Jan 27, 2022
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Itajubá, located in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, are raising funds to launch a new project titled “Bakery Bread at the Table”. The funds raised will purchase the machinery to equip a bakery, which will primarily feed 200 children, with the additional aim of providing training workshops for adolescents who are in a situation of social and financial vulnerability, allowing them to gain valuable skills and qualifications which will help them in seeking employment.
Some of the issues encountered by young people in the region include drug trafficking, prostitution, violence, and criminal activity. This project, with its introduction to both practical skills and a creative element, is a wonderful vehicle to promote healthy development in local youths, offering them an opportunity for alternative ways of living outside of their harsh reality.
This project will serve approximately 200 children and teenagers from needy and low-income families, aged between 5 and 13 years. The youths involved will learn to cook and bake a variety of foods, including bread, pies, pizzas, and cakes. Students will be engaged throughout the entire process, from gathering and mixing the ingredients to cleaning the machines and equipment in the aftermath of a cookery session.
It will cost €8,300 to get the bakery up and running,
providing invaluable opportunities for local youths and their families.
Can you help?
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR OLSH BAKERY IN BRAZIL
Jan 27, 2022
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) are a vital part of our Sacred Heart Family,
working all over the world, often in partnership with MSCs, under our shared motto:
“May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved.”
OLSH MINISTRY IN BRAZIL
There are currently 30 Sisters living in a house for aging members of the OLSH community in Vila Formosa, São Paulo. Several of these Sisters need special care, and Sisters in Vila Formosa are raising funds to purchase 3 bath chairs, 2 hospital beds, 2 hospital chairs, a digital pressure device, and 10 sets of linen for the hospital beds.
€2,600 will provide enormous comfort for aging OLSH Sisters who are in ill health.
OLSH Sisters in Alfenas run a second-hand clothing shop, where money raised from sales is used to buy food supplies for poor families in the area.
Every month, OLSH Sisters in Alfenas distribute 65 food parcels to families in real need. The Sisters are currently renovating the shop to make it more practical and attractive, for the dual purposes of encouraging donations, and also to make the shopping experience a more pleasant one for those in need, who go to this shop to cater for their own needs.
The Sisters need €2,000 to continue the necessary renovations,
and €400 for washing powder to launder the clothes for resale.
OLSH Sisters in Marahao are asking for your help in buying essential liturgical items for Mass, such as missals, chalices, and lectionaries, for several of the 18 mission stations they cover in remote locations across northern Brazil.
€2,300 will provide liturgical items for families in remote communities
to continue to celebrate Mass together.
The Daughters of the Lady of the Sacred Heart in São Paulo run a social centre which facilitates a number of workshops, including English lessons, yoga, and crafts for the aged. In addition, the elderly are taught how to comfortably use computers and smartphones.
The centre is currently using 15 old computers, 12 of which are in serious need of repair. The Sisters are working to raise funds to bring their computers back to working order, and continue to provide a comfortable, pleasant space for local people to learn valuable skills and share friendships.
€7,500 will repair the computers, allowing the Sisters to continue
to provide a space for people to meet, to learn, and to share.
HEALTH CARE IN MAKA KAHONE, SENEGAL
The OLSH Sisters in Maka Kahone, Senegal, run a health centre named for MSC founder Fr Jules Chevalier. Caring for the medical needs of families and vulnerable individuals who are living in conditions of severe poverty and hardship, the Sisters experience serious and concerning issues with security. The threat of violence and theft is an extremely worrying one, and the OLSH Sisters in Maka Kahone are appealing for funds to erect a security fence at the medical centre, along with metal grilles on the windows.
€9,200 will give the Sisters the opportunity to minister to their patients safely,
providing patients with peace of mind to recover.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR OLSH SISTERS IN THEIR GLOBAL OUTREACH
EMPOWERING YOUTHS IN INDONESIA
OLSH Sisters in Indonesia are appealing for help in running an Empowerment and Basic Leadership Training Youth Programme in Central Java.
The programme will provide leadership training for young people, giving the youths involved a wonderful skill set to use as they embark into the world of work, along with the confidence to implement it.
€4,000 will pay for four retreats, an LCD projector, a guitar, a keyboard,
20 floor mats, and a projector screen.
OLSH OUTREACH IN AFRICA
OLSH Sisters in Burkina Faso are responsible for the running of the Jules Chevalier School in the town of Zagtouli, where 198 students currently attend the pre-school, and 321 students are enrolled in the primary school.
Over 500 children are provided with one main meal and two nutritious snacks every day – a lifeline to children coming from backgrounds where poverty is rife and diet is poor, who are in real need of sustenance and good nutrition.
The OLSH community in Burkina Faso are working to raise
€19,465 to install a solar energy system in the school,
and to renovate a large area of the school to create a safe learning area for students.
The Bakhita Village Outreach Project is run by OLSH Sisters in Dwars River. This programme allows for OLSH Sisters to visit vulnerable girls in their villages twice weekly, ensuring their safety and healthy development, teaching basic life skills, and keeping up with their educational progress, including school attendance, homework, and general behaviour. The carers also deliver food parcels, toiletries, and clothing.
The Bakhita Village Sisters need €10,000 to cover daily costs,
allowing them to continue to support and encourage young girls.
The Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart has a long-standing friendship with the Holy Family Care Centre in Ofcolaco, a residential home that cares for children up to the age of 18, who suffer with life-threatening illnesses and have often been orphaned or abandoned.
The care centre is home to 75 children, from newborns to teenagers. Sr Sally Duigan, OLSH Regional Leader and community leader at Holy Family, is currently raising funds to help with the daily costs of running the centre.
