Fr Federico

I wanted to introduce you to one of our partners who is currently on the ground in South Sudan, making a difference. His name is Father Federico Loro Gatluak, a Franciscan missionary who’s been working with the Sudan Relief Fund since 2015. Below is a letter he recently sent to us that I wanted to share with you.

– Neil Corkery, President

—

Hello,

My name is Father Federico Loro Gatluak, and I am a missionary who has been working South Sudan for the past 5 years. When I was called by the grace of God to help these people back in 2015, I wasn’t aware of just how bad it was in this region of the world. The constant warring, the death, the destruction, the strife – and the overall hopelessness. The people of South Sudan have so little, and that is being taken away from them with each passing day.

One major issue that we see on a day to day basis is the orphan situation. The ongoing civil war has left countless children without parents or a home, and when I first arrived, it was not uncommon to see children wandering the streets in desperate search of food and shelter.

Several years ago, my fellow missionaries and I built St. Clare’s Home for Children in Juba to take in the orphans and provide them with the basic necessities of life. Currently, we are housing about 50 orphans, but unfortunately, we do not have enough funding to provide them with the care they need and deserve.

That is why we need the help of our generous donors to make a difference.

For as little as $3 dollars a day – a little more than the price of a cup of coffee – you can support one of our orphans at St. Clare’s Home. These 3 dollars may not seem like much to you, but they can provide a child with food, clothing, medicine, and much more. And if you can be generous enough, for $90, you can ensure their care for an entire month.

Please look into your hearts and help these children today.

Sincerely,
Fr. Federico Loro Gatluak

Dr. Tom Catena Q&A October 2020

As you may know, Dr. Tom Catena has spent the past several years offering his medical expertise and knowledge to the people of the Nuba Mountains. We keep in regular contact with Dr. Tom to learn of any crucial updates and needs. Recently, we provided an update we wanted to share with you about his recent experiences.

Are there any daily rituals that bring you peace and help you manage the chaos?
I’ve found that it’s very important for me to start the day by attending morning Mass at our small church here in Nuba. To hear His word and receive His body is essential in order to face the inevitable challenges and difficulties of the day ahead. 

In the evening, I try to reserve some good time to play with my son, Francis. He’s always in a good mood and ready to show his affection regardless of my frame of mind. I also try to do some non-medical reading in the evenings – usually spiritual reading or contemporary issues.

Is there always a sense of emergency and urgency for you at work?
I would say that the sense of chaos is less now that the fighting has stopped, but there is still always a sense of urgency and time pressure just to get through the large workload. Since we are the only referral hospital for such a large area, we always have to expect the unexpected and be ready for any disaster to come our way. There are no days off and there is no one else that I can pass off the responsibility of the most difficult cases.

What has it been like in Nuba? Are you experiencing the effects of COVID?
We are perhaps one of the few areas in the world that are still untouched by COVID. However, we are preparing an isolation unit and expecting a shipment of PPE from AMH’s office in Kenya as we’re trying to get ready in case those patients start to show up. The past few months have been relatively calm as we just grapple with the usual diseases and surgical problems.

Are there any specific prayer requests we can be praying over for you and your team?
Yes, we would love your prayers. If you could pray for our health and strength that we may continue with our work here. I’ve been sick on and off for this past month and it’s made me realize how fragile we are. I would also ask people to pray that we also have unity among our staff and team.

What makes you hopeful right now?
There’s been quite a big political change this past week. The Sudanese prime minister and the leader of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army-North opposition (who controls the large swath of territory where we live and work) have agreed to a ‘Declaration of Principles’. This means they have agreed on some basic principles to be discussed at the upcoming peace talks. One of the principles is freedom of religion.

It may not seem like much, but it is the first time that the Khartoum government is willing to discuss the issue of freedom of religion in Sudan, and this issue is one of the main points preventing peace in the Nuba Mountains. This is really the first real step toward peace that we’ve seen after years of civil war, and it is giving me hope for the future.

As always, I am so grateful for your help. We completely rely on the generosity and compassion of donors like you in order to continue saving lives here in Nuba, and I am constantly amazed by your thoughtful support.

Sr. Bianca Bii Defies the Odds to Save Children in Tombura-Yambio

Over the years, countless children have been left orphaned and homeless due to the ongoing war of independence between Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan. One person who has been fighting to save these children despite the overwhelming odds is Sister Bianca Bii.

