Apr 15, 2025
Our friends at the Holy Family Care Centre in the Limpopo Province of South Africa have been in touch with an update from the centre, where new solar panels have been installed thanks to the support of our mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province. The centre is run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, and here, they provide dedicated care for orphans, and sick and vulnerable children, with approximately 75 children in residence at any given time.Â
In our 2024 World Projects Appeal, we asked if you could help to raise €9,900 for the centre to install solar panels. Due to “load shedding”, it is an unfortunate fact that the centre’s electricity is frequently cut, and the emergency generator is expensive to run. The solar panels will power the unit’s bore water well and sewerage pumps, ensuring savings on power and the prevention of major system failure with when the electricity cuts out.Â
The solar panels have now been successfully installed, and the community at Holy Family are already reaping the benefits of having a dependable and sustainable source of power for the centre. As ever, we join our voices with our OLSH Sisters in thanking our mission family sincerely for your continued friendship and support, which makes such a great difference to the Holy Family children.Â
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HELP SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS PROJECTS
Apr 11, 2025
Back to School for ExamsÂ
The Catholic University of South Sudan, Rumbek Campus experienced a good, but challenging semester. For fourteen weeks, lectures were held in a local Catholic secondary school. This return to familiar surroundings was a nostalgic experience for some students, allowing them to reconnect with former teachers and cherished memories. While the hospitality was appreciated, the school’s simple facilities and limited resources presented some challenges. Fitting adult students into the smaller desks required some adjustments, but everyone quickly adapted. Â
Late-Night StudyÂ
The students have done their best to make time to study, not easy in a country where less than 9% of the population has any access to electricity and the sun sets every night by 6:00pm. Up until recently, students would study at home with only the light of the mobile phone to read. We upped our Late-Night Study programme to three evenings a week, allowing students to work until 8:00pm in our library. Initially, only men attended, as in the culture it would be considered inappropriate for women to stay out late; however, over the last few weeks, more and more of our female students have been able to attend. Our University Librarian stayed with them and provided them with support when needed. It has been a real success, and we plan to continue the programme into next semester. Â
Exams in a HeatwaveÂ
Currently, we are dealing with an intense heatwave in South Sudan. For the past two weeks, all schools have been closed by government order, with daily temperatures ranging from 39°C to 42°C. Despite these conditions, we have had to conduct our end-of-semester exams. Even with a schedule pushed to late afternoon, the heat remains a significant factor. The students’ resilience has been truly commendable, as they have not voiced a single complaint! However, all good things come to an end and so too do exams. Tomorrow will be their last day before a two-week break and then we are back into Semester Two.Â
Step-Free Access for AllÂ
As you are probably aware, the source of our displacement is the ongoing renovation of our lecture halls. The work is progressing well, with ceilings already in place. Previously, the hall only had a corrugated metal roof, which made the room into a sauna during hot days, and when it rained you could hear nothing at all. We are only halfway through the project, and already the changes have made a huge difference. Now we are getting ready to install the pipes for the electrical system and plaster the walls. We are also using the opportunity to make the building step-free, getting rid of ramps and raising the floor to allow anyone with physical disabilities to study freely. As a Catholic university it is our goal that anyone who wants to study and has the academic ability should be able to undertake third-level studies.Â
Nhialic ke yin,
Fr. AlanÂ
HELP SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS PROJECTS
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:Â
Feb 11, 2025
OLSH Global Outreach
MSCs from all over the world continue to work in partnership with the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH), providing help and support to the poor and vulnerable on our shared mission: “May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved.”Â
OLSH outreach in Brazil
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart are active in their ministry in several areas across Brazil, from educating young children to caring for the poor, the hungry, and the elderly. This year, they’re appealing for our help in funding a number of different projects that will continue to change lives for the better in regions of real and pressing need.
Sr Maria José Ferreira writes from Capanema, in the south of Brazil. The local community are currently working together to build a new chapel for the area, which is now almost complete. The community here need a sound system for their new chapel, to benefit their prayer and celebration. “We have celebrations there already, and we have a children’s choir also,” writes Sr Maria José. “It is a dynamic community. I believe this chapel will help many people to grow in faith.”
€2,000 will pay for a sound system in the new chapel, giving the community of Capanema
a place to gather in faith and love.
Sr Maria José is also raising funds to provide food parcels for very poor families in the local area of Capanema. “My apostolate is to visit families around the parish area,” she writes. “I have met many people, and I pray with them. It is so sad to see people living difficult financial times. Some do not have enough to eat. I would like to help them, and I am asking for money to buy them some food bags. I am aware this will not solve all the social problems that I see but it will give them a relief for some months.”
