Jan 5, 2022
“Itās a big shift coming back to South Sudan again. After a few weeks at home in November, sporting a woolly hat, gloves, and my scarf, Iām now back in my shorts and light shirts. All this week the temperature is around the 38C mark, and it isnāt even the hottest time of the year! Still, itās good to be in Loreto again.
The exams are over and the term has come to an end, so most of the students headed off for the holidays. We only have a small group who either live far away or would be in danger of forced marriage if they went home. Itās quieter around the campus, but there is always something happening. We have already gone on a few day trips to nearby parishes. The rains finished earlier than last year, so the roads are passable, but very dusty. So far, we have taken the students to the parish of Cueibet, which is under the care of Korean, Peruvian, and Egyptian missionaries, and Wulu, where a Spiritan missionary is parish priest. In each place the Church is actively involved in the local community, supporting education through schools, running agricultural projects, working in the hospitals, and of course celebrating the Sacraments with the people.
Christmas Mass for us would normally happen in our usual spot under the neem trees next to the school, but one of the priests in town who was at home for holidays was diagnosed with COVID, so we agreed to help out in his parish. Our Christmas vigil and morning Mass were both special celebrations, with families gathering together to welcome the birth of Jesus once again. As Pope Francis said this year, āJesus is the name and the face of love ā this is the foundation of our joyā. There was no shortage of joy as the people sang, danced, and prayed in thanksgiving for the birth of our Saviour.
Our own Christmas dinner was a wonderful affair. Like any family we set out the extra tables and twenty-two of us shared a dinner of goat, sikumawiki (sort of like spinach, but not really), chapati, Irish potatoes (thatās what the locals call them), and tamalaka (a peanut sauce), all made by the students. Nothing is wasted when cooking here. I still havenāt worked my way up to tripe yet. One day maybe, but not this year!
The Feast of the Holy Family fell on the 26th, and according to tradition here, that is the main day to baptise children. Normally, four baptisms at any liturgy is more than enough for me, but here we had twenty-two. It was chaotic as you might expect at times, but it was a holy chaos, and the babies were just beautiful. People here cannot afford mobile phones, so cameras going off non-stop was not an issue. The baptisms took place within Mass, so the whole affair took two hours. By the end, I was ready for a cuppa, but the babies were probably the quietest there, content in their mothersā arms. Another unique tradition they have there is to place a tinsel garland on the priest mid-baptism, so while I was busy anointing, I was being festooned like the prize bull at a cattle show.
!["[One] unique tradition they have there is to place a tinsel garland on the priest mid-baptism, so while I was busy anointing, I was being festooned like the prize bull at a cattle show." ~ Fr Alan recalls baptising twenty-two babies, in keeping with local tradition, on the Feast of the Holy Family on December 26th.](https://www.mscmissions.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/FrAlan_December2021_2-Copy-1024x577.jpg "\"[One] unique tradition they have there is to place a tinsel garland on the priest mid-baptism, so while I was busy anointing, I was being festooned like the prize bull at a cattle show.\" ~ Fr Alan recalls baptising twenty-two babies, in keeping with local tradition, on the Feast of the Holy Family on December 26th.")
As I write this on New Yearās Eve, I look forward to tonight, when we will have a New Year vigil for the Feast of Mary, Mother of God. Previously, people would be wary of being out after dark, because of persistent security problems. Thankfully, this year things are calm and people feel safer. 2021 has certainly been a year of mixed blessings, with more than its fair share of challenges. I think we have all felt a little bit more vulnerable, but perhaps more connected too in spite of our self-isolation. There is no doubt we realise that we are more reliant on each other, and we are conscious that the effects of how we live can impact our brothers and sisters.
This year South Sudan benefitted from global solidarity efforts like the Covax vaccination programme. Loreto as a school has gone from strength to strength. A lot has been achieved, but there is still so much more to do. We have also been impacted by climate change, as rainfalls, which are essential to survival in an agricultural country, are disrupted. People will have to make do with what they harvested and weāll do our part to help too. As we begin this New Year, let us do so with joy and with hope as well. We remember that God came into our world as a vulnerable child, in the simplest of settings, among a people who were struggling, to remind us He came for all of us and that together we are one family.”
