Apr 11, 2025
Back to School for Exams
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.
Late-Night Study
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.
Exams in a Heatwave
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.
Step-Free Access for All
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.
Nhialic ke yin,
Fr. Alan
HELP SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS PROJECTS
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
Feb 5, 2025
The Catholic Church in South Sudan is at the forefront of pastoral ministry in both education and health. Our impact is easily quantifiable by the number of students taught or patients treated. However, one of its most important roles is perhaps the most difficult to measure, peacebuilding. Grounded in the teaching of Jesus, it is the call of Christians everywhere to be peacemakers, fostering reconciliation and healing in our communities, giving witness by our lives to a different way that is grounded in justice and mercy.
This ministry in South Sudan is complex, to say the least. Following five decades of fighting for freedom from Sudan, 2011’s independence was a time of optimism for a wounded society. However, the ensuing civil war in 2013 saw over 400,000 people being killed, millions become displaced, and countless men, women, and children left traumatised. According to the UN, over a million people have fled here from war-torn Sudan since April of last year. It is, in many ways, the making of a perfect storm. But violence is like that, destructive, loud, and indiscriminate. How could you possibly respond to something so big that it is almost an act of God, although it is definitely not! Well, you could go for a walk.
The Diocese of Rumbek Pilgrimage of Peace first started in February 2023. The idea came from Sr. Orla Treacy, a Loreto sister, who thought it would be a good idea for young people to walk from the centre of South Sudan to Juba to welcome Pope Francis during his first official visit to the country. Working with the youth team of the Diocese, it was an incredible success and captured the hearts of the people. The Pope even requested to meet the group personally when they arrived. Since, then it has continued to grow, with another pilgrimage in the west of the Diocese in 2024.
This year the pilgrimage was organised, not by the priests and religious of the Diocese, but by the youth themselves. Young men and women, veterans of last year’s pilgrimage, planned, organised, and implemented everything, from the beans we ate, to the route we took, to the places we slept. This gave us, as sisters, brothers, and priests, the opportunity to really journey with the youth, listening to their stories and sharing their hopes. On our first day we began with Mass in the Cathedral of Rumbek and were joined by the newly appointed Apostolic Nuncio to South Sudan, Archbishop Séamus Horgan (from Co. Clare), and our own Bishop Christian Carlassare.
Our route would take us through the south of Lakes State and into Western Equatoria, from Rumbek to Malou, Wulu, Mvolo, Mapourdit, and finally to Aluakluak, covering a distance of over 125km. We slept each night in the simple classrooms of local schools, although many of us opted to spend the night camped out under the stars. Possibly the one advantage to only 8% of the population of South Sudan having electricity at home is that the night skies are awesome in the truest sense of the word.
Each day we would rise at 5:30am, take a few minutes for warming up, and then hit the road. In the course of our pilgrimage, we would stop and speak with those we met along the way. Such a large and exuberant group caused a lot of comment. What were we doing? Why were we walking, when you could drive? How does a pilgrimage really help to promote peace?
The last question really touches into the heart of what we were trying to do. Not so long ago, many of the roads and paths we walked were impassable due to insecurity. Violence, theft and shootings were commonplace. To be able to walk now, without weapons, police, or security signalled loudly more than words could express that something different, something new was happening.
In addition, our group was made up of young people from around the Diocese, drawing from groups that have been traditionally hostile to one another. Their ability to walk together and work for peace re-enforced our message of hope. As the sun set, we were joined by the local people as we celebrated Mass and shared a simple meal of rice and beans together.
By the end of the week, we were blistered and, in my case, a little sunburnt, but happy. One of the group calculated that, between all of us, we had walked 27,000,000 million steps. New friendships had formed that would have been quite impossible before. We made our way home, with perhaps a renewed appreciation for running water and corrugated metal roofs. Above all, our time together and with the people we met was a quiet, but joyful witness of what could be, peace for a people weary of war and ready for a new beginning. It just takes a step.
Nhialic ke yin,
Fr. Alan
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
Dec 17, 2024
It’s all excitement in the Catholic University of South Sudan for the start of 2025. We are moving! Thanks in large part to the generous support of the Mission Support Office’s benefactors, we will shift all our lecturers and students to a local Catholic secondary school for the next four months. This will allow for the complete renovation of our existing halls, including lights and fans. We will be able to develop a programme of evening classes and extend our popular late night study sessions.
