Diocese of TzaneenThe effort of our diocese of Tzaneen, and of the country in our AIDS Response has been commendable. Tzaneen is in the North of South Africa. The diocese has about 50,000 Catholics of a population of about 2.4 Million. We are making progress and are doing what we can. There are some signs of hope. These are some indicators of that:
1. The Bishop of the Diocese is Rt Rev Hugh Slattery MSC and is from Ireland. He is very energetic and pastorally minded. Recently he published a significant Pastoral on the crisis of HIV/Aids "A Call to Action". 
2. Sr Sally Duigan opened an office in Tzaneen last year called Kurisanani ("We help one another") and it functions coordinating our efforts, offering training programs, securing funds. Sally has several local helpers who have been variously trained, through different courses, in AIDS Awareness and Home Based care. 
3. Sr Philippa Murphy OLSH, based at St Brendan's has opened an "orphanage" for 14 primary school girls at risk, in our old clinic. There is a lot of local Community, School and Government Department support for such. I believe she will go ahead and open a similar space that we have for boys next year. The kids walk to the local school 3 km away. Sr Philippa has also organised home care in out area and a feeding program, with some of our Secondary Students involved. Sr Philippa writes: "BAKHITA VILLAGE, the new boarding home for young girls who have been orphaned due to the devastating AIDS pandemic, is situated at St Brendan's School, Dwars River. It was founded in response to the increasing number of orphans and vulnerable children in the Northern Province of South Africa. This is the poorest Province in the country, with very few resources available to its desperate people. It is a rural area, and the people live in villages that are isolated, without electricity or water. Orphans spend their days in searching for food and their nights in darkness. Unlike the children of two-parent or one-parent families, these orphans have very little hope of a future any different than their current existence. Girls are most at risk and face probability of being sexually abused and contracting the HIV/AIDS virus. Bakhita is named after a woman from Sudan who became a Canossan sister in Italy, last century. She was canonised last year by Pope John Paul II. The children at Bakhita are called "Bana ba Tshepo" - "Children of Hope". More on this article...... |
