Dec 10, 2020
The mud hut behind us is a typical South Sudanese home in the countryside. Most of our students would come from places like these.
“It is coming up to a month since I first stepped off the plane at Rumbek Airport. Since my arrival, it has been a whirlwind of new experiences. The first thing you notice, in fact you can’t miss it, is the heat. I went from winter in Ireland to an average daily temperature of 37C and I was reliably informed that this was the coolest part of the year. I am fascinated that each morning there are people out and about with coats and a few wool hats. They in turn are mystified how I’m surviving sporting shorts and a t-shirt!
I am still settling into life at Loreto Rumbek and it has been a special privilege. It originally began as a school in 2008 under a tree in a scrub field five kilometres outside of the town, that was gifted to the sisters by a local chief. Its purpose was to educate young girls, a challenge in an environment where schooling was almost exclusively restricted to boys. South Sudan is still ranked as the world’s most difficult nation in the world for girls to receive an education, with only three out of a hundred having the opportunity to go to secondary school. Just over half of all girls are married before they are eighteen years old and almost one in five are married before they are fifteen.
When the Loreto Sisters began their work in Rumbek, they were told they were wasting their time. It was obvious to everyone that students wouldn’t come. They came. Then they were told the girls wouldn’t go on to secondary school. They persevered. Then they were told they wouldn’t graduate. Apparently, no one told the girls because they graduated anyway. To stand against the weight of cultural expectations requires a school that sees the very best in each student and a student with a courage of conviction that would be beyond most adults.
Over the last twelve years the project has grown from a few chairs under a tree and now includes a primary school with 1,200 children, a secondary with 300 girls, an agricultural project, and the newly opened primary health care clinic. It hasn’t always been plain sailing and 2020 has been especially difficult. The pandemic has caused widespread disruption around the world and South Sudan is no exception. However, Loreto has had their final classes of primary and secondary school back since autumn because they will still sit state exams in spring. We will need to keep them in our prayers.
Last Saturday we had a small, but significant celebration in the community. Five of the young women finished their two-year intern programme, where they had worked after their graduation in the school and the clinic as support staff. Now they were heading to university in Juba or Nairobi to continue their education, funded by Loreto. It is impossible to overestimate how extraordinary and important this is right now.
Over the years, graduates have gone on to study nursing, computing, teaching, business, logistics, and law. They are the pioneers who will blaze the trail for their younger sisters, making the impossible seem attainable. They are the firm rebuke to the people who say that it is a waste of time and money to educate girls at all. They are the entrepreneurs, the healers, the teachers, the leaders who will build a better South Sudan tomorrow, starting today.”
God bless or Bi Nhialic arrer kek yin as they say here.
Fr. Alan
HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
Dec 9, 2020
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Christmas Mass times at the Sacred Heart Church
Weekday Mass: Mon to Fri 8am & 10am
Saturday 12th December : Mass 12noon & 6.30pm
Sunday 13th December: Mass 8.00am,10am,12 noon
Weekday Mass : Mon to Fri 8am & 10am
Thurs 17th Dec : Penitential Service 8pm
Saturday 19th Dec : Mass 12 noon & 6.30pm
Sunday 20th Dec : Mass 8.00am, 10am,12 noon
Monday 21st Dec : Christmas Triduum 10.00 am Mass
Tuesday 22nd Dec : Christmas Triduum 10.00 am Mass
Wed 23rd Dec: Christmas Triduum 10.00 am Mass
Thurs 24th Christmas Eve Mass : 8am, 10am,2pm, 4pm, 7pm & 9pm
Fri. 25th Christmas Day Mass : 8.00am, 10.00am, 12 noon
Sat 26th St. Stephen’s Day Mass : 10.00am, 12 noon,6.30pm
Sunday 27th Mass 8.00am, 10am. 12 noon
All masses are streamed live here
Wishing all our friends and benefactors a Peaceful and Happy Christmas
Dec 2, 2020
This year’s Light Up A Memory Mass took place on 28th November and was like a ceremony like no other. We couldn’t attend in person but at least we could join together virtually and stream it online. And how beautiful did our church look for the occasion, with hundreds of candles lit up to represent our loved ones who have passed away. It really was a unique and special occasion.
Now in its seventh year, the first Light Up a Memory Mass took place in 2014 and it has since become a much-beloved tradition for local parishioners in Cork, and for mission friends located far and wide, all over the world.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all who took part in this year’s Light Up a Memory celebrations, both in the Sacred Heart Church and around the world. Once again, it was a very poignant and truly special evening of prayer, reflection, and fond remembrance for everyone involved.
You can watch the full service here
Nov 23, 2020
In the Bible signs are a part of any great journey. Noah had his rainbow. Moses followed a pillar of fire. Jonah had a whale. I had a taxi. I had just arrived into Addis Ababa on an overnight flight and had an impossible task ahead of me. In a short transit window, I had to negotiate an unfamiliar city, unravel a bureaucracy, and be back with my South Sudanese visa in hand before my flight to Juba in the afternoon. I grabbed the first taxi and as I searched for the seat belt, I knew things would be alright. The interior of the cab was decorated by the driver with image after image of the Sacred Heart. It might not be a dove with an olive leaf, but it would do.
