Jul 15, 2021
The wonderful pictures were taken by the OLSH community in Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu City, in the Philippines, where the blessing of a new water system took place in the spring.
The OLSH clinic in Marigondon was established over 20 years ago, offering healthcare to the poor in the region. The facility is mainly for maternity care, but also caters to the general community in caring for medical issues. People travel from surrounding villages, and even from other islands located close by, to access the health services facilitated by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart here.
Malnutrition is a significant issue in the area, due to a combination of poverty and a lack of awareness regarding proper diet. This problem is particularly prevalent in children, pregnant women, and the elderly, and the OLSH Sisters at the Marigondon Clinic do their best to offer effective treatment, with an established feeding programme in place, along with essential education on nutrition.
The clinic offers pre-natal examinations for pregnant women, and many of these expectant mothers go on to give birth in the facility. Women who may be experiencing issues or difficulties are referred to local hospitals, with financial assistance from the OLSH community, and these ladies are often transported for hospital care in the official clinic vehicle.
While patients await their medical consultation, they are given instruction and education in terms of nutrition and self-care. Expectant mothers are instructed in taking proper care of themselves and their babies, with strict attention on the personal hygiene of both mother and child.
In addition to the provision of vital healthcare, the clinic also offers employment opportunities to many local people in need of work, from the construction of buildings to the establishment of factories.
The new water system was blessed at the end of March, with great joy and gratitude. With this new system in place, guaranteeing better hygiene facilities, the OLSH Sisters at the clinic are able to continue their dedicated work in caring for expectant mothers, new families, and the general community in Marigondon and beyond, bringing “hope and light” to “poor and sometimes hopeless patients”.
Images via the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc. on Facebook, and the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Australia website.
Learn more about OLSH Global Outreach
May 27, 2021
The MSC community in the Philippines have been working tirelessly in recent times to help families whose lives are being quite literally swept away in an instant by ravaging typhoons.
Super-Typhoon Rolly, the world’s most powerful tropical typhoon in 2020, struck the island of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, on November 1st. The Bicol region was the worst hit, with more than 800,000 people left in urgent need of emergency aid as the super-typhoon wrecked untold devastation on its relentless path. While Super-Typhoon Rolly raged, volcanic mudflow from the active Mount Mayon buried over 300 houses in the areas surrounding the volcano.
The MSC Mission Office in the Philippines immediately mounted an emergency response, raising 321,721 Philippine pesos, or approximately €5,500, over a period of 15 days. Working with local volunteers and mission partners the Dominican Daughters of the Immaculate Mother Sisters (OP-DDIM), the Mission Response team distributed desperately needed emergency relief packs to more than 800 families spread across six communities in the Albay province. “The beneficiaries were so grateful for the support of the generous people had given to them,” writes the official website for the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Philippines.
On November 16th 2020, Typhoon Ulysses tore through the main island of Luzon, following in the footsteps of the earlier super-typhoon that had already caused unimaginable damage at the beginning of the month. More than one million families were left devastated by the typhoon, as homes, farms, and entire livelihoods were reduced to ruin by torrential rain, mudslides, and ferocious winds.
The areas most badly affected included the Metro Manila (Marikina area), Rizal, and the Cagayan Valley, where homes were demolished by raging floods.
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Philippines Province immediately mounted a campaign to provide emergency aid to those whose lives had been shattered, and to help affected families and communities rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the typhoon.
Through donations collected by the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc., the MSC community in the Philippines were able to send care packages of essential items to people in the most badly-hit regions. Boxes of groceries, essential items of clothing, and over 400 sacks of rice were included in these emergency care packages, which were distributed to MSC mission partners, the Office of the Vice-President (OVP) and the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP). With the help of these mission partners, these aid items were sent in relief distributions to the most affected areas of the country.
In February 2021, the country was battered by violent weather conditions once again, as Typhoon Auring hit. The MSC missionary community in the Philippines continues in its work to bring relief to those who find themselves in severe difficulty as a result of the typhoons, with the Duvog-Ambit Project in Tandag, Surigao del Sur, currently bringing MSCs and the Diocese of Tandag together to help those in need.
The official website for the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in the Philippines posted a message of gratitude to all who contributed to their recent fundraising endeavours for victims of Typhoon Ulysses:
“We would like to thank all the people who took part of this mission especially to all the donors and generous people who helped us raise funds for the project. And to our mission partners, the OVP and AMRSP, thank you for organizing and facilitating the relief distribution activity. In behalf of the MSC Mission Office and all the beneficiaries, ‘Maraming Salamat Po!’”
