Jun 12, 2018
Over the past six months, the Loreto Rumbek community has been working in tandem with Misean Cara and the local community of Maker Kuei on their new Seeds of Knowledge project.
This project focused on helping 100 participants who have come from families that have been affected by local and national conflict. These families were struggling with severe poverty, and those participating in the project would have had very few resources to survive the upcoming lean season.
The Seeds of Knowledge project combined agricultural training and health education, with a “food for work” aspect which meant that each participant’s household received very welcome food and income.
The project finished at the end of April, just in time for the beginning of the rainy season. Each participant left the programme with two watering cans, one jembe (hoe), a small stock of seeds (including sorghum, groundnuts, kudra, and other vegetables), and a number of fruit-tree seedlings.
Many food security initiatives in South Sudan focus on increasing access and intake; the Seeds of Knowledge project, however, was the first to introduce early recovery and resiliency techniques in this area. In the face of the ongoing food crisis, this has given the households involved the tools for increased self-sufficiency, and vital resources in the face of hunger and poverty.
For the past year, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been working in partnership with Loreto Rumbek to bring hope to the people of Maker Kuei. We are proud to be able to support the Loreto Rumbek community in their ongoing work in South Sudan, and we extend our sincere thanks to our mission friends in Ireland and around the world for continuing to care.
For more news and updates from Loreto Rumbek, please visit their website.
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
Jun 5, 2018
Having graduated from the Loreto Secondary School in Rumbek, South Sudan, Salome Piath Gum began work in the Loreto Primary School as part of the Loreto Graduate Programme. In this role, she is gaining invaluable skills and taking the next steps towards a positive future as a successful, independent woman. Here, Salome tells us how the Loreto Graduate Programme has changed her life for the better.
“I love my job.”
“I am the office secretary at the Loreto Primary School. My daily tasks include typing, printing, photocopying, recording results, filing, and answering the office phone. I facilitate the students as they attend the clinic, I issue school uniforms, and I make sure that the offices and classrooms are locked securely after the school day. I also act as a translator at meetings with the local staff and teachers, and take minutes during these meetings. Sr Orla is my mentor.
I really enjoy working with the students, especially when I’m giving uniforms to small children. They are very funny – they always make me laugh when we talk, asking me different questions about what I’m doing and what different things in the office are used for.
My job can be quite pressurised at times, especially during examinations. At these times, I am kept very busy typing, photocopying, and recording results on the computer. Some teachers also pass work on to me. However, I love my job, and I try to complete my tasks as quickly as possible so that everything gets done.”
“At home, I face a bigger challenge… but I persevere.”
“At home, I face a bigger challenge. I am the eldest girl in the family, and I am an orphan. I want to continue with my education, but I face a lot of difficulties. My siblings are suffering, because they are in school and they don’t have enough food. My cousin paid my school fees during my secondary school education, but is unable to pay for my university studies.
I accept the situation and I persevere, hoping that I will get the chance to study further. My ambition is to go to university. I have already learned computer skills, communication skills, and administration skills. I was not expecting to have the opportunities to develop my translation skills, but I can now easily translate Dinka into English and vice versa.
In the future, I would like to be able to train others in clerical and administration skills. I can also use these skills to work anywhere in the community. I would like it if this programme could be expanded further in order to help more of our graduates who are looking for similar opportunities.”
We at the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are proud to be able to support the Loreto community in their graduate programme, and we extend our sincere thanks to our mission friends in Ireland and around the world for continuing to care.
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
May 29, 2018
Since February, the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines have been working to bring aid to families affected by the eruption of Mount Mayon. Between January 13th and February 1st 2018, the volcano of Mount Mayon erupted more than 35 times, and over 85,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes by the middle of February.
The volcano continued to spew lava and ash for some time following these eruptions, causing thousands of cases of respiratory diseases and severe overcrowding and lack of supplies in evacuation centres. In some cases, over 20 families were crowded together in one classroom, just so that they had somewhere safe to stay in the aftermath of the eruptions. The MSC Missions Office in the Philippines were on the scene to provide evacuees with immediate essentials such as food and clean water, and they are now continuing to support displaced families by providing vital aid.
In May, the MSC Missions in the Philippines ran a School Supplies Distribution Project in Buhatan Elementary School in Sto. Domingo, Albay as part of the second phase of the Mayon Mission Outreach Programme. A total of 224 students were given a school supplies kit, containing notebooks, paper, crayons, pens, pencils, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, a ruler, scissors, sticky tape, and a tumbler.
“The teachers and parents were very grateful for the help that was extended to their children,” says the MSC Missions Office in the Philippines. “We would like to thank the donors and benefactors who shared their resources for the procurement of school supplies. We would also like to thank the Mayon Mission Outreach team in Albay for helping us to prepare the school supplies kit and organise the outreach activity.”
