Students attend an after school homework club at a site for refugees and internally displaced people in Maban, South Sudan. During the COVID-19 crisis, with funding provided by Misean Cara through Irish Jesuits International, the Jesuit Refugee Service has distributed re-useable face masks to 1,000 school children and set up 12 hand-washing facilities in communal spaces, which are critically important in collective sites where there is a high risk for communicable diseases due to overcrowding and poor water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions. Photo: Jesuit Refugees International
Hello, and welcome to our first issue of MissionAid for 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present daily challenges to all of us, but has had an especially large impact on the lives of those in the developing world, not least of all in terms of education and schooling. While the education of children worldwide has been affected, the longer-term consequences can be especially dire for students in developing countries.
In this issue of MissionAid you will find a special feature section on our members' work in education, highlighting several projects and how our members have adapted to ensure that students in their communities continue to have access to quality education, as well as food support and home-learning materials.
Girls in marginalised societies can be especially vulnerable during extended school absences. It's feared that as many as 20 million secondary school girls in the Global South may never return to education after the pandemic. If you would like to help us support education projects for girls, please find a link below where you can help keep girls at school and building their futures.
For updates throughout the year, please follow @MiseanCara on Twitter, and like /MiseanCaraIreland on Facebook to keep up with news about Misean Cara's network around the globe.
I look forward to staying in touch with you during 2021 and sharing more of the work of our members. In the meantime, best wishes for a very Happy Easter!
A teacher and students with the Three2Six project, which provides quality bridging education to refugee and migrant children in South Africa. After three months of distance learning during COVID-19, the children were able to come back to class under strict health safety protocols.Photo: Three2Six Project
Delivering Education during COVID-19
Education is not only a fundamental human right, it is an enabling right, providing a pathway to freedom and prosperity, making it a key instrument in the fight against poverty and marginalisation.
However, many children and students in the developing world encounter a wide range of obstacles to acquiring an education, including poverty and lack of access. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has served only to exacerbate these challenges.
With school closures affecting at least 1.5 billion children and youth across 160 countries worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened inequalities in the access to quality education. For children with little or no access to schooling during the crisis, not only have they missed out on learning in the short term, but they can be more vulnerable to domestic violence and abuse, child marriage, and child labour, leading to a profound deterioration in their health, wellbeing, and physical safety. This is especially true for girls.
Yet, while government restrictions and lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of the virus affected all projects in 2020, our members continued to find innovative and proactive ways to support children and their families.
Read on to learn about five Misean Cara member education projects in five different countries, and how they have adapted their programmes and approach during the pandemic to keep students in school and learning, and also making sure their other needs, such as nutrition, health and wellbeing, are continuously met.
Urubamba-Cusco, Peru
In the Cusco Region of the Province of Urubamba in Peru, the De La Salle Brothers launched “Radio La Salle Rimarinakusunchis” to bring distance education over the airways to students in remote areas lacking internet connectivity. Read about the project here.
Johannesburg, South Africa
In Johannesburg, South Africa, the Three2Six project provides bridging education to refugee and migrant children before they mainstream to public school. During COVID-19 lockdown, the project team developed innovative means to keep the children up to date with their learning and to provide other critical care supports. Read more here.
Bauleni, Zambia
Children with disabilities have been at especially high risk of exclusion from learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary have taken extra measures to ensure that these students were not left behind during lockdown closures of the school. Read more here.
Juba, South Sudan
The Salesian Sisters in Juba, South Sudan reacted quickly and effectively to the problem of making sure that the girls in their school and vocational training centre were able to continue with their education during lockdown and that all students successfully returned when government restrictions were lifted. Read more here.
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Concerned in particular about the welfare of their female students during lockdown, the La Sainte Sisters maintained heightened contact with pupils while at home, and have instituted measures post-lockdown to get students back on track with their learning. Read about their programme here.
How the Missionary Approach to Development (MADI) aids in Reaching the Furthest Behind First.
Misean Cara has recently engaged external consultant, Mike Williams in a research study examining how the Missionary Approach to Development (MADI) addresses the concept of Reaching the Furthest Behind First. He presented his findings at an online event to Misean Cara members on Wednesday, 20th January.
