M Donohoe,
Ballina,
Co. Mayo.
⭐
This year’s Christmas Draw took place on Monday, December 18th 2023.
We would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone for taking part.
Click here to read a special Christmas message from Fr John
Please note that the MSC Missions Office will be closed over the Christmas period,
from 3.30pm on December 23rd to 9.00am on January 2nd.
With warm wishes to our mission friends everywhere for a happy, healthy, and safe Christmas season.
Dec 12, 2023
Please note that the MSC Missions Office will be closed over the Christmas period, from 3.30pm on Friday, December 22nd to 9.00am on Tuesday, January 2nd.
With warm wishes to our mission friends everywhere for a happy, healthy, and safe Christmas season.
Dear Friends,
It is that time of the year, where the days grow shorter, and we prepare for the Winter months ahead. It brings to mind cosy feelings of sitting with a nice cup of tea, warming chilly hands safe at home from winter weather. The season of Advent will give us a chance to reflect and prepare our weary souls and hearts for the great season of Christmas. A time to rejoice to love and show good will.
I wish to thank you sincerely for your continued support of our work throughout the year. In countries like Kenya, the Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Brazil, South Sudan, and Haiti to name a few of the places around the world where your help makes a difference to peoples lives. You have helped to bring a glimmer of the light of God’s love to others, helping to ease their burden.
This Winter in particular we remember all who need our prayers especially those displaced by the terrors of War.
At home as always, a little bit of kindness, a kind word and a smile can go a long way especially as Christmas approaches. I wish you and your loved ones the grace and blessing of this special season and throughout 2024.
Christmas blessings to you and your loved ones,
Wishing you a Happy and Holy Christmas,
Fr John Fitzgerald MSC
Director of the MSC Missions Office
Dec 6, 2023
Please note our MSC Provincial Office has moved:
Our new address is:
MSC Provincial Offices, Woodview House, Mt. Merrion Avenue, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin A94 DW95.
T: +353 (0) 1 490 6622
