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Fun, friendship, and fundraising! Cork steps up in aid of the Holy Family Care Centre, South Africa

May 7, 2026

Sincere thanks to everyone who came along to participate in our annual May fundraising event for the community of the Holy Family Care Centre, a dedicated facility for vulnerable young children run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, with the support of the MSC, in Ofcolaco, South Africa. This year’s fundraising event took place at the Sacred Heart Church on the Western Road, Cork, after Masses on May 2nd and 3rd, and raised a total of approximately €4,226.81 for the Holy Family children.

Each May, the Sacred Heart community comes out in force to raise funds for the ongoing work of the Holy Family team, with a local plant and cake sale that always receives wonderfully generous support from parishioners and mission friends. It is always a lovely opportunity for old friends and new acquaintances to chat over tea and home-baked treats, and every year is much-anticipated by MSCs, local mission friends, and Sacred Heart parishioners.

Just some of the wonderful team who participated in our annual Sacred Heart Parish Plant & Cake Sale in aid of the Holy Family Care Centre in Ofcolaco, South Africa.

The Holy Family Care Centre has been run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in South Africa, with the support of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, since its establishment in 2002. Sr Sally Duigan FDNSC heads up the team at the centre, which is a true sanctuary and home away from home for young children who are very ill, and in many cases, do not have close family to take care of them.  With many of the children being HIV positive, and in need of extremely specialised care, the demands on the centre are great. The Holy Family facility has resources to accommodate 70 children, yet Sr Sally and the team always do their best to accommodate every child that needs them, and so they often have 80 children or more in their care.

The availability of funding is a constant challenge, and the support of our MSC mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province is invaluable. Speaking of the long-standing friendship between the MSC Mission Office and the Holy Family Care Centre, Sr Sally said, “The children and staff have benefited enormously from the funding received from MSC Mission Office Ireland, and we are so grateful.”

children at family care centre

“We continue to give our children love, security and care in the hope they will thrive. We want them to have the energy to enjoy playtime, be able to learn and live a happy life.”

Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who worked so hard to organise this year’s fundraising event, and to everybody who contributed and took part in even the smallest way, despite the rain and cloudy weather! Every little plant and every bun sold is part of a much bigger picture, connecting the Holy Family community in South Africa with the Sacred Heart family in Cork, and we are so very grateful for your ongoing friendship, generosity, and kindness.
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A walk down Memory Lane… February 2026

Feb 26, 2026

This month, we’re looking back at an issue of the MSC Message from 20 years ago, in 2006.

Blessings from the Sacred Heart Church

The newsletter welcomed newly appointed parish priest at the time, our very own Fr John Fitzgerald MSC, who has come full circle and is now parish priest at the Sacred Heart again, 20 years later! He was pictured with another familiar face here on the Western Road, former Missions Office Director Fr Michael O’Connell MSC, as they placed a box of benefactors’ petitions on the altar for the 2006 Novena to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

Direct from the MSC Mission Fields

In a page dedicated to stories from the MSC Mission Fields, we read about MSCs Fr Vinnie Screene and Fr Adrian McHugh, who were ministering in Venezuela and South Africa respectively.

“Fr. Vinnie Screene, msc – a native of Skehanagh, Co. Galway – is seen here with volunteer helpers in one of our Soup Kitchens in Maracaibo, Venezuela.”

“Whilst on holiday in Ireland recently Fr. Vinnie told us that one of his big tasks on his return to Maracaibo would be assisting poor families with the cost of school books. MSCs regard education as the foundation to enable poor people to better themselves. Distribution of food parcels to sustain poor families is a regular part of missionary work.”

Fr Adrian McHugh, from Swinford, Co. Mayo, was pictured with a group of very vulnerable children receiving warm blankets in Musina, South Africa.

“Whilst South Africa is known for its blistering heat, the temperature can drop well below zero during the winter. The cold added to poor diet and nutrition along with bad housing creates great hardship especially for children and old people. At St. Martin’s School vegetables and maize are cooked in large pots in the yard to provide a nutritious meal for children. Fr. Adrian is now planning a Drop-In Centre for AIDS sufferers and their families.

AIDS is a huge problem. Africa has 10% of the world’s population but 90% of AIDS sufferers.”

Prayers & Reflections

Finally, the MSC Message also featured some particularly lovely prayers and reflections that stand the test of time, and are equally powerful today.

One, from William Penn, speaks of the value of kindness: “I expect to pass through life once. If therefore there is any kindness I can do to any fellow human being, let me do to any fellow human being, let me do it now, as I shall not pass this way again.”

Another, from St Therese of Lisieux, is especially beautiful for this time of year, as we welcome Spring:

“Happiness – people search for it
in vain: it’s not on earthly ground;
With me, it’s quite the opposite –
it’s in my heart that joy is found.
This joy – don’t think it comes and
goes:
Coming to me, it came to stay.
Delighting like a fresh spring rose
it smiles upon me every day.”

Twenty years on, tradition – and the heart of our mission – is still going strong. We’re looking forward to our 2026 Novenas to the Sacred Heart and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart later in the year, while our ministry in Venezuela and South Africa continues, with our MSCs on each mission ministering to the changing needs of local communities in today’s society.

MSC World Projects 2026:OLSH Global Outreach 2026

Jan 15, 2026

OLSH youth ministry deep in the Amazon region of Brazil

The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart are hard at work in São Gabriel da Cachoeira, an extremely remote area of the Amazon region in Brazil. Their work here is challenging, not least because of the inaccessible location, but is essential in serving rural communities who would otherwise be highly isolated. 