Travelling to South Sudan can be a challenge, even under the best of circumstances. My first trip in 2014 was by pickup truck from Kenya in the company of the wonderful Kiltegan Missionaries. It took us three separate attempts, because the road was flooded and completely impassable. In 2017 I arrived by air and was delayed again because the local flight I was waiting for missed the runway in another airport and hit a fire truck. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but plane, the truck, and all the luggage went up in smoke.
With all of the restrictions around the current pandemic, I approached my new appointment to Loreto School for Girls in Rumbek with both optimism and realism. News and air schedules changed regularly and two of my flights had already been cancelled. From the moment I took the Covid travel test on a Tuesday morning in November, I had just seventy-two hours to arrive in Juba, South Sudan’s capital. Any later and I would be denied entry. The clock was ticking and there was no margin for error.
It had taken an Aircoach, followed by two flights through strangely empty airports in Dublin and Heathrow, to get me to Addis. Armed with a sheaf of documentation provided by the school in Rumbek I presented myself to the Irish Embassy. Their incredible team were going to help push the application process as fast as it could go. In the company of the Irish Ambassador’s driver we pulled up the South Sudanese Embassy just as its Deputy Ambassador arrived. A tall, red bearded Catholic priest is an incongruous sight in Ethiopia and after he came over to see what was happening, he invited me into his board room. My paperwork and passport was whisked away and I sat down to the Irish Times cross word puzzle. While I was still trying to figure out 13 Across “Able to bounce back from adversity” 9 letters, my visa was processed and we were off again.
Arriving in South Sudan’s capital on Thursday afternoon with my Covid test and passport firmly clenched in my fist, I passed through the necessary health, visa, and customs checks, before spending the night in a local hotel. Over breakfast, purely by chance, I met two members of our sister congregation, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. They were on their way back to their mission in Mapuordit, and were taking the same flight as myself with the UN World Food Programme.
Finally, after four days of cars, buses, and planes I arrived in Rumbek. It was a glorious reception with hundreds of children turning out in uniform, who began singing in wonderful harmony once we disembarked the plane. The moment was spoiled somewhat, when halfway through their song they all just stopped and wandered about chatting and joking with their friends. They were there to greet to a Christian archbishop and they mistakenly thought he was with us. Still, a team from Loreto was there to give us a warm welcome. The sisters stayed the night, before leaving early the following morning. They would have to drive for an hour, then get out and wade through flood waters for another hour, before picking up a lift on the far side to continue their journey home. Sr. Wendy has been in South Sudan on mission for twenty years serving her local community. There are plans already on the go to meet up again. For my part, it was time to unpack and discovery my new home. But we’ll hear more about that next time.
God bless or Bi Nhialic arrer kek yin as they say here.
Fr. Alan
HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
Nov 20, 2020
Our dear Fr Alan MSC has left us to join our Missionaries in South Sudan. Fr Alan has been Vocations Director here and has done some amazing work with us since 2011, having previously spent time ministering in Ireland, the UK, South Africa, and Venezuela.
As Vocations Director, Fr Alan helped people who were trying to discern a call to priesthood and religious life. Fr Alan had closely with those who were exploring the nature of their vocation, providing support and guidance during their period of discernment.
Within his role, Fr Alan was youth minister for the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. Here, he worked with a team of dedicated youth workers to support young people as they celebrate their faith. Fr Alan has been involved in Catholic youth festivals, pilgrimages, the MSC overseas volunteering programme, and World Youth Day celebrations, helping young people from all walks to life to embrace God’s love.
We wish him the best of luck and look forward to his reports!
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are always proud to support the wonderful work done by the Loreto Sisters for the young women of South Sudan.
For more photographs and further information about Loreto Rumbek, visit their website or visit their Facebook page.
You can also find out more about how MSC Missions work with Loreto Rumbek – and how you can help to make a difference to the young women of South Sudan.
HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
Nov 9, 2020
On November 1, 2020, the Philippines was hit by the strongest typhoon recorded this year (Typhoon Rolly). One of the most affected areas was the Bicol Region (south of Luzon). Houses were buried, livelihoods were destroyed and families were displaced. Our Mission Partners in Gunobatan, Albay are now preparing for the Relief Operation Program in evacuation centers that are being set up by the local government.
Meanwhile, the MSC Philippine Province through the MSC Mission Office Phillippines organized a Call for Donations Campaign to send help to our brothers and sisters in the province. They conducted a 15 Day Donation Countdown that started last November 3, 2020 until November 18, 2020. In this way they can gather enough funds for the Mission Outreach for the affected families. According to our Mission Partner, sending the support later would be a great strategy since at this time lots of support are coming from different organizations and institutions. In their experiences before, they really had a hard time sustaining the people in evacuation centers especially during the later part of their stay in the centers. It is in this regard that they would appeal for donations to you and help us gather funds for our brothers and sisters who were greatly affected by Typhoon Rolly. Your support will be a great help to bring back the lives of the affected families in the region.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