The building we are currently using is a repurposed youth centre, lacking ceilings, windows, and any electricity. As we move into the dry season, dust becomes a real problem and on a windy day it can feel like a scene out of Lawrence of Arabia minus the camels and sweeping vistas. During the rest of the year, when it rains it pours and students had to move to the centre of the classroom to avoid getting drenched.
Many of our students actually came from that school, so it will be a chance to revisit the past and see if they can fit back into the small desks. It will take a considerable amount of effort, but it will be worth it. In future, we also want to use the new building as a training centre for existing teachers to upgrade their skills and support their work.
Thanks in a special way to all of you who have supported our ministry here and on behalf of everyone in the University we wish you a joyful Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
Nhialic abi thiei,
Fr. Alan
Our Students: Meet Helena and Isabella (Our newest student – just 2 months old)
Helena is 25 years old and is in her second year of a four-year Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. She has three other children along with Isabella. Only 4% of the population of South Sudan has access to electricity, so being able to study at night is a real challenge.
“I like to study in the Catholic University because there is availability of internet, to allow us to access new information. We have a little library and we have five computers. We now have night-time study twice a week and when my baby is old enough I can take part in it. During the day it is hot. Our temperatures can go up to 42C, so it is difficult to study. Our lecturers are very committed and we don’t miss a single class.
The University’s partial scholarship for women is encouraging us, as the full fee would be too much for us to pay, as many of us are not working. When you are pregnant in other universities you are suspended as a student, but here we are allowed to bring our babies with us and this is really helping us.
I study at night when the baby is asleep. When Isabella is awake she wants to know about everything I am doing. I have to get up at 2:00am and study until 4:00am using a torch. Then I start preparing for my other children to go to school, lighting the fire, and making the porridge.
My hope for the future is to open up my own school, to ensure that education reaches more children in South Sudan. In our primary schools we have a lot of students, up to 150 children in a class with one teacher and those teachers often are not well trained.
With everything that is going on here the number of students will increase next year. Our sisters are admiring how we going and they hope to join us.”
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
Nov 28, 2024
November is a busy month in Rumbek. We are coming to the end of the year and students are preparing for their final exams. Before all that can happen, we had our graduation with our Senior 4 students. It is a time of sincere gratitude for all that has been achieved, for the sacrifices that were made, the work that was done. This year, 78 students graduated from Loreto, our largest number yet, and their families came from all over to celebrate their daughters’ success. It was day of speeches, prayer, and dancing.
No sooner had we tidied away the marquees and cleaned up the bunting, then it was down to the Primary School for our First Holy Communion Mass. Over the course of the year, these boys and girls attended special classes on Saturday mornings with Sr. Priyanka to prepare. They learned about the life of Jesus and his followers, the gift of the Eucharist given by God to all his people, and they practised their prayers in both Dinka and English. This First Holy Communion Day was a low-key affair by Irish standards, but was both joyful and heartfelt.
While the schools are winding down, the Catholic University is only getting started on our academic year. We are welcoming our largest cohort of students yet. It’s a real gift to have so many young women and men committed to further education and to raising up their country as future entrepreneurs and teachers. We now have well over a hundred students spread across three degree courses. In the midst of studies covering economics, African literature, and Catholic social ethics, there’s always time for fun, such as a friendly volleyball match between our old and new students. The lecturing staff also tried their luck and showed that our experience does not just begin and end at the lecture hall door. We still lost though – badly.
Only 4% of South Sudan has access to electricity, and this means that at nighttime there is little access to light in towns and almost nothing at all in the villages. To this end, we are starting our late-night study programme, opening our Catholic University library until 8:00pm two nights a week, with a view to expanding the programme. It will provide an essential opportunity to allow students to carry out course work, catch up on their reading, and progress their studies.
Over the weekend, we had our Secondary School Confirmations, with 44 Confirmandi. Since Bishop Christian has been appointed to the newly erected Diocese of Bentiu, I celebrated the sacrament with them. Over the past year, we have journeyed together as they explored their faith, grew in their relationship with God, and had ample time to ask as many challenging and insightful questions as possible, as teenagers are wont to do. It was also good to keep me on my theological toes.
Looking forward to the next month, we have the Senior 4 exams (our equivalent of the Leaving Cert), a road trip to Juba to buy supplies for the year, and a seven-day Diocesan youth walking pilgrimage for peace through the bush, not to mention of course the celebration of Christmas. Life in Rumbek is many things, but never, ever boring.