€10,000 will be allocated to vital health care for seriously ill children, essential educational supplies,
and outreach programmes for children who are being reunited with their families.
The OLSH South Africa Outreach Programme cares for 150 families in Nzhelele, including children living with HIV/AIDS, and families who have suffered bereavements or abandonments, and are run by grandmothers or older children.
The Nzehele Outreach Team are working to raise €10,000 to establish a vegetable garden project,
which will contribute to the nutritional needs of children living with HIV/AIDS,
while teaching valuable skills and promoting self-sufficiency.
RENOVATING A MATERNITY WARD IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
The Jules Chevalier Health Centre was established by the OLSH community in Mbandaka, in Democratic Republic of Congo, 10 years ago, and serves as a maternity clinic for local women in the extended area. Many of the women who use the health centre live across the Congo River, and even making the journey can in itself prove hugely difficult.
Currently, whenever it rains, a significant amount of water gets into the maternity ward at the centre, making conditions extremely uncomfortable and unsanitary for women in varying stages of pre- and post-natal care.
Renovations to stop the leaks will cost a total of €9,887.
Can you help?
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR OLSH SISTERS IN THEIR GLOBAL OUTREACH
Jan 27, 2022
OLSH Sisters in Mirinzal, in northern Brazil, minister to local communities across the region in a variety of roles. The parish here is responsible for 18 small chapels, where people can meet, worship, and pray together. These chapels are located in extremely remote rural areas; the state of the roads and a lack of funds for safe transport means that transport is difficult, and attending Mass at these small local chapels is one of very few ways in which these communities are brought together in person.
This opportunity to pray and worship together offers a valuable sense of unity and community in regions where many families and individuals find themselves sadly isolated due to a combination of their rural location and poverty. Keeping this sense of togetherness alive is vital and brings a lifeblood to these regions, where it would be very easy for struggling families to fall off the radar entirely.
Last year, as part of our 2021 MSC World Projects Appeal, the OLSH Sisters in Mirinzal appealed to our mission friends here in the Irish Province to help to buy essential liturgical items for Mass, such as missals, chalices, and lectionaries, for three of the 18 mission stations in the region. The funds raised as a result of the generosity of our mission friends here facilitated the purchase of the liturgical items needed for families and individuals across these mission stations to continue to join together in faith and celebrate Mass in their spiritual communities.
“The parish communities that were helped in Brazil are very poor,” writes Sr Jenny Christie FDNSC, International Development Officer for the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. “Once again, you have our deep gratitude.”
IF YOU CAN, PLEASE SUPPORT OLSH OUTREACH PROGRAMMES
Dec 16, 2021
At the beginning of this year, the community of Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, appealed for our help in funding a laundry for their aged-care ministry as part of our annual MSC World Projects Appeal.
The Hartzer Centre is an aged-care centre attached to the main convent in Port Moresby, the country’s capital, where the Sisters care for elderly OLSH Sisters and MSC missionary priests who have devoted their lives to serving the people of Papua New Guinea. With eight rooms for elderly residents, it was an ongoing concern that the centre did not have a dedicated laundry area of its own, creating difficulties surrounding hygiene as the centre’s nurses would have to bring all dirty laundry through the convent dining room to reach the communal washing area.
Our mission friends in Ireland and the UK have already helped the OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea to provide extra safety measures in the Hartzer Centre, including extra sinks for improved safety in the continuing battle against COVID-19. Now, thanks to the funding sent through our 2021 MSC World Projects Appeal, the new laundry is well underway, despite limitations brought about by the pandemic.
This week, we were delighted to hear from Sr Rosaleen, who sent us an update on their current progress:
“Due to COVID restrictions, the laundry is not yet finished, but progress is being made! The maintenance man has been working hard and has built a store room at the level of the corridor into the care centre, so we can store wheelchairs and equipment without having them blocking the corridors.”
“When it is finished, the laundry will be downstairs, with another small store room for things like garden tools, which the centre residents use when they are able to potter in the garden.”
“We are most grateful for the funding and support we have received from friends and benefactors in the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, and we thank you very much for your kindness and generosity towards us.”
Oct 6, 2021
This year’s annual Masses for deceased MSCs and Daughters of the Lady of the Sacred Heart will take place around the country in November, as we remember those who have gone before us in the light of the Lord.
Irish Provincial Superior Fr Carl Tranter MSC writes:
“Sadly, this year, because of COVID-19 restrictions, our usual manner of gathering is not possible. We have, therefore, arranged for a Mass to be celebrated on Sunday, November 7th at 3.00pm in the Sacred Heart Church, Western Road, Cork, which will be live streamed on the internet to allow everyone to participate. All are welcome to access this mass on a computer, laptop, tablet, or smartphone by visiting our website’s live stream page.
In addition to the live-streamed mass from Cork, the MSC communities in Woodview, Dublin, and Croí Nua, Galway, will be celebrating their own community Mass for our deceased members that Sunday morning.
Mass will also be celebrated on Sunday, November 14th in St Patrick’s Church, Ballybay at 2.00pm. This will be live streamed and can be accessed by visiting the live stream at www.churchservices.tv/ballybay.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to invite family and friends to attend any of these Masses in person this year. We look forward to the possibility of coming together once again next year to remember and celebrate the lives of those who have gone before us. In the meantime, we hope that you will be able to join us virtually on November 7th and 14th this year.”
With my prayers and very best wishes,
Fr Carl
We invite you to join us for live-streamed Masses on the following dates:
Sunday, November 7th at 3.00pm:
Sunday, November 14th at 2.00pm:
We would like to invite you to pray with us during the month of the Holy Souls as we remember the MSCs and Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart who worked so hard to ensure that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is known and loved everywhere, and by everyone.
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