Life

Small steps in creating a just new world

As part of their confirmation witness, schoolchildren in Donegal are helping pupils in Sudan to purchase uniforms, writes Sister Deirdre Mullan.

A school uniform has been purchased for every pupil at Nuba Mercy School
A school uniform has been purchased for every pupil at Nuba Mercy School A school uniform has been purchased for every pupil at Nuba Mercy School

As the first communion and confirmation season come to an end and as parents begin to count the cost of some of the lavish spending on dressing children for these key events, it seems a good time to reflect on some of the steps being taken to counter the materialistic and worldly aspect of these special days.

Working as I do at UNICEF, I have the opportunity to see up close and first hand how the other half live.

I am also very conscious that many of our teachers engaged with confirmation classes are doing a magnificent job in both the evangelization and character formation of many of our young people.

Let me share what I mean. A few years ago I was invited to meet with some outstanding human beings in the small parish of Stranolar in Co Donegal.

Parish priest, Fr Kieran and Parish Sister, Nuala Mullin wanted to look at ways de-commercialize the sacrament of confirmation and bring greater depth and meaning into the lives of the children and their families.

As a result of that meeting the children in the two small schools (four classes in total), which are attached to St Mary's parish, participated in a gospel outreach as part of their confirmation commitment.

Sister Cathy Solano, a Sister of Mercy from Australia and who works with the Nuba people in Sudan met with the children and talked about her work. Nuba is a district in Sudan, which is under constant bombardment by the Khartoum government of Sudan. Why? The Sudanese government wants to forcibly remove the Nuba people from their ancestral lands and take the mineral riches, which can be found there.

Sister Cathy and her brave band of teachers are intent in helping the people to stay by providing education in small schools for the people. The confirmation classes from St Mary's parish in Donegal are eager to help too.

Through an awareness raising interaction the children in each of the confirmation classes, the children were invited to consider as part of their confirmation witness to make a personal donation of €10. This amount bought a school uniform for the children in the Nuba Mercy School. The result has been outstanding.

Last year over 300 school uniforms were provided and at the time of going to press we are waiting confirmation of the final number of uniforms we can purchase this year.

:: Sister Deirdre Mullan is a Sister of Mercy from Derry who works at UNICEF headquarters in New York City. She holds a Ph.D. in the Feminization of Poverty and her most recent publication – The Mercy GPS – our Global Positioning for 2016 has sold over 62,000 copies.