Oct 2, 2020
It’s been a busy few months for our friends in Rumbeck in South Sudan. The fields are harvested and after 6 months absence, the students and the teachers are returning back from their different places of quarantine.
We have experienced many emotions but overall there has been great joy that we can return to teaching.
While malaria season continues they have been counting their blessings that they haven’t seen the obvious signs of coronavirus, but continue to take extra safe measures and hope and pray that they can prevent it from prevailing. Their delicate infrastructure simply would not be able to cope.
Earlier in the month of September, the Councils of Ministers in South Sudan made a decision concerning the reopening of schools and Loreto Rumbeck has decided to stagger the return of their students by 2 week intervals as a quarantine measure and to enforce social distancing measures.
Also in September “Mary’s meals” assisted the Rumbeck community by distributing food to local schools supported by the Diocese of Rumbek (DOR) through DOR Education. Loreto Primary School is one of the beneficiaries of Mary’s Meals. The distributions consisted of maize, beans, oil, salt, and soap. Since the students were still at home, parents and guardians collected the supplies on behalf of the students. This was done to encourage the pupils to continue their focus on education even while they were at home. Mary’s Meals has supported the Loreto school for many years and this has heavily impacted our high levels of school attendance – especially in the lower primary grades.
Recently an extra room, “a space for healing” was built for counselling at the school. The youths find great benefit in Sr Petra’s counselling sessions and as they were previously been held in the computer lab, it wasn’t ideal as they were being continuously interrupted. This was facilitated by you the donors support and Loreto Rumbeck are extremely grateful.
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
Sep 23, 2020
“The Covid-10 Pandemic has affected each of us around the world in different ways. Some have experienced losing loved ones; hunger, idleness, uncertainty and vulnerability, while others are still in great crisis emotionally, mentally and financially. On the other hand it has united people and this year being the 40th year of Missions in the year of ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue and indigenous people in the Philippines despite the pandemic there in a sense of blessing for these celebrations.”
Indeed, Covid-19 pandemic cannot stop the celebrations of Love and life-giving force of the Holy Spirit. The year 2020 is also a great blessing to the MSc Philippines Province and the people entrusted to our care. With deep gratitude and joy, we celebrate our 40th Anniversary as a Province in a unique way. Temporarily forgoing mass celebration due to Covid -19 does not lessen the inspiration it conveys to everyone.
“On March 15, 1980, the MSC Philippines became the 14th Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. This year, March 15, 2020, the MSC Philippines celebrated 40 years of being a Province. The years may seem to have passed quickly but in reality, decade after decade, year after year, the MSC Philippine Province has experienced its own share of challenges, trials and disappointments. But beyond all these challenges, we are one in proclaiming that after 40 years, we MSCs of the Philippines have JOY, GRATITUDE AND COURAGE. Joy, gratitude and courage because, most importantly, it’s due to the faithful, abiding presence and guidance of God who has called us to be Missionaries of His Love in what ever missionary and ministerial undertakings we are in. Joy, gratitude and courage because of the countless people, partners and companions, who have journeyed with us these forty years. MSC Philippines continues to remember with gratefulness our “Mother Province” – MSC Netherlands – to all our Dutch MSC confreres who came to the Philippines from 1908 onwards for their sacrifice and gift of themselves for the people and the Church in the Philippines.
“ONE HEART, NEW SPIRIT “- may these words guide us as we move forward as a Province after the grace of this milestone of 40 years. “One Heart, New Spirit” – united and renewed as MSC Philippine Province in our continuing desire to be like Jesus whose love is our inspiration and driving force as we continue to dedicate our lives to the works of our mission.
We give special mention to our ongoing mission engagement with the communities of indigenous people on this “Year of Ecumenism, interreligious dialogue and Indigenous people”. The MSCs are constantly challenged to respond in dialogue with our indigenous brothers and sisters for their welfare and protection, for their human and cultural rights. Concretely, the MSC is doing indigenous people ministries in our parishes in San Luis, Agusan del Sur and Bangkal, Abukay, Bataan.”
As individuals, our personal contributions may be small, but when united in common cause, we can change the world.
“Our membership statistics on December 31, 1979 show that we started our province with 85 professed members, of whom 16 were still under the initial formation program. The 69 “working members” were – with one exception – all ministering within the Philippines. In our forty years as a province, we were blessed with 184 new members who made their first profession – of course, not all on these stayed with us, for a good number their first profession was also their last, and actually less than 120 reached their final profession. We counted 89 ordinations to the priesthood in our 40 years as province.”
Indeed, our members are our greatest asset for our present and future mission.
