Diary of the past few days

A couple of weeks ago I had visited the parish priest of St Patricks Church, Father John, to suggest starting a Saturday class for children whose parents can’t afford school fees and therefore have no schooling.  The priest said he would discuss it with the parish council.  I heard no more and was on the verge of reminding him. On Thursday evening I went to Mass.  Afterwards I was walking back home when a man came running after me from the church. Father John had told him about my suggestion and he is keen to help get it organised.  We agreed to discuss practicalities further on Sunday.  We need to consider how we get exercise books, pens, chalk and a blackboard.  We will need more volunteers to teach as there are a huge number of children unable to go to school here.  One of my ideas is to ask local missions for their help.  Brenda is friends with an American missionary couple who live locally.  She has agreed to introduce me before she leaves.

A couple of days ago a large quantity of donated clothes and other goodies arrived at Cornerstone from the U.S. along with some American members of Fulaa who are staying a couple of weeks.  The gifts were distributed to the resident children.  The focus was particularly on those with U.S sponsors, who needed to be photographed and write thank you letters for their presents.  Amid the excitement was a little girl whose elder sister is a resident.  This little girl is staying briefly while her relatives are away.  There was nothing for her even though she is just as poor and comes from the same orphaned background.  She has never had the chance to go to school because her relatives have no money for school fees.  I took her into my room and started to teach her to read.  I also taught her to write a, b, c and her name.  She was so excited when she realised she was writing her name, that her face lit up with joy.  It was a most rewarding experience for me.

Children at Loa are given their presents.
The school kitchens and a burnt out dormitory are in the background

Science lab at Loa

Today the American visitors and I took a taxi to a boarding secondary school at a place called Loa.  It is attended by six of the oldest Cornerstone children who had yet to receive their presents from their sponsors.  It was a lovely drive through the national park, along mountain passes, past beautiful traditional villages and then along a very rutted track which the driver took very cautiously.  The school was founded by Catholic missionaries.  It suffered badly during the civil war, when the Arabs bombed both the school buildings and the church.  Fortunately, although some buildings are just shells, both the church and the majority of school buildings have been renovated and are back in use.  After seeing their gifts and writing thank you letters to their sponsors, the children took us on a tour of the grounds.  The school is far better resourced than Cornerstone.  The students have individual chairs with built in writing surfaces.  There is a very new looking science laboratory, a library and lovely grounds with avenues of trees for shade.  

The children take us to see the church at Loa

The church at Loa was built in the 1920s and is back in use.  While we were there, they were preparing for the Feast of St Daniel Comboni, the missionary who first brought Catholicism to Sudan.  There were women preparing vegetables for the celebration.  When we went to introduce ourselves to them, they recognised me and greeted me very enthusiastically.  It turned out that they were the Legion of Mary from St Patricks, the church I attend in Nimule.