Images via the MSC Mission Office Philippines website and the MSC Mission Office Philippines, Inc. on Facebook.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Jan 21, 2021
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) are a vital part of our Sacred Heart Family, working all over the world, often in partnership with MSCs, under our shared motto:
“May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved.”
CARING FOR THE ELDERLY IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
In Papua New Guinea, a community of 86 OLSH Sisters provide dedicated hands-on care for vulnerable individuals and families, from young children to the elderly. In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, financial assistance from the Irish Province allowed the OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea to provide extra safety measures in the Hartzer Centre, an aged-care centre attached to the main convent in Port Moresby, the country’s capital, where the Sisters care for elderly OLSH Sisters and MSC missionary priests who have devoted their lives to serving the people of Papua New Guinea.
As we all know, hygiene is one of the most vital defences against the coronavirus, and our mission friends in Ireland and the UK have already helped to provide extra sinks for improved safety measures. The Hartzer Centre has eight rooms for their elderly residents, but the centre does not have a dedicated laundry area of its own, and this creates significant difficulties surrounding hygiene as the centre’s nurses must bring all dirty laundry through the convent dining room to reach the communal washing area.
Sr Relida, Provincial of the OLSH Sisters in Papua New Guinea, has sent her “deep gratitude” for the changes we have already helped to make, and now asks if our mission friends in the Irish Province could please help the Sisters to build a small laundry area for the Hartzer Centre, to ensure the continued safety and care of vulnerable elderly residents.
In a time where good hygiene can quite literally save lives, especially in the case of the elderly and infirm, can you help us to help the Hartzer Centre?
A donation of €235 will buy a washing machine for the centre, while the new laundry room will cost €7,100 in total.
SOWING SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE IN SOUTH SUDAN
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart recently marked 25 years of service in South Sudan, where they have been involved in everything from education and nursing to general pastoral work.Most recently, the Sisters have been working to build gardens which will help to provide a stable and sustainable source of food and water to families in the region who have very little.
The gardens contain bores which are drilled and fitted with a pump, a tank, and a watering system.
These gardens are used to grow a variety of vegetables, and, when cultivated to their full potential, will be hugely beneficial in the long-term provision of nutritious food supplies to local families, who are up against a daily struggle to afford to feed their children.
The gardens are an investment which will provide years upon years of profit to local communities, from being a source of nutritious food to providing local students who tend to the crops with the physical and mental benefits of gardening.
CAN YOU HELP THE OLSH SISTERS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
Feb 24, 2020
Msc Phillippines shares an appreciative message from their Outreach Programme for for the victims of the Taal volcano eruption earlier in the year where the community of Taal in Batangas were on permanent lockdown.
January 27, 2020 – The MSC Mission Office posted A Call for Donation campaign in various social media platform to gather funds for the project. “With the help of a company, organizations and generous individuals, we were able to collect amount of funds in just a span of few days. We also received handful of grocery items from a private organization who have been very supportive to our missions”. Having enough resources, the office decided to schedule a relief operation as soon as possible.
February 6, 2020 – The MSC Mission Office with the help of the MSC Scholastics & MSC staff started the repacking of relief items for Taal evacuees. A total of 200 families were expected to receive the relief packages which contain of rice, canned goods, noodles, monggo beans, biscuits, dried fish, bottled water, toiletries, bed mat, blanket, towels, pail and water dipper.
February 8, 2020 – The MSC Mission Office Philippines together with some volunteers from various organizations distributed relief items in Bgry, As-is, Laurel, Batangas. Through this project, a total of 200 families received relief packages. In addition, we were able to also give milk supplement and clothing for the children in the evacuation center.
“The evacuees were thankful as they received the relief packages. They had big smiles and were saying endless pasasalamat as they took their own relief goods. We appreciate the help of our volunteers and of course, a million thanks to you our donors for your generosity and support to this project. As we worked together for this Mission Outreach, we became witnesses of Christ’s heart here on earth.
Thank you and God bless us all.”
-Msc Mission Office Philippines.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MSC MISSIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Jan 23, 2020
The Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (OLSH) are a vital part of our Sacred Heart Family, working all over the world, often in partnership with MSCs, under our shared motto:
“May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be everywhere loved.”
OLSH in Brazil
Helping a children’s choir
The municipality of Mirinzal is a small, remote region in Maranhão, Brazil. Sr Maria José dos Santos Lira runs a children’s choir in the area, which gives local children great motivation and inspiration to be part of something bigger. The OLSH Sisters teach the children about music and liturgy, and choir regularly performs during special liturgical events in the parish.
Families in the region have very little, and the OLSH Sisters are doing their best to keep the choir going with the extremely limited resources available to them. The choir are currently raising funds for new equipment, including two microphones, a cajon (a local musical instrument), and a keyboard stand.
