Jun 10, 2021
Like Ireland, South Sudan has a rich tradition of farming. Whether it is the cattle they tend or the small vegetable gardens they plant, the people here survive on the land. We have just begun rainy season and when it rains in Rumbek it pours. So far, I have experienced only a few storms and while they are short lived, they are Biblical in scale. It is not uncommon to have an hour of high winds and heavy rain, with thunder and lightning, before the blue skies and gentle breezes return like nothing happened. A decent pair of wellingtons is a must!
Self-sufficiency and valuable life lessons
This year, though, the rain has been sporadic. The people are not worried just yet, but they are certainly concerned. A bad season can mean the difference between having one meal a day or having no food at all. Women with young families are most especially vulnerable, because they use the proceeds of what they can sell in the market to support their families. With poor rains, they have to water their small fields by hand. Only last week on a drive back from town, we saw a family carrying water from a local well, including two preschool children each bringing a full two-litre container.
In the school, we are working away as we begin a new term, and we too are busy planting. The Loreto compound includes land that we can use for farming. Agriculture is one of the courses on the secondary curriculum and the girls enjoy the experience to get out from behind the desks every now and then. They have planted maize and ground nuts, which are staples that we will use in the school kitchen. This self-sufficiency allows us to reduce our expenditure, while teaching the students valuable life lessons.
Beginning to reap a great harvest
However, other types of seeds are now coming into fruition. At the moment, one of our graduates is back with us during a break in her studies in Kenya. She is working with the child protection team to help educate our students about children’s rights, as well as the importance of healthy and appropriate relationships. In the next week, another graduate will be here teaching English literature in the secondary school. After thirteen years of careful tending, we are seeing the first generation of our students return from further studies abroad. They are among the first, but they won’t be the last. These are bright, confident young women who are committed to their community. They are the pioneers of education for girls and they are determined to support those who follow after them.
This coming Sunday for our Gospel, we have the parable of the mustard seed, something tiny and unremarkable that can grow into a mighty tree, where people can shelter and birds can make a home. The same is true for what happens here in Loreto. Thanks to a team of gifted teachers who journey with the girls, to their parents who value education for the daughters, and to a student who commits herself whole heartedly to her studies, we are beginning to reap a great harvest. It is the fruit of tremendous work; it is a wonder to behold; and it is an absolute good to give thanks to God for.
Fr Alan
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
May 5, 2021
The motto of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart is the same as ourselves; after all, we are family. It is short and to the point, but also profound, rich, and as relevant today as it ever was. It is, “To be on earth the Heart of God.” You could spend a lifetime considering what this might mean or you could simply look at what it is like when it is put into action.
In my first piece on my mission to South Sudan, I spoke about two of our sisters that I met by coincidence in Juba. They were on the same flight as me, but on arrival in Rumbek they still had a long journey before they got back to their community in Mapourdit, a former refugee town that has grown up around the hospital and school the Church built. The trip would take them along flooded roads, where they would need to wade hundreds of yards across water up to their waist, and through insecure areas, where violence is still depressingly commonplace. It is only journey of 88km, but could easily take them up to half a day, if not more.
Deo gratias
Still, they didn’t complain. They were used to it. In fact, they were used to considerably worse as the Daughters have been here for over twenty-five years. In that time, they have had to contend with the struggle for the independence of South Sudan, the subsequent and tragic civil war, imprisonment, far too many snakes, plenty of rats, you name it really. In the booklet for the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the mission the Daughters in South Sudan, they used two words to express what they felt after all that time: Deo gratias or thank God.
The reason I’m writing the article now is that last Saturday we travelled to Mapourdit to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of the community, Sr Rita Grunke. Sr Rita has been here since 2004 and has devoted herself to the community building, especially among the local women. She would spend extended periods of time travelling around the countryside, building up grassroots development, and sleeping out under the stars in a rough, but practical, tent.
Living out the Good News
I was especially privileged to celebrate Mass for her that morning, with the other sisters, the members of the wonderful Comboni community next door who run the hospital, and the local people that have helped to build up the mission over the years. It was simple and beautiful as we broke the bread and shared the word of God together under a corrugated metal roof next to their kitchen. On the wall looking down on us was a painting of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart by a South Sudanese artist. In 1875, St Daniel Comboni, who was one of the pioneers of the Catholic mission in South Sudan, wrote to our founder, Fr Jules Chevalier, and consecrated the entire country to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.
Almost 150 years later, we continue in that same gentle, but powerful spirituality. In many ways so much has changed and moved on, yet at the same time the needs remain the same. Religious sisters, brothers, and priests have set up schools and hospitals, working with local clergy and lay people to build a better future. Now with the arrival of the new bishop elect, we are looking towards a renewed sense of evangelisation that moves beyond just providing the necessities for survival. It is a living out of the Good News and the building up of the local Church. It is encountering the love of Jesus in the people that we serve and together building up the Kingdom of God. For that opportunity we can only say, Deo gratias.
Fr Alan
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
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
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
Jun 4, 2020
As the world battles with covid-19 our companions from Loreto Rumbeck in South Sudan have added pressure in dealing with this deadly disease, however they are keeping up the spirit and doing the best to keep going during this pandemic.
“As we come to the end of the month of May we are grateful for many small achievements.
Our schools remained closed but our compound is still full of life. The rains have begun and while we are missing the support of our students we are all helping out with the planting. We look forward to September when we hope to feast on the harvest of groundnuts (monkey nuts) and maize.”
Some of their university students who have returned to them are continuing their studies online although a lot of their students cannot afford the opportunity. They were however grateful to connect with many of their Primary and Secondary girls when they came to receive their cash payment for the British project, Girls Education in South Sudan.
The journey of Coronavirus is becoming very real for them. In their capital of Juba many of their top political leaders have confirmed they are positive for coronavirus and a number of confirmed cases are now present in the town. Unfortunately they don’t have testing services in the State but they must assume that the virus is present and spreading fast.
“Our graduates are doing a great service, some go to the radios and have health talks while others are out and about in the community teaching about coronavirus. While masks aren’t widely available our graduates are learning how to make their own and provide some for the community.”
“We realise that the coming weeks will be tense as we expect the spread of Coronavirus to be more visible to us all. We are beginning to take the necessary precautions though it is difficult in an environment that has little.”
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