Merry Christmas to you all or as they say here, Miet puou dhith banyda.
Fr Alan
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
Sep 30, 2021
“Itās official. Last week a journalist from the Irish Times tweeted that vaccines distributed throughout Africa would not be recognised by the countries of the European Union. This was initially thought to be directed against vaccines manufactured outside of the EU, but is now understood to include even the vaccines donated from the US, the UK, and the EU itself.
So what does this mean in practice? On one level, not much. To date, South Sudan has just received 60,000 first and second doses of the Astra Zeneca vaccine. There has been a commitment from the US for just over 100,000 Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccines. Thatās it. For a country of over eleven million people, these donations are only a drop in the bucket, but, to paraphrase Mother Theresa, it would be a drop in the bucket that would be missed if it were not there.
You might well ask, why are African countries not producing their own vaccines? Well, they are, but thereās a catch. Earlier this year a company in South Africa produced 10 million Johnson and Johnson vaccines. The continent clearly has the know-how and the technology. What they donāt have is the buying power. The entire ten million doses were sold to the EU as part of their vaccine drive. At this point, it might be good to look at the disparity in COVID health care. As of the last week in September, there is 74.4% full vaccination coverage in Ireland and just 4% coverage throughout Africa. It was only after international outcry at the manifest injustice of the act that the vaccines were returned to South Africa to be distributed there.
As I have mentioned before, we have been lucky in South Sudan that the number of COVID infections have been quite low. This has been variously attributed to the countryās low average age, hot climate, and relative inaccessibility of the towns and cities. Whatever it is, it is evident that our luck is running out. Only yesterday, two of the religious sisters in our Diocese were diagnosed with COVID, with another going for testing today. One of the sisters working in a nearby hospital has also tested positive. Given the modest budget for testing, the emergence of these cases among front-line religious sisters is indicative of a significantly higher infection rate among the general population.”
“This is the time for solidarity, not division; for unity, not injustice.”
“However, there is good news too. Ten days ago, the second dose of the Astra Zeneca vaccines were delivered to Rumbek. Last time, we had so many people come from Loreto to receive the first dose that the hospital saved us a trip and sent a dedicated team to our Mary Ward Primary Health Care Clinic. We now have almost two hundred teachers, nurses, religious sisters, and agricultural workers who are fully vaccinated against COVID.
While a welcome relief, this level of take up was not easy to achieve. Rumours and the most ridiculous conspiracy theories abound about vaccines. The fact that the leadership team of Loreto were the first to take the vaccine gave others the confidence to go for their own. This frustrating reality is that this is not restricted to South Sudan, but is something of a global challenge.
Many of these rumours are easily dismissed as pure nonsense. However, the latest ruling by the EU quite reasonably has provoked doubts and concerns. We have been asked what the problem is with the vaccine that is been distributed in South Sudan. In spite of the fact that the entire enterprise is been undertaken by the World Health Organisation and their partners, the decision by the EU further emphasises the divide between the global north and south. We have many dedicated, professional medical personnel here who are entirely committed to an efficient vaccine roll-out. To disregard their work in such a cavalier manner is sheer prejudice. This is the time for solidarity, not division; for unity, not injustice.”
Bi Nhialic arrer kek yin,
Fr Alan
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
Photos of Loreto School courtesy of Life on Earth Pictures
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Sep 2, 2021
When you are asked what is the deadliest animal that youāve come across in South Sudan, people are hoping for something dramatic. On my first weekend here, when I was mapping out a potential jogging route around the Loreto campus, I came across a snake thicker than my arm struggling with his evening meal. Now I walk and as I do so I keep my eyes firmly on the ground. My godson has been delighted to hear that I have found scorpions on four different occasions wandering around my bedroom. All were dispatched with a trusty badminton racket that was left behind by my roomās previous tenant. Considering how difficult it is to play badminton by yourself, especially with no shuttlecock, I suspect they may have used it for a similar purpose.