A total of €2,000 will help Sr Maria José to provide essential food parcels
for hungry families in the coming months.
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart run a school in Rio de Janeiro, where the children get great enjoyment and benefit from their study and practise of musical skills. The school has a music classroom dedicated to these studies, and the Sisters here are working to raise funds to buy new instruments for the children and extend their current collection.
€2,000 will help OLSH Sisters in Rio de Janeiro to buy new musical instruments
for the children in their school, empowering and encouraging
them to learn new skills and foster creativity.
OLSH Sisters in Brazil also write of the importance of play in the development of the children in their care at their Rio de Janeiro school. “We believe children learn a lot when they are playing,” they write. “It is important to give them toys and objects that can help them to develop skills.” The Sisters have an area dedicated to play in their school, for children aged between 2 and 10 years of age, and they need to purchase new toys and educational games to assist in the children’s development.
€2,000 will buy a selection of educational toys and games
to help the children learn and grow through play.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR OLSH SISTERS IN THEIR GLOBAL OUTREACH
OLSH ministry across Africa
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart have been ministering across two dioceses in Burkina Faso for several years, and are now working to set up ministry in a third diocese, with enthusiastic and motivated young women requesting to join the Congregation. The OLSH Sisters involved in the formation programme for these young women are looking to transfer the Postulate from Zagtouli to Siogo, Tampoussimdi, which is a calm and peaceful place conducive to formation. The Sisters are now working to raise funds to build two new dormitories for the Postulate in a village not far from Ouagadougou, where there is plenty of space for the formation programme, and also scope for gardening and care of livestock in the surrounding fields.
A total of €10,000 will fund two new dormitories for these young women
working together in the love of Christ.
The Holy Family Care Centre is a residential care facility for children located in Ofcolaco, South Africa. Currently home to 75 abandoned and chronically ill children, Holy Family provides a loving, nurturing environment for children with critical medical needs, who have nowhere else to turn. The centre has a nursery which accommodates up to eight babies, plus four dormitories, two dedicated to older boys and girls, and two for boys and girls aged 2 to 10. The younger children, toddlers and preschoolers aged between 2 and 5 years, also sleep here, but are often overwhelmed by sharing the space with the older children in the group. The OLSH Sisters who take care of the crèche children feel that they would be better cared for if they had their own smaller space in a dedicated dormitory, which would reduce the noise and overstimulation at bedtime.
The Holy Family team need €20,000 to fund the toddlers’ area,
which will accommodate beds for up to 20 children and two staff members,
with space for winding down and quiet play.
The Jules Chevalier Health Centre was set up in December 2020 in the village of Maka Kahone in Senegal, working with the Ministry of Health to promote accessible healthcare for all, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. The centre offers a range of treatments to the people of Maka Kahone and surrounding villages, and its facilities are in great demand, as it is recognised for its high levels of care for patients. The health centre is now working to set up a laboratory with specific equipment, and staffed by trained personnel, in order to best manage the diagnoses of contagious diseases, maternity care, the care of young babies and children, predominant problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure, and further issues.
OLSH Sisters need €12,000 to purchase the necessary equipment for the new laboratory,
including a microscope, a centrifuge, micropipettes, a rotator, and other essential items.
The Jules Chevalier Health Centre in Mbandaka, Congo, has recently been extended, and is in need of new equipment to fill the new facility. Fundraising is underway to meet the centre’s current goals, including purchasing new medical equipment, reducing the maternal and infant mortality rate in Mdandaka and its surrounds, and improving the conditions of care for patients and the working conditions of staff at the centre.
The equipment required includes 10 beds, a consultation table, a medical stepladder,
10 bedside tables, a small surgery box, a delivery box, baby scales,
and other items, at a cost of €10,000.
CAN YOU HELP OUR OLSH SISTERS IN AFRICA?
With ongoing mission projects in education, childcare, agriculture, and healthcare, OLSH ministry is touching and transforming lives across Africa.
“We are very grateful for all that you are and do for us. On behalf of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, I thank all those who pay special attention to our projects.”
~ Sr Marie-Laure Lankoandé FNDSC, Regional Superior of Burkina Faso
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR OLSH SISTERS IN THEIR GLOBAL OUTREACH
Feb 11, 2025
Empowering students in Cameroon
The MSC Post-Novitiate Programme in Yaoundé, Cameroon, helps and guides young students along the path of their missionary journey. Last year, the generosity of our mission friends and benefactors in the Irish Province provided funding to purchase essential computer equipment for 14 students, and this year, with nine new post-novitiate students joining the programme, Fr Bonaventure is once again appealing for our help.
