Face to face with human suffering
By our community in Ukusijoni, Uganda In our common project in which we collaborate closely with the Missionaries of Africa, we are at the stage of needs assessment, and we have just finished in one of the refugee settlements. We go to the refugee settlements and meet people, listen to them through group discussions, home visits, interviews and questionnaires. It is a very enriching and necessary time. We have an opportunity to discover with details the reality in which the refugees live, their struggles, pains as well as their aspirations and hopes. However, at the same time, it is a challenging experience as we meet face to face with real human suffering. The most heart-breaking sharing is about the lack of food: reduced ratio given by the UN, rocky place or no land where to cultivate for oneself, crops destroyed by cattle… many find themselves in a hopeless situation. There…
Youth in action in the Refugee Camp in Dzaleka, Malawi
By Sr. Agathe Mukamuligo, Lilongwe, Malawi I have seen and I witnessed it. I was at the service of the Catholic Community of St. Ignatius of Loyola. It was an experience from January to May 2022.The general situation of the Church in the Refugee Camp: Why the Catholic Community of Loyola? There are three Catholic communities in the camp. We belong to the Catholic community of St. Ignatius of Loyola served by the Jesuit Fathers. At first, it was one community, but now there are three! I found myself in this reality of the Church where we try to practice our faith, thanks be to God. The situation of many of the young people: They were born and raised in the refugee camp. Most of them came from Tanzania and were transported to Malawi. These young people, members of the Catholic community of St. Ignatius of Loyola, are very committed.…
“Sister Claire-Michelle, you have been a Link! »
Interview of Sr. Claire-Michelle by Sr. Nicole Robion It was Easter Sunday. Claire-Michelle recounts what she experienced that afternoon. In November 2019, a friend of the “Live and Love” movement, from Palaiseau, told me: “A Syrian family has arrived in Verrières, housed by the town hall. Can you contact them? » I thought to myself that she really had a high idea of what I could do! Did she naively think that I was able to take care of them? The accommodation of the host family was a 15-minute walk from Maison St Charles where I live. I went to see them on December 14, 2019. They were sleeping on mattresses. I found the husband, wife and a little girl of school age and a young child walking on all fours. We spoke in English. He was a journalist in Syria. I invited them to visit us in St Charles.…
Awakening the family Spirit
Collaboration is a process that enables people or individuals to work together to achieve a defined and common objective. Our Ukusijoni Common Project at the service of the refugees from South Sudan is a great and challenging mission. To accomplish this, we are privileged to be part of the team that consists of three Missionaries of Africa and the three of us MSOLA. We were sent together to achieve a common goal in participating in the Mission of Christ among our brothers and sisters now known as refugees. To be able to live this mission in a life-giving way, we got the opportunity to come together as the two institutes to spend some time together in Nairobi and to get some fundamentals that would help us in our ministry. Indeed, we treasured this time of formation. It gave us an occasion to see as a team the vision and the…
Solidarity with refugees
From our sister Kordula in the Karlsruhe community at Haus Lavigerie, Germany I met Nora, a Sudanese woman (not her real name and nationality) three years ago during Advent while baking cookies. She had fled with her family, her husband and her three children. Her fourth child, disabled, was born in Germany. Being able to communicate in Arabic made it easier to get in touch and to be there for the family. In August 2020, Nora came to tell me that the employment center was no longer paying them benefits: accommodation, food, medical care, and a contribution for personal needs. These services are guarantees by a legal residency permit that just expired! As Nora is not fluent in German, it was difficult for her to navigate the bureaucracy. The permit expired because she did not immediately respond to the Immigration Office and did not explain the obstacles, which prevented her…
The joy of “moving towards” … in Uganda
At the end of January, I set off on a new mission among the refugees in the northern part of Uganda, where there is one of the biggest refugee concentrations in the world. Refugees are prone to be trafficked and exploited because of their precarious situation and their vulnerability, especially children and young women. An effective fight against human trafficking requires some preparation, some knowledge about the realities of human trafficking and skills that can be useful in prevention and advocacy. To be better prepared for this task and to be actively involved in fighting human trafficking among those to whom I am sent, I followed a one-year online course that equipped me with necessary skills. The course was directed to the leaders of Talitha Kum Network, to enable us to be actively involved and better collaborate with others in the fight against human trafficking. We…
Joy and Gratitude for a new community
Creating a new community always brings joy and gratitude.
The Lublin community in Poland and JPIC-ED
Visiting the prison Once a month, Anafrida Biro goes to the prison to accompany the prisoners and pray with them. The prisoners who need someone to talk to wait for her with joy. With the homeless Once a week Ania helps at the Volunteer Center, where a warm meal is given to the homeless, former prisoners and people who are in a difficult situation. On human trafficking We invited a policeman working in the human trafficking department to tell us about human trafficking in our region. It was good because there are few reports on the issue. Ania Wójcik has participated in a training workshop on « Evangelization- street safety rules, dealing with conflict situations » organized by the Bakhita network in Katowice. Migrants and encounter of religions and cultures During one of the Missionary Saturdays meeting for young girls, Anafrida invited 2 Muslim African students of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, to…
Migrants in Hydra, Algers
Sr Valérie participated in the Zoom meeting on sisters’ commitment against human trafficking. It was an enriching experience. She summarized it for the other sisters at the weekly community meeting. This opened up a long discussion on the local situations here in Algeria. We mentioned the situation of some former residents of the Dar Essalem Center, for the most vulnerable migrants, where Sr Hortensia Sizalande is in charge and the “reappearance” of migrants from Niger. In recent months, we have witnessed many scenes of begging in the streets. They are women, teenagers, old men and especially young children reaching out to passers-by and drivers. It’s really pitiful! Where do these people come from, knowing that the borders are closed? Were they there before containment? Where do they stay? We have many questions. We feel powerless in the face of this situation: ignorance of the language (Hausa), painful experiences of expulsion…
The dangers of migration
Mr. Moustapha Dia, a Senegalese, taught at the Diam Ly school where Sr. Victorine Bulangalire works. He was the eldest leader of the Maison du Quartier, and my close collaborator. He left for the Canary Islands, by boat. We have learned that he has died. According to one of his friends who was travelling with him, Moustapha died on the 3rd day of the trip. The boat lost its way and was adrift for 12 days when it was found and rescued by the Canary Islands Red Cross (Spain) who took care of the survivors. But several migrants had already died from lack of water and food or from the heat. Moustapha’s body, like that of the other castaways, was returned to the sea. It was on 17th September that we received the news of his death. The children of the Maison du Quartier wrote messages and drew pictures in tribute to…