When it comes to dangerous animals, Hollywood with its big budgets and daring adventures has got it badly wrong. Sharks, the subject of several blockbusters, languish in 15th place killing about ten people a year. Lions are responsible for up to a hundred deaths. Hippos, or āRouā as they are known locally, are at 11th place, killing five hundred people annually. Snakes earn something of their fearsome reputation with fifty thousand deaths and clock in at 3rd place. Surprisingly our most fearsome enemy is also among the smallest. Each year an incredible two million deaths are caused by mosquitos. The toxic and highly evolved diseases that the female carries, make this tiny insect that weighs the same as a grape seed, our greatest predator.
As I have mentioned before, we have been waiting for months for rain. Since the arrival of the rainy season, the community around the school have been working feverishly preparing the soil, sowing the seeds, and keeping an eye on the weeds. The rains were late this year and so far have been sporadic. We are waiting to see how good the crop will be. However, as sure as night follows day, the rains also meant the return of mosquitos. In the dry months, they are not much in evidence and those who fancy themselves thrill-seekers sleep without a net. Not now. They are back, and once again, the number of malaria cases are soaring.
The Primary Health Care Clinic was originally set up to look after the two thousand primary and secondary students, the local workers, and the staff on the ground in Loreto every day. This number does not even include the people our nursing teams looks after in our community outreach programme. Last week alone we had 302 cases of malaria just from the primary school.
The problem is that in the evening families prepare and eat their meals around a fire in front of their homes. This is the time that the mosquito hunts. In addition, peopleās houses or tukuls are often made with rough blocks and a grass roof, although some are fortunate to have corrugated metal. Anyone who has been on holidays in warmer climates know how good mosquitos are at exploiting even the smallest crack in a wall or hole in a net.
The situation this year has been complicated further by a lack of testing kits to determine if someone has malaria and if so, which type it is. Each requires different treatment. Insecurity on the roads mean that trucks from Nairobi stopped coming for a week, so deliveries are backlogged. We are fortunate to have a good working relationship with local NGOs and were able to make up a shortfall, before getting an emergency supply flown in from Juba.
While COVID continues to dominate the headlines, the challenges of malaria have been largely overlooked by the international community. It is a forgotten epidemic by an almost invisible predator that is wreaking havoc on already vulnerable populations. It has been pointed out by more than one commentator that if malaria was as big an issue in Western society as it is here, we would already have developed several effective vaccines. If these past two years have taught us anything, it is that we have the ability if we really want to. Until the situation changes, our nursing team is working flat out and will continue to do so until the rainy season ends in November. Itās going to be a long three months. Please keep them in your prayers.
Bi Nhialic arrer kek yin,
Fr Alan
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
Aug 19, 2021
Every couple of months in Loreto Rumbek, we have a celebration. Itās something of a bittersweet gathering with pizza, Coke, a few tears, and plenty of good humour. We had one only last Wednesday. They mark the departure of the graduates from our intern programme as they go on to further education. This time, we had three go to university in Nairobi, where two will study business, and one brave soul will train to become a social worker. Where she will even begin when she returns here is a mystery to me, but it is a welcome start. They will be welcomed in Nairobi by twenty other Loreto graduates who have gone before them and have, in fact, paved the way for them. Among our alumni we have women studying nursing, teaching, logistics, child protection, commerce, and medicine.
As I have mentioned before, decent education is a rare and precious commodity in South Sudan. Anytime Iām driving to a nearby school or going into the local town, Iām struck by the number of children who are out tending cattle, instead of being in class. Boy and girls, who are younger than my own niece of seven spend their entire day bringing the goats, sheep, and cows to the watering hole and back again. Many are dwarfed by the size of the animals they look after. Their education will be sporadic at best, but more likely non-existent.