“The Catholic University of Central Africa subjects our students to a demanding rhythm of work,” Fr Bonaventure explains. “They have to do practical work that requires them to use computers, and it really is a necessity that every student must have a laptop of their own.” “As the number of students has increased this year and the two mediumsized printers we bought are not enough, we also need to buy a largecapacity printer to solve this problem for once and for all.”
CAN YOU HELP OUR MSC STUDENTS IN CAMEROON?
The computer equipment needed for 23 students for the coming academic year
will cost a total of €8,300.
“Our resources are very limited, and every year we are obliged to appeal to the generosity of people
of goodwill who are keen to support the training of our future pastors,” says Fr Bonaventure.
“We will never cease to thank the Province of Ireland for its many contributions to our community in Yaoundé.”
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC STUDENTS IN CAMEROON
Feb 11, 2025
Building blocks for the future in Guatemala
Centro Faustino Villanueva is an MSC-run school in the Alta Verapaz region of Guatemala, located in an extremely rural area six hours away from the country’s capital, Guatemala City. The school offers a lifeline for the local community, providing education and the foundation for a better future for the past 40 years. The community at Centro Faustino Villanueva aim to provide access to education for the local population, including the Q’eqchà ethnic group, equipping them with both academic and social skills, plus an increased cultural awareness. In doing so, the staff at the school aim to lay the groundwork for a more positive and productive society, with the necessary skills to build a better quality of life for all in the community.
The school also offers boarding facilities for those who cannot easily travel to get there every day, ensuring that nobody misses out. Courses and workshops offered at the school include a wide range of academic subjects, while the school community are highly active in creating a sustainable agricultural environment, with space for farming and livestock care.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MINISTRY IN GUATEMALA
Empowering students to learn and grow
“All of this is an effort that aims to enhance the skills and training of the students, as well as improving their food quality, which is in many cases deficient and harms their ability to learn and grow,” says Fr Jairo Uriel Sevilla Mendoza MSC, Director of Centro Faustino Villanueva.
“Year after year, we make every effort to obtain the funds we need to sustain our school, a situation that is complicated by global economic uncertainty,” explains Fr Jairo. “In recent years, the aid we receive has decreased, and this is a reality that worries us, since we are the only option for many young people in the area.”
It costs just under €5,000 per month to pay the staff at Centro Faustino Villanueva,
along with providing nourishing daily meals for the students.
The CFV team are working to raise €50,000 to pay for school costs for a total of 10 months,
helping as many young people as they can, and preparing to help more in 2026.
“Together, we will be able to help more people in need. We will never tire of thanking our generous supporters for everything they do for us – and we are always united in the heart of Christ.”
~ Fr Jairo Uriel Sevilla Mendoza MSC
Director of Centro Faustino Villanueva
CAN YOU HELP US TO CHANGE LIVES FOR THE BETTER IN GUATEMALA?
Feb 11, 2025
MSCs uniting a parish in Ecuador
MSCs in the parish of San José de Chilibulo, in Quito, Ecuador, work with a pastoral team and volunteers to minister to the ongoing needs of disadvantaged families in the region.
One of the most important ways in which our MSCs can help is to provide food to these vulnerable families, who often go hungry. Once a month, the pastoral team provide food baskets to 48 vulnerable families, including essential items such as rice, sugar, quinoa, oats, panela, wheat flour, lentils, oil, salt, tuna, cookies, peas, soap, and a chicken at Christmas time.
The cost per month is approximately €1,000, depending on the price and availability of items, and on additional food donations and funds that the parish team are able to collect. Special celebrations are also hosted for families in need on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and at Christmas, catering to 90 people at a cost of approximately €1,150 per event.
PLEASE SUPPORT HUNGRY FAMILIES IN ECUADOR
Last year, our mission friends here in the Irish Province helped us to raise funds to improve the kitchen and outdoor spaces at the church and pastoral centre in the parish of San José de Chilibulo.
This year, parish priest Fr Marcelo Campoverde Arcentales MSC is asking for our help once again as he and his team work to raise €14,500 to provide a lifeline of food baskets and essentials to 48 families in need, including young children and extremely vulnerable elderly people, for an entire year.
CAN YOU HELP US TO FEED VULNERABLE FAMILIES IN ECUADOR?
