by Fr Silvio Roggia, SDB
The Salesian presence in Juba is more a city than a house. What's there now in this square kilometer beyond the Nile where you live?
The most numerous presence is in the camp for internally displaced people (IDP), people who took refuge here during the war of 2013. At the beginning there were 4 thousand, now there are over 12 thousand, the vast majority being women and children. Near the camp there is also a nursery school for a thousand children. And within the complex there is the one followed by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA), with 1,100 children coming from the neighborhoods around us.
What other educational offers does the Salesian Family propose?
There are 3,900 elementary students, in two daily shifts; a dispensary of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus, which has greatly reduced infant mortality; a secondary school of the FMA, with 350 students, and the technical school, followed by Fr Jonatowski, SDB, with 300 students. The nuns also offer horticulture courses - here almost unknown - to young mothers. Then there is the oratory, which welcomes about 500 children. And in the missionary stations there are other elementary schools, with 450, 600 and 800 students.
Every morning many children arrive...
They are punctual and clean. We insist a lot on hygiene and the minimum rules of conduct, such as punctuality. A neat and welcoming environment, even very simple structures, is already a school of life. The children are the first to believe in it and commit themselves: for them, school is the most important route for the future. Often the best are the children of the IDP camp.
What are the biggest challenges and hopes for tomorrow?
The challenge is to have more Salesians. Here the harvest isn't large: it's immense. And the workers not few, but extremely few, compared to the need. We have 6 prenovices in the community and this is already a reason for hope. By widening our gaze, what South Sudan needs most is peace. It is a very young nation with great resources. If there is collaboration, in a few years it can flourish and amaze the world.
