PALABEK REFUGEE CAMP, UGANDA

Nov. 3, 2017

(Excerpt) As civil war escalates in South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, refugees fleeing violence gather over the border in northern Uganda to ask God for peace.

They sing hymns and sometimes recite the rosary. Others fall to their knees and weep in prayer in the new chapels established under trees because shelter is scarce. Their pews are planks of wood or logs dug into the ground.

“We are praying daily because we want God to hear and forgive us,” said catechist Peter Jok, a South Sudanese refugee who works in one of five chapels that Salesian missionaries have opened in the Palabek camp in northern Uganda. “The suffering we are going through will come to an end one day because God is going to intervene.”

About 34,000 South Sudanese refugees live in Palabek. The ministries offered in the chapels bring hope and unify the migrants, including those who have lost loved ones in the civil war.  The Salesians run St. John Bosco, Mary Help of Christians, Holy Cross, Daniel Comboni and Mother Teresa chapels. Catholic Masses are celebrated in them; women and children use the buildings as community centers.

See the full article by Doreen Ajiambo here:  Salesian-run ministries in Uganda aid South Sudanese fleeing violence

This Catholic News Service article also ran in other outlets, including Crux.

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