Sr. Bianca was born in a culture where women are expected to remain homemakers, tasked solely with caring for children and being a good wife. However, she was born with a strong diligence and resilience that gave her the motivation to pursue her mission of serving the Lord.

She joined the school at the Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Parish, Riimenze, in 1952 after a Comboni missionary requested that her father allow her to attend. Years later, after finishing her early schooling at Riimenze, Bianca then went to Mupoi to continue her education. It was there that she approached a nun and expressed her desire to become a nun herself, and she was then admitted as an Aspirant. Around the same time, Sudan’s Arab government began to send away British government officials as well as Comboni missionaries.

One of these missionaries, Father Fera, began a new religious congregation with several sisters, including Bianca. At age 17, Bianca Bii made her first vow into the religious life, and she then took her final vows and became a professed member of the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1963.

A year later, Sr. Bianca Bii went to visit her sick mother in Nzara, and while she was there, she saw the numerous orphans whose parents were killed during the 21 years of civil war. Seeing their hopeless faces spurred Bianca into action, and she made it her mission to institute change.

One of the first things she did was set up a schedule where she would move from home to home each night to pray with and provide comfort for the orphans, and on Saturdays, she would invite them to her home so she could wash their clothes and allow them to bathe. Later on, Sr. Bianca wrote to Bishop Titarani Joseph Gasi Abangite of the Catholic Diocese of Tambura-Yambio with a request that he allow her to officially take care of the poor orphans across the parish. With the Bishop’s approval, this started St. Bakhita Orphanage in Tombura.

Since she began her mission, Sr. Bianca has helped many children complete their primary and secondary school education, and some of these children have gone on to pursue higher learning. One such student is Grace Umerani, who, in 2016, emerged as the best student in South Sudan and is now pursuing a degree in public health from a university in the United States. Grace remains in contact with Sr. Bianca, offering financial and emotional support whenever possible. She has indicated that she will return to her hometown after completing her studies so that she can help change the region with her medical expertise.

Sr. Bianca is also responsible for helping a young man who lost his parents when he was five years old. Today, that man has become one of the most successful businessmen in South Sudan, owning an expensive hotel in Western Equatoria. To this day, he regularly donates food and money to St. Bakhita orphanage, always remembering what Sr. Bianca did for him in his darkest times.

Many women have joined Sr. Bianca’s cause, and today, St. Bakhita takes care of approximately 65 children. Although they are making a difference in the world, they believe that the orphanage still needs support to better accommodate the children. Right now, they need more scholastic materials and food assistance, as well as funding to build more rooms.

With the help of various donors around the world, and the support of such institutions as Sudan Relief Fund, Sr. Bianca is optimistic for the future of her mission.

DONATE TO SUPPPORT BIANCA BII’s ORPHANAGE

Read more about Sister Bianca Bii’s experience here.

Project Update: Education Challenges and Advancements During Covid-19

Sudan Relief Fund has always been committed to helping children in South Sudan receive an education, and we remain so even now while some cannot attend school full-time due to the Covid pandemic. In the past several months, we have been able to provide funding for several school projects, up to almost $300,000, made possible by our generous donors.

We receive regular updates on the progress of these project stages, and we wanted to share some of them with you:

• The Ave Maria Ngboko school’s site has exciting plans for expansion. Debris has been cleared and building materials have been delivered. Construction is set to begin very soon.
• The St. Thomas Source Yubu school, which is adding four additional classrooms to accommodate an increase in students, is in the midst of construction and will hopefully be finished soon.
• The St. Mary Help of Christians Tombura primary school is in the middle of their renovation project, which has already begun with the removal of old iron sheets. New materials, such as reinforced iron sheets and roofing timbers, have been delivered to the site and will soon be added to the building.
• Thankfully the Loreto Rumbek Primary and Secondary School has seen no obvious signs of Covid-19 outbreaks. Teachers and students have been able to finally return to in-person schooling thanks to the education and enforcement of appropriate social distancing guidelines.
• The renovation of the St. Mary Help of Christians Tombura primary school has officially been completed.
• The Bishop Abangite Science and Technology Secondary School’s latest project, the construction of a new block to provide additional conductive learning classrooms to accommodate more students, has also been completed.

Despite the recent happenings, such as the spread of the Covid pandemic, the malaria season, and the tumultuous political climate, these school projects are seeing major progress, and we’re optimistic that we will be able be able to see improvements in the education system in the months ahead because of it.