To read more about how missionaries are uniquely positioned to work with the most marginalised and vulnerable people worldwide, and to access a link to the research report, please click here.
Misean Cara sadly received the news of the passing of Fr. Michael Kelly, widely respected and acknowledged throughout the missionary community and beyond as a pioneering HIV and AIDS activist and campaigner in Zambia, bringing education and services to those living with the disease. A native of Tullamore, County Offaly, Fr. Michael passed away peacefully on the morning of 15th January at home in his adopted country of Zambia, where he had lived and worked for decades.
Click here to read a tribute to the life of Fr. Michael, written by Misean Cara Board member Kevin Carroll, a long-time friend and colleague of Fr. Michael.
More about Fr. Michael, including links to his many publications, speeches and articles around HIV and AIDS advocacy, can be found at the websitededicated to his life and work.
Bon Pasteur Kolwezi in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) receive Thomson Reuters Foundation 'Stop Slavery Hero' Award
We are pleased to report that Misean Cara member the Good Shepherd Sisters have been honoured with a ‘Stop Slavery Hero' Award from the Thomson Reuters Foundation as part of the Foundation’s annual ‘Stop Slavery’ awards. The Bon Pasteur, as they are also known, received the award for their work in Kolwezi, DRC for their project working in cobalt mining communities to protect children and vulnerable people from exploitation, and providing alternative livelihoods to families. We offer our sincere congratulations to the Sisters in Kolwezi for this recognition of their important human rights work. More information about the award can be found here.
Sr. (Dr.) Marian Scena of the Medical Missionaries of Mary receives Distinguished Graduate Award from University College Dublin (UCD) Medical School
Misean Cara also offers its congratulations to Sr. (Dr.) Marian Scena of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, who was recently presented with a Distinguished Graduate Award from her alma mater UCD (Medical School Class of 1975). Sr. Marian received the honour at a special webinar hosted by UCD on 25th February. As part of the webinar she discussed her inspiring medical and missionary career in Tanzania, where she currently works as the coordinator and physician of the Faraja Centre Hospice and Palliative Care Programme, established in 2012 to provide home-based and palliative care in the Singida Municipality of central Tanzania.
Maynooth University Scholarships for International Students, MA in International Development
Are you considering a career in international development, or interested in earning a Master's to advance your career? The Maynooth University Department of International Development is now inviting applications to its Master's International Student Scholarship Scheme for the 2021/22 academic year. The closing date for applications is 16th April 2021. See website for further details.
The Presentation Junior High School in Logre, Ghana is managed by the Presentation Brothers. The Brothers work to overcome barriers to girls' education, such as long travel distances and limited transport, by providing bicycles to students living farthest from school. Photo: Out of the Box.
Transform Lives: Support Girls' Education
Before COVID-19, girls' education in developing countries was already in crisis, but the pandemic has exacerbated a critical situation, pushing more and more vulnerable girls out of education and into a life on the margins.
Experience with the Ebola crisis in West Africa in 2014-15 suggests that, as a result of COVID-19, up to 20 million secondary school girls in poor countries may never return to education.
Now is the time for Misean Cara to increase its support for education, especially for young girls and women who are the most at risk of not returning to school after the pandemic.
With your support, girls will remain in and complete their secondary education and will go on to further study or to find meaningful employment. With the knowledge and confidence acquired through education, girls will be able to assert their rights and demand a better life for themselves. In the future, their children will benefit from improved household income, better health care and nutrition, and will themselves complete their education.
Thank you for your support for girls' education!
Click below to donate.
If you have any training, volunteer or employment opportunities you would like included in the MissionAid newsletter, please contact info@miseancara.ie
If you are a Misean Cara member and would like to highlight a Misean Cara funded project in a future edition of MissionAid, please email info@miseancara.ie.
Misean Cara is a Company Limited By Guarantee. Registered in Ireland No. 381117. Charity Registration No. 20055325.
Subscribe to MissionAid This newsletter provides information on Misean Cara organisational updates, Misean Cara Member's projects and news, education and employment opportunities and other international development news.
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