Catholic Church Good Shepherd Parish Kassala Sudan

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Wad Sherife Centre. The Holy Savior Approximately 25 km north easterly from Kassala, one car-hour on the sand-track, there is the refugee-camp of Wad Sherife. Passing first the original mountain-forms of the Kassala Hills one reaches big plantations with banana-groves, plantations of millet and maize. That area seems to be fertile. That is not any miracle either, since this area is very close to Gash-River coming from Eritrea. Although this river during our visit was entirely dry, it provides the agriculture by sufficient subterranean water reservoir, which is capable to feed the entire plantations. Wad Sherife is found at the edge of this beautiful oasis already in the dust-dry desert. Here is one of the biggest camps for refugees from Eritrea and Ethiopia. In the 80ies, this camp registered a record number of over 100.000 refugees, now there are only about 30.000 people under the protection of the UNHCR. This camp exists since 1977. Many refugees have now been living here for 25 years. They were able to go back to their homes anytime, unless they had to face big problems in their home country, which made a return almost impossible: Recently in 1998 warfare flared up between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The refugees are very poor. As there is not any help of the state Sudan, the UNHCR is responsible for them. The Office is in the centre of Wad Sherife. The people live mainly on the food-rations allotted every three months there. However, this care is not enough to nourish the children sufficiently and to bring them up. As a result of the precarious economic situation of the individual refugee-families many men are forced to earn money as day labourers. They look for casual works in the camp or work as a fieldworker on the plantations. Their income amounts about 5 Sudanese Newpounds, which is equal to 2 Euro on the day. For the women, beer-brewing represents the main-income. This brings them into severe danger, because production and consumption of alcohol is prohibited in the Sudan under the Islamic law. Alternative sources of income therefore are in demand. The Catholic Church runs a big school in Wad Sherife like the one in Kassala since 1983. Approximately 200 students get education from primary school to maturity examination. Fr. Ghebrai Beidemariam is the responsible for these two schools. The Pastoral Centre (Centre of the Holy Savior) In some distance of the big Eritrean Refugees' School in Wad Sherife, the pastoral-center of the camp is situated. The area is approximately big 30m times 50m large. On the place we find a chapel, a shelter for schoolinstruction, a small kitchen and a small apartment for the catechist. Beside it we see remains of a collapsed schoolbuilding. 12 www.prosudan.at
25 Eritrean refugee-families from the group of the Habescha-tribes (each of them having up to 6 children) are members of the parish. They live in the surroundings of the centre and belong to different tribes Further 100 families that belong to the tribe of the Kunama, live in some distance. (The Kunama are a group coming from the southwest of Eritrea, ethnologically and linguistically however they differ quite a lot from the Habeshagroups in Eritrea). The Kunama still are a very original people-group, that still has a big desire for development. Above all among the women, the need of catching up education is big. There are several women-groups that meet in the "class-room" regularly to be instructed in sewing, cooking, and house-keeping in order to be able to provide the daily needs of the family independently. The Kunama-men work mainly in the fields of the surrounding plantations. An important concern of the parish is the education of children and teenagers. In the year 2005, the schoolbuilding on the place collapsed. Up to 500 students until that time visited this school. At the moment only a rubble-pile can be found at this place. Only 13 children are taught in the shelter (without walls) beside the church in three school-steps momentarily. There are still newcomers, who are taken in here. A cook is responsible for the feeding. Twice weekly, Fr. Ghebrai comes to Wad Sherife, in order to take care of administrationworks, to accompany pastoral-work and to coordinate the social activities of the centre. The chairman of the pastoral-committee of the Centre of the Holy Savior is Ghebrezghi Fidel. He lives with his family near the pastoral centre. As Sunday is a working day, the mass is celebrated on Friday because that is the Muslim week-holiday. In the damaged chapel, the masses are celebrated for smaller groups. Most services and all sacred holidays are celebrated outside because the chapel is too small. Because there are many different groups of believers, the celebrations are apportioned. Fr. Ghebrai says the mass in Tigrinya (the official language in Eritrea) and in the Kunamalanguage according to the same-named tribe differing fully from Tigrinya. The most urgent measures that have to be done The chapel must be repaired. Reparations having been carried out are destroyed again during the rainy season, however. Every year, 2000 New pounds (=800 €) are spent for mending the damages. This is always too little, however, so that the parish has to add the open amount. For a final repair better material would have to be brought here: e.g. a new corrugated ironroof for the chapel (instead of the present thatch) is urgently necessary so that the damages could be stopped done by the water during the rainy season. The costs can be determined however not yet, but there will be a calculation soon. 13 www.prosudan.at
Page 1 and 2: Catholic Church Good Shepherd Paris
Page 3 and 4: Wau Nur Centre This is the biggest
Page 5 and 6: Wau Nur Centre Mary Immaculate Cent
Page 7 and 8: Enclosed, the calculations to the p
Page 9 and 10: eparation of the building: This is
Page 11: Altar entrance toilette 11 www.pros

Catholic Church Good Shepherd Parish Kassala Sudan

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?