In South Sudan, Fr. Jan Marciniak, a Polish Salesian missionary, works in the missions since 1991. He has previously served in Uganda, Kenya e Tanzania. His parishioners in Uganda called him “Kikomeko”, which means “as good as an elephant”.
“Life in the missions is very modest – Fr. Marciniak says –. We do not starve, but our meals are very simple: rice, beans, some vegetables, bananas or oranges. Every day it is the same, but I am now used to it. Accepting this style of life and the lack of comfort is part of a missionary’s daily life”.
The Salesian missionary house is located in the village of Manguo, 6 km from the town of Maridi, in the South of the country. In Maridi the Salesians animate the “St. John Bosco” parish, three elementary schools, a high school and an oratory, where the young gather to play football and to spend their leisure time. Ten aspirants – i.e. young boys attending high school and interested in joining the Salesian Congregation, live with the Salesian community.
Schools are normally open, thanks to the missions, and above all they are a safe place for the students. The greatest problem for the pupils is hunger: many of them go to school without having had breakfast and sleep in the classroom. Many have only one meal per day, when they return home; but this also is not for sure.
In the mission of Maridi and in the neighbouring villages there are many children, because the families are numerous. Not all of them can go to school; half of them do not go to school, mainly because of poverty.
The parents are illiterate and do not feel the need to send their children to school to study; they prefer that they remain at home, to help in the fields, to take care of their younger siblings or to beg in the streets. People are poor: “Hunger is their daily companion – Fr. Marciniak adds –. And because of this they are often apathetic, sad, dejected; they seem to be lazy. They do not see any prospect for a better future”.