“Becoming a Province, feels a bit like reaching the age of maturity, of adulthood, within the large MSC community. It is not so much a matter of new rights and privileges, as a matter of new responsibilities. For more than seventy years (1908-1980) the MSC community in the Philippines was at the receiving end of MSC generosity. Provincehood brought also a greater co-responsibility for a mission in common with the MSC Society all over the world. From mainly receiving, we became a contributing province. We were able to provide the general administration with one general bursar and two general councilors, we opened our novitiate for MSC novices from Korea, India and Vietnam, we took the initiative that led to APIA and hosted – as long as they lasted – its yearly spirituality seminars; and lately we are the host of Cor Vitae and its formation activities.
…while we have also experienced disappointments when missions were less successful as we had hoped it will not stop us from sending more of us abroad. ”
“An even greater grace than all this is that from just receiving missionaries, we have become a community that has actively joined the MSC mission to the world by sending missionaries. In 1985, the Philippine Province sent its first two missionaries to South Korea. They would be followed by two more in 1986 and 1988. It is a story that deserves a more extensive telling, but for this article it should suffice to mention that a mission that the Philippine Province accepted in 1985, found its happy conclusion only thirty-three years later with the elevation of the Korea MSC region to MSC provincehood. While Korea can definitely be considered the crown of our “mission ad extra” experience, we may be equally proud of the missionaries we sent to Japan, the Marshall Islands, Brazil and the Netherlands. And while we have also experienced disappointments, when missions were less “successful” as we had hoped, it will not stop us from sending more of us abroad. From here on, international mission has to remain a constituent part of being Philippine Province. Our next step will be Lebanon and it cannot be the last, for sure.
There are many more blessings to celebrate, graces to be thankful for in our jubilee celebration: new initiatives to spread the spirituality of the heart also outside of our traditional parish context, the growing number of lay people associated with us who joined us in our spirituality, the solid initial formation program that our formators were able to design and implement and all the often unseen and unsung commitment and perseverance of our members assigned in difficult places. ”
Extract from PARTNERS Province V0l 12, ISSUE NO.1
(Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Philippines publication)
Fr. Ad Van Hest, MSC
Sep 18, 2020
Dear Father Michael,
Greetings from Kaolack in Senegal where we have a school that starts from nursery school to the whole primary school. The total number of pupils is 536 and there are 24 employees. Normally the school is full of pupils who study their lessons and play during break times. We are proud of our school that we have built over many years with the help of donor agencies and local contributions.
The arrival of the Coronavirus in Senegal has caused suffering for many people. About 12,000 people were diagnosed positive and about 260 people died. Unfortunately, with this situation many people have lost their income and are struggling to provide food for their families.
Our school has been closed since March, which means there is no money from school fees. This is why we have not been able to fulfil our responsibility to the staff, each of whom has a family to support, to clothe and to care for.
I was very worried about this without being sure what I could do because we had no money to help the staff. It is now that I learned that your generous donors could help me with 2,500 euros.
For me, and for these families, you have given us a lot of relief and support. We are very grateful for this act of generosity to us that we will never forget.
We express our gratitude to you and your donors and assure you of our fervent prayers.
We are all united in our mission of making the Sacred Heart of Jesus known and loved everywhere!
Sr Clotilde NGOM, fndsc
SUPPORT MSC MISSION PROJECTS
Sep 18, 2020
“We would like to offer our sincere thanks to the donors who made it possible for us to send 3000 euro to the Centre.”
Sister Adjouma Marie, fndsc
We recently received some news of extreme gratitude from the OLSH Sisters at the Notre Dame of the Sacred Heart Centre of Untandeni, Burkina Faso which aids the education and needs of impoverished young girls who have been marginalised. The sisters do amazing work with these girls and are very appreciative of the funds they have received with the help of you our generous donors. The Girls’ Center in Untandeni, Fada, in Burkina Faso whose building was funded by the FDNSC Australian Province, the MSC Mission Office and the Australian Overseas Aid Fund and the OLSH Sisters who are on mission at the Girls’ Center live in a convent situated in the same property.
At present, the Centre has 16 girls. The 16th is little Colette who was abandoned under a tree next to our community. Among the 15, not including little Colette, there are five who are studying normally, and 10 who are not enrolled at school. Of these 10, there are 5 who are doing literacy studies, 2 who live in Fada and 3 who live in the Jules Chevalier community in Ouagadougou. The girls live in our care for various reasons. If we receive a financial donation, it allows us to feed the girls, to pay for their schooling and literacy, to pay for materials for knitting, weaving and sewing…
SUPPORT MSC MISSION PROJECTS
Aug 7, 2020
“We are simple farmers not terrorists”
Our dear friends in the Philippines have been busy during this pandemic. As the United Nation’s
secretary general recently noted, the threat from coronavirus is temporary whereas the threat from heat waves, floods and extreme storms resulting in the loss of human life will remain with us for years.
Though Bravely trying not to succumb to the dreaded implications of the corona-virus they are trying to come together to build a stronger community and developed their approach to sustainable living.