The cost of these items is low: €21.50 will buy a microphone, €43 will pay for their new cajon, and a new keyboard stand costs just €21.50. A small donation will make a truly great difference to these children as they create bright and beautiful music in a life dogged by hardship and poverty.
A centre for the elderly
In the convent in São Paulo, Brazil, Sr Maria da Paricida leads the sisters in local social work. Twice a week, elderly people from the area attend workshops that provide lessons in different life skills, such as technology classes, yoga sessions, English classes, embroidery lessons, and choir practise, among other things. The main aim of the Sisters’ work here is to help these elderly people feel part of the wider community, fighting in the face of loneliness and the depression brought about by extended solitude.
The majority of people who come to these workshops are very poor, and have no other opportunities to meet and mix with others. However, the hall where they currently gathering is in poor condition and is currently in need of repair to create a comfortable space for these elderly people to gather together to learn. The Sisters here are raising funds to buy paint as part of the hall restoration.
A donation of just €110 will provide paint for the entire hall, and will help to provide a bright, comfortable space for elderly people who have nowhere else to go.
Residents’ Association Stove
The area of Morumbinho, on the outskirts of the city of São Paulo, is home to approximate 800 families. The majority of these families are migrants who are living in extreme poverty. The local Residents’ Association have appealed to the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the Parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for funds to purchase a professional stove, which will allow them to cook for the families who are unable to provide meals for themselves.
Just €175 will cover the cost of the new stove and provide desperately needed meals for families who have no other way to feed themselves.
OLSH in Cameroon
As a result of social and political unrest in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, many children have been displaced from their homes and families, and are seeking shelter with extended family in the towns of Baffusam, Yaounde, and Douala. Many of these children are suffering greatly as a result of malnutrition and poor hygiene, and the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the locality are doing their best to help.
Regional leader Sr Marie Solange OKO is raising funds for an aid project which will assist 50 internally displaced children in the Yaounde region, providing food, essential medication, and basic hygiene products.
Just €125 will support one of these children for five months.
CAN YOU HELP THE OLSH SISTERS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
OLSH in Papua New Guinea
A safe Novitiate Chapel
The OLSH Novitiate in Papua New Guinea is located on Yule Island, where the first MSCs and OLSH Sisters began their mission over 130 years ago. Since then, the OLSH Sisters in the region have set up schools and health centres to help local communities, and today, there are 86 Sisters currently working in the area.
Recently, the Sisters’ novitiate chapel had to be demolished following an infestation by white ants. They are sorely feeling the lack of this sacred space, and are raising funds to rebuild the chapel at a total cost of €4,800.
Daru School Library Books
The region of Daru in Papua New Guinea is an extremely isolated one, which takes five days to reach by boat, or a flight in a small place followed by another journey on land. This area is plagued by poverty and hardship, and two OLSH Sisters are currently teaching in the school there. The conditions are very basic, and the school’s library facilities are extremely limited. The books are old and in poor condition, and students must share books between them during their classes.
The Sisters in the Daru school are appealing for help, at a cost of €1,330 to purchase the books that the school so desperately needs. Education is the only hope for many of these children, and the gift of a book can make all the difference to their future.
OLSH in the Philippines
Sr Precy Peralta is principal of the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Integrated School, an OLSH-run pre-school in the Philippines that currently accommodates 54 children. The majority of these children come from backgrounds of extreme poverty, and resources are very limited within the school.
The school is currently in need of a steel cabinet to store important documents safely, at a cost of €300, and a TV for classroom use, at a cost of €250. These small additions will make a great difference to the quality of education and administration for the staff and children at the school.
OLSH in South Sudan
The region of Mapuordit is currently home to four OLSH Sisters, two from Australia and two from Indonesia, who minister to the two groups living in the area, the Dinka and the Jur. Children from both groups attend the OLSH primary and secondary schools there, with 1,400 primary school pupils and 440 secondary school students.
In recent years, the OLSH Sisters have been trying to make the best possible use of the land around the schools by cultivating it for growth. The Sisters currently grow vegetables such as sweet potatoes and green vegetables for consumption by local families, using the natural resources available to provide a much-needed food source. The land in the region is extremely fertile, but with six months of regular rain and a six-month dry season, the garden is in need of a simple irrigation system to allow it to be used on a year-round basis.
The Sisters here are appealing for the funds to successfully establish and maintain two gardens. With a borehole fitted with a hand pump costing €8,000, the cost of each garden will total just over €10,000 – an investment which will provide years upon years of profit to local communities, from being a source of nutritious food to providing students with the physical and mental benefits of gardening.
PLEASE SUPPORT OLSH GLOBAL OUTREACH
