NUBA NEWS 2018 Dr Tom Catena and Sr Angelina Nyakuru cms Message from Cathy and Nicole Once again Nuba News comes to you with grateful hearts for your faithful support through your prayer, interest and generous donations. The peace agreement between the Khartoum Government and the Sudanese In this Issue: Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA) is still holding. For two years classes have not been interrupted by threatening overhead Antonovs loaded with bombs and MiG-jets ready to fire their missiles into villages, markets and schools. Current Situation Students have been able to learn within a more peaceful, stable environment. What Page 3 blessing that is! Dr Tom and Sr Angelina pictured above are longstanding supporters of education. They encourage the nurses, lab assistants and other Mother of Mercy Hospital D-Lights, bring delight! personnel to complete their secondary education and to continue their studies as far as possible. Sr Angelina often says, ‘It is important that our people have the best Page 5 chances possible and it is education that offers choice and more opportunities. I have seen that the students from the DoE/BGRRF schools who apply for jobs at our hospital have a solid foundation and are even more capable than those who have returned from Kenya and South Sudan.’ Supporting Govt. Schools... Page 13 As you turn the pages of stories and pictures you will get a glimpse into how YOUR support, assistance and encouragement have materialised into practical ordinary mercy action. Dammit do it! From soccer and footballs to new books, from new classrooms to subsidising female Nuba Calendar 2019 students’ fees, from caring for neglected children to hearing the aspirations and Page 19 commitment of student teachers… and more… you will see how you have contributed generously to firing people’s hearts and instilling further hope. Contents Item Page Current Situation 3 Iliya’s Story: Supporting some of our vulnerable children 3 Stocking the text book supply in Agok 4 Abyei 5 D-Lights, bring delight! 5 Sponsoring trainee teachers at the SDC - CTTI in Kauda 6 - 7 When you are educated you can rule yourself 8 - 9 Building and Equipping Yida Refugee Camp Nursery School 9 - 10 Sr Polli and the Comboni Sisters say ‘thanks’ 10 Promoting girl child education and subsidising school fees for the poorest students 10 Volleyball, football, netball and soccer – sport makes me happy, refreshes 11 - 12 my mind, keeps me fit Supporting Government Schools: Capacity Building 13 Graduates do us proud! How your past donations have borne fruit... 14 A determined woman - Mary John 15 Her laughter is loud and joyous - Sahada 15 Equipping the New Women’s Centre: Kauda Parish 16 Sabbatical/Renewal Program for Priests and Brothers 17 Dr Tom Catena 17 Supporting the Pastoral Communities in Sudan and South Sudan 18 Keeping our Children Safe 18 Nuba Calendar - 2019 19 - 20 Acronyms BGRRF - DoE = Bishop Gassis Relief and Rescue Foundation - Diocese of El Obeid SDC - CTTI = Saint Daniel Comboni Catechists and Teachers Training Insitute SPLA / M - N = Sudanese People’s Liberation Army / Movement - North 2 Current Situation It is remarkable that not one bomb has been dropped or a missile has been fired from a MiG jet in our part of the Nuba Mountains since June 2016. There have been several ceasefires in that time that have given respite to the men, women and children who live in these remote parts. However, the consequences of the protracted crisis are still being felt. Malnutrition in children and adults has recently been documented at alarming rates. Lack of vaccines for suc- cessive years, for example, resulted in a recent measles outbreak that caused thousands to die and many more to be hospitalised. Entire village communities that were internally displaced because of intensive bomb- ing campaigns yearn to return to their villages to rebuild their homes, farm their own lands and be self-sustain- ing as they had been for hundreds of years before the wars. There is a deep desire to believe in a permanent peace but trust has been betrayed so often that men young and old are still forcibly conscripted to train to be soldiers. Women are pressurised to keep bearing more children to be future soldiers even though they struggle alone to feed and look after the children they already have. The people feel great solidarity knowing that we are praying for them. Let us continue to pray that the fragile peace that currently exists will become a permanent reality. Only then will greater strides be made to securing their rights to quality health services, education, safe shelter and all the other essential items needed to live a life with dignity. Iliya Iliya is about nine years of age. He was found hiding in the grass by some children walking along the dirt track. They wondered what he was doing; was he looking after goats? The children told him to come out of the grass and go over to Hadiya who was passing. Hadiya, is not only the ‘best cook’ in the Nuba mountains, but is also affectionately known as Mamma as she is a listener and encourager to many students and members of the local community. The young boy came forward as urged and said his name was Iliya. When Hadiya asked about his parents he said, ‘My father is in Khartoum and my mother had problems with my father so she went home to her family.’ When questioned about siblings, Iliya answered, ‘My sister is married and has gone far from here. My brother is in another village but he cannot care for me.’ Hadiya asked lliya if he would like to come to Kauda with her. ‘Yes’, he replied. The children standing around urged him to take the chance. Hadiya noticed a big cut in Iliya’s head so took him off to the hospital for medical treatment. She was unable to discover how Iliya’s head got cut. Hadiya took Iliya in just as he was – a frightened little boy, alone, a cut in his head; no clothes, no shoes, no food, no one nearby to care for him. Isaac, our faithful, hardworking education storekeeper, heard about Iliya’s situation. He cut some material from the roll so that clothes could be made for him by the school tailor. Hadiya continued to make further inquiries about Iliya. She found his older brother who verified the where- abouts of their parents and their sister. He begged Hadiya to continue caring for Iliya. Hadiya enrolled Iliya in pre-unit in the local school. 3 Iliya does not talk a lot. He is a quiet little boy. Sometimes Hadiya just watches him sitting quietly seemingly ‘far away’. She wonders what is going on in his mind. Is he remembering his parents; his sister, his brother…what? Iliya is not the only child Hadiya has taken in. She cares for her own brother’s three children as he can no longer support them after being wounded in the war and having one leg amputated. Other children also just ‘drop into’ Hadiya’s house as they pass by, while others come and stay when there is a crisis in their family. ‘Everyone has a job. We are all Little Red Hen.’ If you visit Hadiya after school, you will see what she means; some children are looking after the goats, others are feeding the pigs, while others are fetching water and helping to prepare the evening meal. After supper Hadiya spreads out the marsharma (strong plastic cover) on the ground. The children go to sleep early so they can be rested and ready to be at school for the first bell at 7.30 am. Bedtime Stocking the text book supply in Agok, South Sudan Teachers and students from Saint Daniel Comboni Second- ary school, Agok, South Sudan are proudly holding some of the new text books. Thank you for your donations that bought a very large box of new text books for these teachers and students. Walking into the Agok, South Sudan school compound of close to 4,000 students was awe-inspiring. Three schools share the one compound: Saint Daniel Com- boni Primary School, Juoljok, Saint Daniel Comboni Primary Fr Biong and Teachers School, Abyei, and Saint Daniel Comboni Secondary School, Agok. Sixty plus teachers and numerous support staff keep the compound ticking. War attacks in 2011 and again in 2013 razed Abyei to the ground making it impossible for families to continue to live there. The primary school was relocated to Agok. Because of uncertainty about a sustainable peace even now in 2018, parents are choosing to continue to remain in Agok so that their children’s education will not be disrupted. Teachers, Fr Biong and Students 4 Abyei D-lites, bring delight! Gracious aged 23 and Suwad aged 21 are in form three at St Joseph the Worker Secondary School, Gidel. Their “old” ages are testament to the common reality of so many youths in the Nuba: their education being interrupted for months, and even years at a time because of living in a war zone. The multi-million dollar UN Peace-Keeping Compound, Abyei Gracious says, Nicole visited Abyei with Father Biong who lived through the harrowing conflicts in 2011 and 2013. Going to school is impor- tant for me because I get His stories are haunting. He showed her around the priests‘ knowledge. compound. Everything was damaged. Rubble was still every- Many times I had to stop school. In a where. normal, peaceful country I would have finished my university education but Anything that could be dismantled from buildings was taken here I am still struggling to complete – wash basins, windows, doors, iron sheets, statues, cross- my secondary education.