Last week, we had our entrance of our Loreto Primary and take up was brisk. Families contribute the equivalent of the cost of a chicken for a yearās education, a daily meal, and free healthcare in our clinic. When we had the entrance exam for our secondary school last month, demand was once again far in excess of what we had available. The secondary girls have just finished their end of term exams and started their holidays, but we are looking forward to welcoming them back, along with our new first years at the beginning of September.
The children who get into primary school are fortunate to have access to basic education denied to many of their peers. Girls who manage to get into secondary school even more so, but where do they go to from there? One of Loretoās most successful programmes is the internship programme. Each year, secondary school graduates apply to return to the school to become an intern. This means they work across a wide variety of roles, such as teaching assistants, translators in the clinic, administrators in the school office, or team leaders in the agricultural project.
Interns who work for one year will have their third-level course funded anywhere within South Sudan. However, if they successfully complete two years, we fund their university education in Kenya, where the standard is significantly higher, and the options afterwards are far greater. At ā¬5,000 per university student for studies, accommodation, health, and food, it is a significant investment, but one that is ultimately worth it.
Coming back to the three women from last weekās celebration, they took off from Rumbek on Saturday with their tickets firmly in hand. They will have only a week to prepare their documentation, arrange passports, and sort out COVID tests before flying to Kenya. It is undoubtedly an exciting time. To reach as far as they have demonstrates their extraordinary commitment to education in the face of nearly overwhelming odds. Each one has a story of determination and sacrifice that is simultaneously unbelievable and inspiring. This latest step is only one more in a journey which will hopefully lead them home, and they can help in the building up of their community, especially opportunities for girls and women in South Sudan.
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
Jul 1, 2021
There seemed to be a dreadful inevitability to it, but no one was surprised last week when Uganda joined the list of East African countries that have gone into lockdown in response to a surge of coronavirus infections. Along with Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania, Uganda has seen an increase in community transmissions and hospital admissions. All these countries roughly surround South Sudan, but to date our numbers have remained exceptionally low. How long that stays that way remains to be seen.
“When these young women commit to something, there are no half measures.”
In the meantime, we are not sitting idly by in the face of the crisis. In fact, the students of Loreto Rumbek Secondary School decided themselves to take a more proactive, hands-on approach. So it was, on Fr Alanās day off, that we loaded up three minibuses with students, mops, buckets, sponges, disinfectant, a few dedicated teachers, and a decidedly rumpled, certainly sleepy Fr Alan, and headed off to Rumbek Hospital. The hospital is our main health centre for the entire Lakes State area and is run by an Italian Catholic charity.
The students spent the morning washing down the walls, brushing floors, and cleaning windows. Shortly after my arrival I was dispatched to go into town and buy more mops. Apparently, my cleaning skills were not up to scratch. When these young women commit to something, there are no half measures. They blitzed both surgical wards and the paediatric ward from top to bottom. They also brought along mandazis, a local pastry, for patients and staff alike. They went down especially well in the maternity ward.
“When the pandemic makes its way to Rumbek, we will be as ready for it as we can be.”
It was only a week later when we were back in Rumbek Hospital again. This time we were on the receiving end of their care. A couple of thousand doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had been delivered and the hospital were on a drive to get as many people vaccinated as possible. In fact, the vaccine rollout took place in one of the large tents that our students had just cleaned. The process was quick and efficient, and we were registered, injected, and sat down for our own mandazis in no time at all.
The programme for COVID vaccines here will take time due to challenges around cold chain storage availability, as well as a large, geographically dispersed population. Still, there is a determination among the people involved that when the pandemic makes its way to Rumbek, we will be as ready for it as we can be. There will be many people who will be at risk due to underlying health issues, poor nutrition, and lack of access to even basic medication. Please do keep us in your prayers.
Ben Nhialic areer keg a way,
Fr Alan
Read more from Fr Alan’s missionary journey in South Sudan:
PLEASE HELP US TO TRANSFORM LIVES IN SOUTH SUDAN