Earlier on in the year they had begun their relentless “Beat the Plastic” campaign in which they were making brick products from the plastic trash and now they are admirably trying to create a sustainable living by launching their UMAHANTA programme on MAY 15, 2020 the Feast Day of San Isidro Labrador (Patron Saint of the Farmers). They have already obtained a DSWD certificate (registered as a Social Welfare and Development Agency) and are now waiting on a licence to operate.
“We have a total of 4.2 land hectares with an encroachment of cemetery more or less 5 mts. by 300 mts. With more or less 40 tombs inside our property.”
Their main aims are :
1. Establish a farm structure with a nursery house, seeding shelter house & composting area.
2. Build a Water system which will include a deep well, solar power , a big water tank and water impounding area.
3. Build an inventory of Bodega Farm Tools for the community . (Enough for 10 workers)
4. Construct an Animal Raising house (i.e. huts for goats, chickens, pig, turkey etc.)
5. Increase their crop production i.e.
-Vegetables bahay kubo (nipa hut) 10 kg harvest
-Fruit trees (minimum 20 pcs each)
Indigenous Trees/Fruit Trees will be sourced out from San Luis, La Paz, & Talacogon, etc.
“We want to adopt the style of Fr. Mac in Surigao generously dispersing seedlings all the time. Our Target for dispersal: at least 100 seedling trees every month.”
They also intend to produce quality organic Bio-feeds from Market Waste -fruits/vegetables and farm roughages with their machines like the Shredder, the Pelletizer, the Presser and the Mixer with a proper Fermentation Technique.
A Livestock Dispersal Programme – Must be planned out and intensified in this time of pandemic with the farmers who are willing to avail of this livelihood.
The MSC Centre for the Poor Phillippines wants to pursue this project by organising the local community, schools, parishes, organizations and gather their collective efforts to carry the following advocacy:
-Education on the integrity of creation,
-Zero Waste and Segregation,
-Ecological Balance,
-Garbage Management.
“We have to open our resources for the people our “UMAHANTA” Community Farming Program serves as a model to develop more farms… .COVID 19 has brought us back to the BASIC…
We must establish and produce farm products which is sustainable for people to live.”
There is a strong need now more than ever to create income generating projects and other efforts to raise the quality of life for the rural poor, promote and work with technology that is appropriate , ecologically balanced and safe. They must be able to save and use the traditional rice, corn and vegetable seed varieties that are not dependent on heavy chemical input.
Through this they need to create training programmes on Environmental Management Systems that will strengthen their centres and collective farms.
We must look forward and work for a just, equitable, judicious use of our natural and human resources.7. We believe that we are all connected and that by helping another, we help ourselves. Each individual can make a commitment to work towards the common good. As individuals, our personal contributions may be small, but when united in common cause, we can change the world. Let us reshape our planet revolutionizing sustainable life style of today to a much better future starting with ourselves.
development.
Update from MSC August Conference 2020 , Fr Richie Gomez MSC and Fr Tans MSC
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Jul 8, 2020
Things are increasingly difficult for our less fortunate friends in South Sudan lately. It has been been recognized among countries most at risk of what the UN World Food Programme (WFP) calls a “hunger pandemic”. Hunger and malnutrition in the country are at the most extreme levels since 2011, with almost 60% of the population struggling to find food every day. To add to this swarms of locusts which had destroyed crops across East Africa arrived in South Sudan earlier this year. They have also seen an increase in clan fights and revenge attacks, an increase in malaria, rains have been late and people are still struggling to plant .
And then of course to top all that they also have to deal with the dreaded Coronavirus.
As of today 7th July 2020, South Sudan has confirmed 2,021 cases, 333 recoveries and 38 deaths from the coronavirus . However in Loreto Rumbeck our companions Sr Orla Treacy, and the Loreto Sisters have informed us that It’s hard to know the real reality of Coronavirus, as they have only one official testing centre in the country a population of over 12 million. Tests sent from Rumbek can take up to two weeks, and meanwhile it seems that individuals are quarantined in their homes but their homes are small and basic and often can accommodate up to five people so social distancing at home isn’t very possible.
“On the more hopeful side of things we have a new Governor, we expect appointments for the State Ministers to be within this month.”
Another hopeful sign for them has been the rise of children under 5 being treated in the their clinic, in Rumbeck as they now represent 25% of overall patients. Unfortunately children are the most vulnerable in the community.
Photos courtesy of Loreto Schools Rumbeck on Facebook
During the month of June they have expanded as much as possible their knowledge of Covid-19, social distancing and health education in the clinic while also enjoying more personal protective equipment.
Sr Petra has been supporting the staff with psycho-social support, this has been appreciated by all. “Meanwhile our block makers are helping to keep the goats away from the crops while our resident staff are all having a chance to improve their cooking skills!”
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