According to Bishop Eduardo Kussala of the Tombura-Yambio diocese, it’s important that the children of the region do their part to further their own education and understand their history.

“The young people should engage in learning and writing about the history of the country while helping less privileged families in doing the same. This will be helpful in fighting illiteracy among the South Sudanese, which will lead to an overall more productive, peaceful, and self-sustaining society.”

How Covid Has Created a Food Shortage in South Sudan

For the past several months, the Covid-19 pandemic has been impacting the world, leaving behind a wake of death, economic turmoil, and hopelessness. What many people do not realize is that Covid is also taking a significant toll on food reserves, and many regions are expecting massive waves of hunger soon, especially South Sudan.

Starving children waiting for food relief in Juba.

Juba, the capital of South Sudan, has been in the center of violence for many years due to an ongoing civil war. Due to the fighting, people have been fleeing their homes in the country to take refuge in camps inside of the city for safety. Unable to access their fields or farms, many of these refugees have become dependent on food given to them by relief agencies.

Because of growing food scarcity, South Sudan’s food prices are skyrocketing, making it difficult for a majority of citizens to afford even the most basic meals. Heavy rainfall in 2019 added to the food shortage by flooding and destroying crops and killing much livestock. By the start of 2020, more than six million people were in a status of food insecurity, meaning they couldn’t get their necessary daily nutritional requirements.

Ever since the onset of Covid-19’s spread, food has become even harder to come by. Staple foods’ prices jumped 25 percent, while a government imposed lockdown caused local food stalls to shut down, making it even more difficult for citizens to get their food. Each day, more people are finding themselves relying on little to no food, and as Covid continues to spread with no end in sight, food shortages and hunger are getting worse.

Tonight, thousands of children will go to bed starving. The good news is that you can prevent this from happening with your generous gift today. Donate today and please pray for the people of South Sudan.

You can read more about the looming food shortage here.

Dr. Tom Adopts a Son

Tom Catena, an American doctor, is known throughout the world for his missionary work in the Nuba Mountains. He’s been serving as the only resident doctor at the Mother of Mercy Hospital for the last 12 years and remains committed to helping the Nuba people.

Prior to helping establish Mother of Mercy Hospital, Dr. Tom spent more than six years volunteering at St. Mary’s Hospital in Nairobi, tending to countless men, women, and children who had up until then been unable to access proper medical care. He then went on to help establish Mother of Mercy in Nuba, where he and his staff are responsible for sometimes helping hundreds of patients a day and performing more than 1,000 operations a year. He is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, always ready to assist those in need. Due to lack of reliable electricity and running water, Dr. Tom must sometimes rely on decades-old treatments and methods to save people’s lives. Luckily, he is always rising to the challenge and doing everything he can for the people of Nuba.

During his service in Nuba, Dr. Tom has fallen in love with the people and culture of the region. He also met and fell in love with a local nurse named Nasima, whom he later married. After learning that they could not have children of their own, they agreed to start looking to adopt.

They were connected with an orphanage in South Sudan, where they met little Francis, a young boy who had been found malnourished and alone in Juba. In March of 2020, Dr. Tom and Nasima returned to Nuba with their newly adopted son.

At first, Francis had difficulty warming up to Dr. Tom and only found comfort with Nasima. But as time went on, Francis eventually saw him as his father, and now the three of them live happily in the Nuba Mountains. Dr. Tom loves every aspect of fatherhood, but he admits that his favorite part is watching Francis eat. After spending years starving on the streets of Juba, he now seems to eat nonstop and has seen significant improvement to his health since.

Dr. Tom and Nasima love being parents to Francis, mainly because they enjoy giving him a chance to live his life to the fullest, just as he and every other orphan deserves. Dr. Tom encourages others to consider adoption as an option, especially with how many orphans there are in South Sudan alone.

Our non-profit has worked closely with orphanages in the area for years, helping to support children with their needs, including supporting those blessed with opportunity of adoption. One such instance includes orphan Grace Umerani, who is now attending school in New York to become a public health official.

We also want to show appreciation for Dr. Tom’s work in the Nuba Mountains. When he’s not caring for Francis, he is working tirelessly at his hospital to provide much-needed medical care for hundreds of sick and dying Sudanese people. You can read about Dr. Tom’s hospital and find out what you can do to help him on his mission.