Nhialic ke yin (God bless you),
Fr. Alan
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
Nov 21, 2024
October was an especially busy month for the MSC Missions Office here in the Irish Province, as our MSCs hit the road to meet with some of our many friends and benefactors in different parts of Kerry, Waterford, and Cork. Fr John Fitzgerald, Director of the MSC Missions Office, was at the helm of a team of MSCs who ventured around Munster to meet with just some of our wonderful mission family here at home, in great gratitude for the invaluable support and friendship we see in action every day.
A series of four thanksgiving evenings took place throughout the month of October. Everybody in attendance was enrolled in our Golden Book of the Sacred Heart and our Blue Book of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, while the books themselves were a special part of each evening’s celebrations. Those present each received a little flameless candle, all of which were placed around the Golden Book and the Blue Book display at the beginning of each evening, so that everybody’s intentions would be remembered throughout the night.
During our Thanksgiving Mass, a video played in the background, highlighting our mission projects around the world, and the life-changing work our MSCs undertake every day. Fr John Fitzgerald regaled the congregation with stories from the mission fields, explaining just how vital the help we receive from home is, and how the support of our mission friends makes an unimaginable difference in places many of us will never see in person. Gerry and Dee provided beautiful music throughout each Mass, and after each ceremony, there was an opportunity for our mission friends to chat with our MSCs over tea and coffee. Each evening was a special way for our MSCs to reconnect with just some of the benefactors who make our work possible every single day.
“An honour and a privilege”
The first event took place in the Killarney INEC at the beginning of October, where Fr John Fitzgerald, Fr John Finn, and Fr Seamus Kelly met with some of our Kerry friends. Then it was on to Waterford, where Fr John Fitzgerald and Fr Alan Neville met with some of our benefactors at the Tower Hotel in Waterford City. Finally, the month ended with two events at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road in Cork, where Fr John Fitzgerald was joined by Fr John Finn, Fr Alan Neville, Fr Seamus Kelly, Fr Tom Mulcahy, Fr Con Doherty, and Fr Tony Horgan. Our Head of Fundraising, Mary Morrish, also joined the team to thank just some of the mission family that make our work possible. Our MSCs met over 400 people over the course of four evenings, giving us a great chance to chat with people who are changing lives across the world, through the kindness and compassion that begin at home.
“It was our absolute honour and privilege to celebrate Mass with our mission friends and benefactors, and to meet with those who could come along to our evenings,” says Fr John Fitzgerald. “I am astounded at the knowledge they have, both of our projects and of our MSCs, and I have been equally amazed at the fact that so many of them have continued the tradition began by parents or loved ones who have now passed in supporting our missions. It is always humbling to have the opportunity to hear personal requests for prayer, for those who are sick or facing different challenges, and it really has been our privilege to be able to hear these intentions in person, and to pray with some of the people whose kindness is encouraging and motivating our MSC communities across the world.”
It really was a very special thing to be able to chat in person about our current projects, as MSCs and mission friends alike both heard stories and told their own. Indeed, it brought home to us all the fact that, despite distance and differences, we all have our own challenges and goals at heart, and we are all doing our best in our own situations. It is truly heartwarming to see the great generosity of mission friends and benefactors who are dealing with their own struggles in life, reaching across the miles to help beneficiaries on the mission fields who might be facing similar family problems, albeit in different circumstances. The generosity that begins in your own home, through our Missions Office here in Cork, quickly reaches our MSCs who are ministering in places like rural Guatemala, remote villages in the Amazon, and the barrios, or slums, of Venezuela, to name but a few. It just goes to show that the boundaries set in place by distance or language are nothing in the face of compassion, and that is the true missionary spirit and the love of Jesus in action in human form, here on earth.
While our team of MSCs were fortunate enough to meet with a great many of our mission friends and benefactors on this occasion, we are of course acutely aware of so many more people who all provide fundamental support to our ongoing missions. Constraints of time and space mean that we cannot meet with everybody in one swoop, but rest assured that every single donation we receive is put to the best possible use with heartfelt gratitude, and every one of our benefactors across the province is in the prayers of our MSCs priests daily. Having received such a warm welcome in Kerry, Waterford, and Cork, we hope to be able to meet even more of our extended mission family in the not-too-distant future, and in the meantime, we thank you sincerely for your continued friendship and support, which means so much to so many.
