Jan 9, 2020
Members of the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines recently paid a visit to the students at an MSC-run educational programme in Saints Peter and Paul Parish Learning Centre, in Tubod, Surigao del Norte.
For the past two years, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Philippines have been supporting the programme, which provides educational assistance to children who have difficulty in continuing their studies because they and their families live in circumstances of severe poverty and hardship. The Philippine Province of the MSC provide financial support for their tuition fees, plus the necessary books for their studies, through this programme. “These children are very willing to study, but their parents are financially incapacitated,” say the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines. A total of 21 children are currently taking part in the programme – children who are all too pleased with the opportunity to be able to continue their studies, but who would not be able to without the help and financial assistance of the MSC Mission Office and the mission friends around the world who support our work.
The team at the learning centre include Mrs Norma Porcil, who is principal of the school. A retired teacher, she now works voluntarily to take care of the school and its students. The project manager of the programme is Mr Boni Dano, who is also the coordinator of the Chevalier Family Lay Associates in Tubod. He also volunteers his services in making sure the programme runs smoothly and benefits the children involved as much as possible. Finally, Fr Sansin Ebuna MSC is leader of the MSC Mission Office in the Philippines, and has been instrumental in ensuring the success of the programme for children who are in great need of help in order to be able to hope for a more positive future.
We send our best wishes and blessings to everyone involved in this wonderful project, as we continue to work together all over the world to make a difference where it is most needed.
Images via the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc. on Facebook
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Jan 2, 2020
November was a busy time for the MSC mission in Mozambique, where the celebrations of Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation took place throughout the month.
Early November saw Confirmations taking place in the community of Our Lady of Fatima in Meluco. The MSC Mozambique Facebook page described it as a “beautiful” day, and the accompanying photographs give us a glimpse into a very special celebration of faith.
Just over a week later, the community of St Augustine in Muaguide celebrated the sacraments of Baptism and First Holy Communion. Again, this was an exceptionally blessed day for all involved. “This is a time of grace and blessings from God,” said the MSC Mozambique Facebook page.
It is a truly great thing to see communities across our MSC Mozambique mission marking these joyous occasions, particularly as recovery from the devastation caused by two cyclones earlier this year is still ongoing. The strength, resilience, and spirit demonstrated by local communities is an inspiration to behold, and while the journey to recovery is a long and arduous one, moments such as these provide much-needed encouragement and motivation to all involved in the mission.
Blessings to all who received the sacraments, and to the families, communities, and MSCs who joined them in celebration!
Images via the MSC Mozambique Facebook page.
Dec 19, 2019
It is with great joy that we recently received an update from our MSC brothers at the Sacred Heart Bilingual College in Lada II, a small village situated 25km from Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon.
Back in the summer of 2018, we appealed to our mission friends in the Irish Province to help the Sacred Heart family in Lada II, an area racked by extreme poverty and hardship. The Sacred Heart Bilingual College opened in 2016 to both male and female students, but remained in an unfinished state of construction with minimal facilities and equipment.
Poverty is a huge challenge faced by local families, who cannot afford to send their children to school when they are struggling to find enough food for daily meals. The students of the Sacred Heart Bilingual College are grateful for amenities that we take for granted every day; “I appreciate the toilets,” student Wilfried said, “because they have taps around them where we can wash our hands.”
The MSC community in Yaoundé contacted us in recent weeks with “great joy and satisfaction” that the project has made excellent progress, thanks to the support of our mission friends here in the Irish Province. “The new MSC community is now established,” they wrote. “It was blessed on October 21st by the UAF MSC Superior, Fr Yvon-César Banackissa, who installed also the new Superior of the community on that day, Br Magloire Njankou Samen. This structure will be greatly helpful in strengthening our abilities, our aims, and our dreams, particularly in running our school.”
“We are sincerely grateful to everybody who supported our project for your great generosity and openness of heart, for your support, help, and care. By so acting, you show us the real proof of your commitment to help people to live and to enhance their fundamental right to dignity.”
The Yaoundé MSC community sent us some pictures of the progress as the building works have been completed, and of the blessing of the community at the end of October. The MSC Mission Office on Facebook have also made photos available from a recent visit to the school in October, when they captured photos of Br Magloire and his team undertaking extensive carpentry projects, making the desks and furniture from the school.
“Thank you, once again, for your unceasing kindness and generosity towards our African community and mission,” wrote the MSC community in Yaoundé. “Thank you for your great generosity of heart!”
Read more about the Sacred Heart Bilingual College in Lada II
Dec 12, 2019
At the end of October, the 2019 pastoral assembly took place over a period of three days in the missionary area of Melquibi, Mozambique.
