Where We Are
Eswatini
St. Philips
St. Philips is a village in the Lubombo Lowveld of Eswatini, about 100 km south east of the capital Mbabane. When the sisters first arrived in eSwatini in 1971, St. Philips was not more than a bunch of huts and there was no paved road.
The sisters started working community care programs to respond to the immediate needs of the population, focusing on mitigating the challenges facing local communities including high poverty, poor health, increasing nutritional needs, lack of education and the need for child protection. In the ‘80s, with the outbreak of HIV, the sister started to take care of the sick and of the many orphans who lost their parents to AIDS.
Many improvements have been made since 1971, however, poverty remains a major challenge in the area. Economic insecurity and unemployment have increased further in recent years due to climate-related shocks, including severe drought, leaving households ill equipped to care for themselves. The country has also struggled to attract foreign direct investment to boost the economy through new jobs. This has meant there is already very high unemployment, estimated at 40% and as people compete for fewer jobs, the labor conditions deteriorate.
Health is another concern in the country. In spite of the significant progress in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic and new infections are declining, the country still has the world’s highest prevalence. In addition, the country has the highest prevalence of cervical cancer.
Ethiopia
The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC) have been serving in Ethiopia since 1999 to respond to the needs of the most poor and vulnerable in the communities.
The sisters started to work in Wolayta Zone, Southern Ethiopia Region (formerly SNNPR), the region with the largest catholic population, as well as one of the poorest and most densely populated areas of Ethiopia, providing emergency support.
In the years, the service of the sisters has been adjusting to the changing needs of the population, and two more missions were established in the south of Ethiopia, plus a house in Addis Ababa as a foothold for sisters and visitors passing through the capital city.
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The MSC first arrived in Dubbo, upon the invitation of the Apostolic Vicar of Soddo to serve in Dubbo Catholic Mission, after another congregation left.
Dubbo is a village located about 300 km south-west of Addis Ababa. Most of the population in the area lives in mountainous villages reachable via dirt roads that are often impassable during the wet season. Rural residents need to travel long distances to reach urban areas to access services, which is costly and time consuming. Piped-water and public power supplies are only available in urban areas, so families live without electricity and need to walk to pumps to fetch water.
Most of the population relies on agriculture for their survival. However, high population density and climate change, which is responsible for a decrease in precipitations and landslides, lead to the scarcity of farming land. Families are therefore unable to generate enough income to provide to their needs. As a consequence, they struggle to pay for school fees, food, medicines, and all other necessary services which will enable them to live a decent life, develop their potential, and break the cycle of poverty.
In the first decade of their presence, the sisters addressed the immediate needs of the community by providing shelter, ensuring access to health services for the poor, constructing and managing a school and an orphanage, serving at the local hospital, and empowering women.
Due to continuous health challenges, especially malnutrition among children, the sisters engaged in interventions targeting food security and the nutritional needs of children with severe cases of malnutrition, and started financially supporting families to meet their livelihood needs.
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In 2002 a house was built in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, to accommodate sisters and visitors traveling to and from the missions in southern Ethiopia, and to host sisters in need of accessing services which are not available in other parts of the country (e.g. health and dental care, specific supplies, training courses, etc.).
The premises also host the House of Sister Fomation, where MSC candidates, aspirants, and junior sisters are accompanied in their process to become sisters.
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The mission was established in 2016, to provide pastoral care and education services among the people of Damot Sore Woreda.
Wallacha is a rural village 15 km from Dubbo. The area is very isolated and people need to walk long distances to access basic services, like water, schools, and clinics. Agriculture is the main source of livelihoods in the area, together with subsistence breeding, however, recurrent droughts are a major threat to people’s survival.
The sisters currently run a preschool, visit the sick and the homebound, and contribute to the nearby parish activities, animating youth groups and catechesis.
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Opened in 2023, Sadama is the newest mission established by the MSC.
Sadama is a rural village in Lemmo Woreda of Hadiya Zone, Central Ethiopia Region (formerly part of SNNNP), at about 250 km from Addis Ababa. Most of the population in the area relies on agriculture. Sadama is also home to a socially excluded community living from pottery, which is discriminated against and stigmatized because of their occupation and way of life. Working to promote their integration is one of the priorities for this new mission.
Uganda
Dzaipi
The mission was established in 2019 to respond to the needs of the many refugees who fled from South Sudan, and the host communities.
The MSC responded to the call of the Bishop of Arua for support in the pastoral work with migrants and refugees, and established a community in Dzaipi, Adjumani district, close to the border to South Sudan.
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Dzaipi is a rural village at about 30 km from the South Sudanese border, in Adjumani District, in Northern Uganda. Dzaipi is one of the first places South Sudanese fled to in 2016, as fighting resumed in the country. Adjumani District currently hosts around 250,000 refugees, about 51% of the total resident population, in 18 settlements.
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Poverty is a major problem in Dzaipi: unemployment is very high, and people rely on casual jobs; men often relocate to major cities to look for work, leaving their family behind, thus women, children, and elders are the majority of the local residents. Most people have fields to cultivate, but the production is not enough to cover their nutritional needs, nor to generate enough income to take care of their families and access education and health services.
The situation in the nearby refugees’ settlements is similar. Households are crowded and local services are inadequate for a population of about 79,000 people. Families are given a small plot for building a shelter and cultivating, but the produce is scarce. Households have many children; most men remained in South Sudan, so children reached Uganda with their mothers, elder siblings or grandparents.
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Youth represent the majority of the population: 61% are below the age of 18, 26% are between 15 and 24 years of age. 76% of the residents are unemployed, most of their income derives from in-kind humanitarian relief, therefore parents and guardians often have no financial means to afford feeding, school fees or medicines.
Such a challenging situation hinders the capacity of youth to prosper, develop their potential and live in dignity, and rather exposes them to the risk of engaging in harmful practices like drinking and drug abuse.
United Kingdom
London
Mother Cabrini opened the mission in London in 1902. The school, named after her, was established to provide quality education to the migrants living in the suburbs of London.
With the changes in the social and economic structure of the society, the school was closed in 2023. The building is now offering safe and affordable office space to charities delivering social services in response to the need of the local residents.