For the latest updates from the MSC Missions in the Philippines, please visit their Facebook page.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MISSION PROJECTS IN THE PHILIPPINES
May 22, 2018
Marius Rahayaan is a student at Siwa Lima St Joseph’s Technical School in Langgur, Indonesia. Built in 1970, the school is run by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart with the aim of educating young people in the region so “they can do something good for themselves and for their families”. In a region where poverty is a pressing issue, St Joseph’s provides the youth of the community with hope for the future. Here is Marius’ story:
“My name is Marius Rahayann and I am 22 years old.
I have a simple family, but I am proud of it. I chose to go to St Joseph’s Technical School because my uncle also graduated from this school, and he now has practical skills and can do something useful for his family. Seeing this gave me great motivation to go to the same school.
I am in the third class now. During my time in this school, I have been actively involved in all of my classes and programmes. I am diligent in my study, I work hard, and I have learned to appreciate and respect my teachers and my fellow students. I have received certificates for my achievements in learning and I am so proud of these.
I am especially proud because I now have the skills to do great things. I can make items which I can then sell to pay my school fees and contribute to my family. I am very glad to be a part of this school, and I am very thankful to be a student here. Above all, I am thankful to God for His blessings on me – may God bless us all.”
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN INDONESIA
May 19, 2018
Reflection: The Holy Spirit and Dialogue with the Modern Age
Gospel (John 15:26-27; 16:12-16). The Spirit of truth will lead you to complete truth.
In recent decades, in Catholic spirituality and liturgy there has been renewed interest in the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian life. This is particularly in evidence in the new Eucharistic prayers. One of them recalls that Christ, by rising from the dead, has destroyed death and restored life. They remind us that we may live no longer for ourselves but for him; he sent the Holy Spirit from the Father, as his first gift to those who believe, to complete his work on earth and bring us the fullness of grace. Before the words of consecration in the new Eucharistic prayers, the celebrant prays to God the Father to send the Holy Spirit on the offerings so that they may become the Body and Blood of Christ, and after the consecration, a similar prayer is addressed to the Father to look upon this sacrifice and by his Holy Spirit to gather all who partake of the Eucharist into the one Body of Christ, a living sacrifice of praise – a prayer that the community becomes a living Eucharist.
Central to New Testament and Christian teaching is the unity between God the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and creation. The death of Christ is evidence of God’s love for the world. The life of the Father is fully in the Son, and Jesus’ wish is that this his own life and love, and that of the Father, be in believers.
For dialogue with our own age, this implies that all that is good in the world is from God, loved by God. All the manifold gifts and traits of humanity are from God, even in those who may not advert to this, or even believe in God – all the social concerns, the service of one’s fellows, all those gifts Paul speaks of in his letters.
Believers are carriers of this message in our own day or in any other. But together with this very positive message, and the call of believers to be witnesses to it, Jesus makes it very clear to his disciples that they should be prepared to bear this message in hostile surroundings and even in persecution. Part of the hostility they are told to be prepared for is indicated as attacks on Jesus’ person and message. They will need strong faith conviction, and this, Jesus promises, will come through the Holy Spirit, the Advocate for the truth of Jesus’ message, and the Comforter in their trials. The two great commandments according to the First Letter of John are faith and love of the neighbour, faith in Jesus Christ as Son of God against all opposition.
All this can be of significant help to us to day in our dialogue with questions of our age.
Fr Martin McNamara MSC
May 15, 2018
Elizabeth Aghar Mark is a graduate of the Loreto Secondary School in Rumbek, South Sudan. She has remained with the Loreto community as part of their graduate programme, where the care, guidance, and tuition given have provided Elizabeth with the potential for a future filled with hope and possibility. Here, Elizabeth shares what the Loreto Graduate Programme has meant to her…
“I have the courage and confidence to accomplish the world.”
“I work as an office assistant, with Sr Orla as my mentor. I deal with photocopying, printing, and working with the school administration.
I enjoy my work, such as photocopying, printing, and making certificates and report cards, as it is giving me great experience in clerical and administration work for the future. Sometimes, there is a lot of work to do, and I have to work for more hours than I am supposed to some days. I see this as a challenge that makes me stronger, and I have the courage and confidence to accomplish the world.”
“At home, I faced another challenge, as some of my relatives wanted me to be married off.”
“At home, I faced another challenge, as some of my relatives wanted me to be married off. This was settled by my father, when I approached him and explained that I want to achieve further studies. My father agreed and suspended the marriage, and now my plan is to go to university and get a job so I can help to support my parents and my brothers and sisters.
In my current role, I have learned computer skills, office management skills, and teaching skills. I was not expecting to gain experience in teaching, and now I would like to be a lecturer in South Sudan after my further studies. I find teaching very exciting, and I hope that the Loreto community can continue with this programme, as it benefits so many graduates by preparing them for the future.”
We at the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are proud to be able to support the Loreto community in their graduate programme, and we extend our sincere thanks to our mission friends in Ireland and around the world for continuing to care.
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