Over 70 people from the surrounding regions joined in the assembly, celebrating the work that has been done and the progress that has been made over the past year, along with discussion and reflection on the year to come.
This year’s theme was “Being the Church, Being People of God”, a wonderful celebration of faith and unity in the Lord’s love, with a specific focus on how our MSC missionary work can continue to make positive change in the region in 2020.
As the MSC Mission in Mozambique began just a year and a half ago, in March 2018, it is especially rewarding to see the great sense of community that is already evident between local areas. The mission has been faced with some extremely challenging setbacks, namely the devastation caused by the two cyclones that hit in the space of six weeks earlier this year, but this has not deterred our Mozambique family of faith – indeed, their strength, resilience, and faith been truly inspirational in the face of destruction and despair.
We send our congratulations and blessings to the MSC Mozambique Mission on a successful 2019 assembly, and we wish them a positive, prayerful, and productive year ahead.
Images via the MSC Mozambique Facebook page.
Nov 28, 2019
MSC missionaries in Mozambique are continuing their ongoing work in providing relief to families who were affected by the ferocious cyclones that tore across the country earlier this year.
In mid-March, Cyclone Idai wreaked havoc in north-eastern Mozambique, killing over 600 people. Just six weeks later, at the end of April, the Pemba region was hit again by Cyclone Kenneth, and the death toll began to rise further.
Hundreds lost their lives, and over 21,000 people were left homeless by the disasters. Homes, crops, and livestock were destroyed by floods and mudslides, while wells were contaminated, leaving the local drinking water unsafe for consumption, with the threat of cholera and malaria a real danger.
“We have lost everything,” said one survivor. “Our house and most of our belongings were taken by the wind and the waves.”
The Mozambique mission began in March 2018, when MSC missionaries from Brazil began ministering in the Pemba diocese, an extremely poor part of the country with no church infrastructure or functioning pastoral ministry. Our MSC brothers immediately began working to bring positive change to local families and communities, and their reach has spread far and wide in the past year and a half.
The arrival of the cyclones was a huge setback to the work being done in the local area; however, our MSCs have continued to work hand-in-hand with local families in the area, helping them to rebuild their lives in the wake of the catastrophe, and continuing in their original mission to bring God’s gifts of faith, hope, and love to those in real need.
In October, our missionaries took part in a new aid endeavour, distributing essential supplies to families in the Meluco region who are still struggling to rebuild the pieces of their lives following the disaster. These supplies included shelter kits, with tarpaulin and tools, kitchen kits, containing pots, dishes, and utensils, personal hygiene kits, water treatment kits, and flashlights.
The MSC Mozambique Facebook page reports that this aid endeavour has been taking place throughout Meluco in conjunction with Caritas Mozambique, and will provide much-needed relief to 3,500 families in the region.
While the flood waters may have receded, the extreme damage done by the cyclones is still very much a real and pressing issue for families who lost everything in the disaster. Our MSC brothers continue in their tireless work to aid these families in their struggle for survival, and to help to rebuild the lives that were shattered by this dual catastrophe.
Images via the MSC Mozambique Facebook page.
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Nov 21, 2019
It is a pleasure to share these wonderful pictures from a recent Children’s Liturgy at the Holy Family Care Centre in Ofcolaco, South Africa, which took place at the end of September.
Founded in 2002 and run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) with the support of the MSC, the Holy Family Care Centre is an invaluable facility for young children who are very ill and who, in many cases, have been orphaned or abandoned. These children are primarily HIV positive and are in urgent need of care. The Holy Family Care Centre can accommodate 70 children, and its facilities are stretched to full capacity on a daily basis.
The priority of this centre is quality of life. The sisters and volunteers at Holy Family see these children as God’s gift, and the simple joy, excitement, and love of the children make the Holy Family Care Centre a place of laughter, fun, and activity.
“The children and staff have benefited enormously from the funding received from the MSC Missions Office in Ireland,” wrote Sr Sally Duigan FDNSC, who runs the care centre, in a letter to our MSC Missions. “We are so grateful.”
“Above all, we continue to give our children love, security, and care, in the hope they will thrive.”
The photos from the Children’s Liturgy celebrations demonstrate perfectly the sense of joy, unity, family, and faith that are at the core of the Holy Family ethos. We are delighted to continue to work closely with the Holy Family team in building a brighter future for the children of the Limpopo Province and beyond.
Find out more about our work with the Holy Family Centre: https://www.mscmissions.ie/about-us/what-we-do/our-projects/ofcolaco-south-africa/
Photos via MSC Mission Office on Facebook.
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