This year, the Sisters are asking for our help in raising approximately €20,000 to buy a vehicle suited to the difficult Amazonian terrain and harsh conditions.

“This project aims to provide the sisters with reliable transportation to reach the parish communities,” Sr Renisa Augusta da Fonseca writes. “The vehicle would help Sisters with their social workwith disabled children, migrants and young indigenous people in this vast and under-served region.”

 

OLSH youth ministry deep in the Amazon region of Brazil

Rural Amazon 

“The community of São Gabriel da Cachoeira is situated in one of the most isolated and challenging areas of Brazil, deep in the Amazon region,” Sr Renisa explains. “The Sisters’ mission there involves pastoral work in the parish and surrounding villages, catechetical formation for children, youth, and adults, visiting families and offering accompaniment to the sick and elderly, community support programs, and cultural dialogue among diverse indigenous groups. Currently, the Sisters do not have adequate transportation, which limits their ability to serve these scattered communities effectively.” 

The purchase of the vehicle would greatly benefit the Sisters in their work with several groups, including local families and communities, indigenous families who need additional support, disabled children, and migrant families. It would allow the Sisters to travel safely and efficiently around the region, transporting essential items for education and pastoral and social aid, and would improve their ability to respond to urgent or emergency situations in remote spots. It would also encourage the “enhanced missionary presence of the Sisters, fostering hope, faith, and solidarity in the area”, says Sr Renisa. 

Working with nature at the OLSH Mission Garden in Nzhelele, South Africa

At the Nzhelele mission in South Africa, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart care for more than 130 orphans and vulnerable children by providing essential items such as food, shelter, clothing, school supplies and financial support, youth activities in drop-in centres, classes and workshops for children and their carers, regular care visits to the children’s homes, and working gardens to address food shortages and promote nutrition and healthy eating. 

Working with nature at the OLSH Mission Garden in Nzhelele, South Africa

Tending the plants

This year, Sr Rotee Uriam, director of the Nzhelele project, is asking for our help in funding the repair and refurbishment of their dedicated mission garden. Located in the grounds of the convent, the garden was originally established by an Irish OLSH Sister, Sr Mairead. For many years, the garden has provided food for the children in the care of the Sisters, and offers employment to several local people who would otherwise find it very difficult to find work in what is a very remote area. 

“The garden is a great teaching tool for the children to learn good agricultural practices and healthy eating practices,” writes Sr Rotee. “It has been in existence for many years – however, it now needs many repairs and updating.” 

The OLSH Sisters in Nzhelele are working to raise a total of €15,000 to complete the repairs to the garden, and continue with this wonderful resource for the provision of nutritious food, local employment, and life skills. This will include repairs to fences and pipes, and the provision of water tanks and watering apparatus for the garden. “With a grateful heart, we thank you for all you are doing to help,” Sr Rotee says.  

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Welcoming 2026 at the Holy Family Care Centre

Jan 14, 2026

As another new year begins, we’re glad to share news from Sr Sally and our friends at the Holy Family Care Centre in South Africa.

The Holy Family Care Centre is located in Ofcolaco, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, and is run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart with a dedicated team who provide residential care for up to 80 sick and vulnerable children. Many of these children are living with chronic illnesses such as HIV/AIDs, TB, and other critical conditions. Many of the children have lost their parents, and all are extremely vulnerable, so the Holy Family centre is a true home to them. Here in the Irish Province, our mission friends and extended Sacred Heart family are glad to be able to provide long-standing friendship and support to Sr Sally and the OLSH Sisters in Ofcolaco.

The new toddler room at the Holy Family Care Centre, supported by the generosity of our mission friends and benefactors in the Irish Province

Throughout 2025, our mission family and benefactors here at home have given invaluable support to our friends at Holy Family, with our Camino pilgrimage in September raising €13,000 for the children in their care. The generosity of our mission friends in the Irish Province has also contributed to a special new dormitory dedicated to the toddlers and pre-schoolers at the centre, who had previously been sharing a room with older children up to the age of 10. Sr Sally has sent us a wonderful video of the Holy Family toddlers enjoying their new space, and their smiles and songs say it all!

 

It hasn’t been all fun and games at the centre, as January has brought with it rain and floods that have blocked the road leading to the facility, certainly making life more challenging for the Holy Family team

As we begin to journey together through another new year, we thank you, with grateful hearts, for your continued friendship and support of our mission projects, and we wish Sr Sally and all the Holy Family community a happy and healthy 2026

Introducing solar power at the Holy Family Care Centre, South Africa

Apr 15, 2025


Our friends at the Holy Family Care Centre in the Limpopo Province of South Africa have been in touch with an update from the centre, where new solar panels have been installed thanks to the support of our mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province. The centre is run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, and here, they provide dedicated care for orphans, and sick and vulnerable children, with approximately 75 children in residence at any given time. 

In our 2024 World Projects Appeal, we asked if you could help to raise €9,900 for the centre to install solar panels. Due to “load shedding”, it is an unfortunate fact that the centre’s electricity is frequently cut, and the emergency generator is expensive to run. The solar panels will power the unit’s bore water well and sewerage pumps, ensuring savings on power and the prevention of major system failure with when the electricity cuts out. 

The solar panels have now been successfully installed, and the community at Holy Family are already reaping the benefits of having a dependable and sustainable source of power for the centre. As ever, we join our voices with our OLSH Sisters in thanking our mission family sincerely for your continued friendship and support, which makes such a great difference to the Holy Family children. 

 

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