Give Peace A Chance – Fr Alan MSC in South Sudan

Jun 28, 2023

The world of education in Central Africa is small and even after only a short while you can link up with people from all over. With this in mind I Whatsapped a friend who is a religious priest who runs a Catholic university in Khartoum to see how he was doing. In short, not well at all. When he replied he said he had been forced to shutter the university and he is currently in Port Sudan. What state things will be in when he returns remains uncertain. What is certain is that the violence in Sudan has persisted far longer than even the most pessimistic estimations.

It was only last week when one of his students called into our office in the Catholic University of South Sudan, Rumbek. He was hoping to finish his degree in computers here, but the near totally absence of computers, coupled with prohibitively priced internet access, means that it was an impossibility. Still, he is happy to be home with his family safe and sound.

In the midst of the violence to the north, coupled with ongoing tensions in the Tigrayan region of Ethiopia, and following a terrible attack on a school in Uganda that even made the European news, it important to stop and be thankful of the peace that we currently enjoy here in South Sudan. Sure, we have our ups and downs. The University’s entire electricity supply, consisting of four old car batteries and a few solar panels, decided to give up the ghost, so there was a lot of running around to jury rig a solution. Still, in no time at all the printer was working again. No lights, but thankfully the lack of sunshine is rarely a problem here.

In the last few weeks we had loads to do, and the odd power cut aside, it was all good. We had a full week of teacher training for our Loreto Primary School teachers during a midterm break. It included class preparation and management, the history of the Sisters, and the nature of Catholic identity in school (run by myself). As you’d imagine the team of primary teachers are just the best. When you are singing the Gloria during the Mass they are the ones with their hands right up in the air. When you are dealing with over 1,300 boys and girls enthusiasm is a must!

Peace happens quietly. It’s violence that makes most of the noise or at least it does most of the time. The Senior 4 Students (the equivalent of our sixth year class) take part in an annual peace walk. This year we walked the 45km from Loreto to our neighbouring parish of Cueibet. We had an early start, beginning at the school grotto with some prayer and then we hit the road. The girls were delighted to get out and about in the community. The people in turn were happy to meet our students, especially when they found out what they were doing. Not so long ago such a trip would have been impossible, due to the proliferation of small arms, banditry on the roads, and widespread insecurity. That day we made plenty of noise, singing and laughing as we walked, and before you knew it we arrived in Cueibet in time for a simple Mass for peace in South Sudan and a warm welcome from the people of the parish.

Since I wrote last we had two people over from Ireland, Linda Cardiff and Brendan Smith, to work with our University students on computer coding. We have just purchased two laptops, doubling the number of computers on the campus. You’d be amazed how many student you can fit around one screen when you really need to! We also had two new arrivals to the Diocese. The sister congregation of the MSCs, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, welcomed two new members from Indonesia to their Mapourdit community. One is a trained teacher and the other an excellent nurse. We wish them the very best. Finally, as it is the season for cultivation, our students and teachers were out this week planting trees and weeding their plots of groundnuts, the national staple. Taken individually these are all small things, inconsequential in the eyes of national media its pursuit of the dramatic and the immediate. For the people of Lakes State though, this is significant, as after a long time of insecurity things are slowly building and life is flourishing. Peace is certainly a fragile thing, as evidenced by the world around us, but it is something worth fighting for.

Nhialic ke yin (or God Bless)

Fr. Alan

PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES 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
• Ticket to Ride
• Lions, Snakes, and the World’s Deadliest Predator
• Vaccine Status: Denied
• Christmas in South Sudan
• A Bigger Shovel
• A Week in the Life of Loreto – Bishops, graduations, an ambassador, and the Pope
• Sowing Seeds
• A visit from the MSC Superior General
• Advent
• Do They Know It’s Christmas Time?
• Fr Alan in South Sudan: The Papal Visit
• Life Goes On