Jan 16, 2025
What a wonderful way to begin the new year, with a very welcome update from our friends at the Holy Family Care Centre!
The Holy Family Care Centre is located in Ofcolaco, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, where it provides residential care for up to 80 orphans, and sick and vulnerable children. Many of these children are living with chronic illnesses such as HIV/AIDs, TB, and other critical conditions. The children are mostly orphaned, and all are extremely vulnerable, so the Holy Family centre truly is a life-saving refuge for them. We at home in the Irish Province have long enjoyed an enduring friendship with Sr Sally and the Holy Family team, and our mission friends and extended Sacred Heart family here at home have provided invaluable support to the OLSH Sisters in Ofcolaco throughout the years.
Back at the beginning of 2024, we asked our mission friends here at home to help the Holy Family community to raise funds to improve the dormitory facilities at the centre, and to build a new toilet block for the toddlers and younger children in their care.
Prior to this, the boys’ dormitory was home to 23 children and two staff members, with beds packed together side-by-side to fit everybody in. The Sisters were hoping to replace the 15-year-old bedding, and buy sets of bunk beds to create more space in the dormitory. Thanks to the generosity of our mission friends here in the Irish Province, the dormitory renovation has been a success, and the boys now have a far more comfortable space for rest.
The Sisters also wished to raise funds to build a toilet block for the 25 younger children in the crèche facility, with smaller, junior-sized toilets to help the toddlers with toilet training. The new toilet block has now been constructed, and is a great success with the younger members of the Holy Family community!
“Most sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to the 2024 World Projects Appeal,” writes Sr Jenny Christie FDNSC, International Development Officer for the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. “What a difference your support has made!”
We join Sr Jenny in thanking you, wholeheartedly, for your continued friendship and support, and we wish all at Holy Family a very happy, healthy, and peaceful 2025!
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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:
Aug 29, 2024
A New Academic Year
It’s all go as usual in the Catholic University of South Sudan, Rumbek Campus. As we are approaching the end of one year, we are already in full swing getting organised for the next. The University is small but growing, and we are committed to seeing it flourish. Earlier this month, we launched a promotion programme for our new intake. We arranged a series of Facebook ads, printed flyers, put posters up around town, made Church announcements, and hosted two radio talk shows with our students.
Without a doubt, our students are our best adverts and promotors. Many of our new applicants have come through their personal recommendation. Their collaboration is essential and invaluable. However, we are faced with two significant challenges right now. The first is that the basic educational attainment level remains low. There is still a great deal of investment needed in primary and secondary education. According to the UN, South Sudan has the lowest expected school attendance in the world at just 5.6 years on average. This is why the work of the University in training professional, qualified teachers is so imperative. In addition, there has been significant inflation since the beginning of the year, reaching 320% since January. This means that finding money for University fees is especially difficult. To this end, we have worked to make them as low as possible and continue to offer a partial scholarship to women. For many, it is still not enough.
Fostering Body and Mind
It is not enough to just educate our students, we also need to attend to their complete wellbeing. Here, that means addressing issues like Hepatitis B. Seventy percent of all new global infections of viral hepatitis B and C occur in sub-Saharan Africa due to insufficient interventions, and the rate in South Sudan is a real problem. Hepatitis mortality remains high due to low treatment coverage. To this end, we have been working with the Mary Ward Primary Health Care Centre to test and vaccinate all of our students and staff who wish to take part. Those who are found to be Hep. B carriers are referred onwards for further treatment. Three out of four students and staff have already received their first dose, with second due later this month, and the third in September.
Get that Job!
As mentioned already, the South Sudanese economy is struggling and opportunities for employment are few and far between. Any time there is a job posting, the response is immediate and overwhelming, with many not even being shortlisted, let alone interviewed! To support our students, we arranged a workshop on interview technique with a member of Caritas, one of the largest organisations working in South Sudan. He worked with them on the essentials of best practice, good preparation, effective communication, and strong presentation. The attendance by students was enthusiastic, with standing room only for late comers. If given half the chance, they have the drive and creativity to really shape and change the economy and their community for the better. Such sustainable economic development by South Sudanese themselves is at the heart of our vision for the University.
Full House
This week our end-of-year exams began and will continue until the end of the month. Around the campus, student study groups are running as they prepare for tests in managerial accounting, African literature, computer literacy, entrepreneurship and innovation, economics, and ethics. All our first and second years sat my Church history exam yesterday and the stack of their uncorrected scripts are staring at me balefully from across the office. It’s perhaps the only aspect of lecturing I do not enjoy… to put it mildly!
While the exams continue, we are also welcoming our new first-year students. They will begin their bridging course tomorrow, which is comprised of eight weeks of intensive maths and English to help them as they start their third-level studies. All going well, they will be ready to begin their first courses by the middle of October.
Nhialic ke yin (God bless you as they say here),
Fr Alan
Director,
CUSS Rumbek
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
Jul 18, 2024
It has been a busy few months in the Catholic University of South Sudan, Rumbek and, as always, life is filled with activity. The economic crisis has deepened, due to the war in Sudan and runaway inflation here. Teachers, nurses, policemen, and civil servants have now not been paid since last October. How people manage to survive at all is one of the enduring mysteries. However, the South Sudanese are a courageous and resilient people and life has to go on.
Joyful Graduations
We are a new Catholic third-level institution, so this year marked the graduations of our first class. Our four Diploma in Business Administration and two Diploma in Accounting and Finance students joined us in our mother campus of Catholic University in Juba. In addition to our Diploma class, thirteen more Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Education students will graduate later this year.
For many of them, they will be the first member of their family to have earned a third level qualification. It is a source of tremendous excitement for all involved. More importantly, after decades of deliberate underinvestment in the south before independence by the Sudanese government, these men and women are among the first groups of South Sudanese men and women to be graduate as local teachers and business people. Our Bishop, Christian Carlassare, was the guest of honour on the day, and spoke with pride about the difference the graduates would make in creating a stronger, most sustainable future for South Sudan.
We have also established a group for these new alumni, so that they can continue to avail of the resources of the University as they begin their careers. Access to the internet here is among some of the most expensive globally due to our isolated location. However, with the support of the MSC Mission Office Australia, all of our computers are online, allowing them to search for employment, carry out research, and prepare CVs and applications. For our current students, it has opened up an entirely new dimension, giving them access to textbooks, videos and online software that previously they could only have wished for.
Creative Collaboration
Resources here are few and we are always looking for innovative ways to support the professional development of our students. To this end we are collaborating closely with the Department of Human Sciences in the University of Salerno. Every three weeks, our Bachelor of Education students have a special input delivered online by a senior member of the faculty. They focus on some of the latest techniques and methodologies that will help develop their teaching practice. To date we have studied cognitive difficulties in youth, the design of classrooms to facilitate greater participation, and Universal Design for Learning.
All of our students speak English as a second, sometimes third language and the demands of academia can present a significant challenge. To tackle this issue, we currently offer advanced English classes for our first and second years. In an exciting new partnership with the Loreto Education Centre, we are also setting up small group classes for students who need extra support, along with classes in English for business professionals.
New Beginnings
While these last months have been a time of saying goodbye to some, we are getting ready to welcome others. Earlier this week we launched our admissions programme for new students. While our Bachelor of Business Administration remains popular, the two Bachelor of Education degrees are our main focus. The development of well-trained local secondary school teachers is our central goal, and we see it as an essential component in the continued development of South Sudan.
As part our admissions drive, we will have students involved in talk shows on two different local radio stations, use social media advertising, put up posters around town, make announcements after Masses, distribute flyers, and most importantly encouraging our students to spread the news by word of mouth. As ambassadors for the University, their recommendation is the most effective way of engaging new students and they have been enthusiastic in their mission. As always, we endeavour to encourage as many women as possible to study with the help of our partial scholarship programme and along with our measures to facilitate mothers with young children. We are also one of the few institutions nationally that have a wheelchair toilet and a fully accessible campus. Here, education is for everyone.
Nhialic ke yin (or God bless you),
Fr Alan
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
