Obbo

March 7, 2024

A Reunion Against the Odds: Boy Raised at Orphanage Finally Meets his Father

Obbo doesn’t remember the day he came to live at St. Bakhita Orphanage. He has no recollection of being entrusted into the care of the faithful Sister Bianca Bii, who has courageously watched over orphans for decades and still oversees 100 children today.

Obbo was just a one week old infant when he arrived at the orphanage. For all intents and purposes, he was an orphan of war – a tragic result of the simple fact that Obbo’s father, Eliakim, was of Eritrean descent, and his mother was Ethiopian.

No sooner had Eliakim and his wife given birth to their one week old son, than a violent and bloody war broke out between Eritrea and Ethiopia. At that tumultuous time, couples in marriages between Eritreans and Ethiopians were forced to divorce, and families were torn apart. Obbo’s mother fled. A baby boy was caught in the middle. 

Eliakim did not want to abandon his infant son. But in the midst of the conflict he had no way to care for his brand new baby. Having to make a quick and very difficult decision, he brought Obbo to Sister Bianca at St. Bakhita Orphanage. He asked her to take good care of him.

Obbo grew up never knowing any life or family other than that at St. Bakhita Orphanage. If you can call an orphan “lucky,” Obbo was one of the lucky ones to have made it to a place where he was well cared for. Thanks to faithful donors who sponsor St. Bakhita Orphanage, children here have enough food to eat, clean water to drink, clean clothes to wear, their own bed to sleep in, medical care, and the opportunity to go to school.

Obbo lives in a newly constructed building that by the generosity of donors was just completed. The expanded area allows for more children to be taken in. Then one day, an unexpected thing happened. 

A man came to St. Bakhita Orphanage asking about Obbo. It was his father. For the first time in thirteen years, an emotional Eliakim was able to look upon the face of his son. He was moved with gratitude to Sister Bianca that Obbo was well and healthy, and that Eliakim was able to find him after two relocations of the orphanage from where he placed him all those years ago. 

Since the reunion between father and son, Obbo has gone to live with his father and Eliakim’s extended family. Obbo will be completing his studies and getting to know his relatives. He is happy to have the chance to get to know his father – something he never imagined would be possible.

Stories like Obbo’s are possible, but only because St. Bakhita Orphanage was there at a critical moment, and was equipped to care for him and many other children. Thanks to your support, Obbo’s orphan journey has come to a blessed conclusion, and many other orphaned children continue to have a place to call home.

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Cardinal Blesses Sudan Relief Fund Rescue Boat

February 29, 2024

Vessel Symbolizes Peace and Hope in Wake of Strife

On February 8, this year’s International Day of Prayer and Awareness Against Human Trafficking, Vatican Cardinal Michael Czerny pronounced a blessing over the Saint Josephine Bakhita and its mission – a rescue boat transporting refugees of Sudan’s war to safety inside South Sudan’s borders.

Since the war began, with the help of our donors, Sudan Relief Fund has been partnering with humanitarian organization, Caritas, and the Diocese of Malakal to fund transportation costs for the boat and provide essential supplies to families fleeing the violence as they arrive in Malakal, South Sudan. 

The blessing was given during the celebration of Mass at the end of the Cardinal’s visit to South Sudan from February 2nd to February 9. 

The occasion marked an opportunity to focus on the ideals of compassion and brotherhood, a message standing in stark contrast to the war that’s resulted in hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing to South Sudan – as well as pointing to ongoing division that’s plagued the young nation of South Sudan itself.

Christened after Josephine Margaret Bakhita – the patron saint of South Sudan, who is also recognized as the patron saint for slaves and victims of human trafficking – the boat honors St. Bakhita’s legacy of overcoming hardship and responding to oppressors with forgiveness and grace.

The newly constructed vessel, built from a combination of wood and iron, will continue to transport the backlog of stranded refugees desperate to escape Sudan’s war zone – a number that keeps growing daily. Since war broke out last April, the rescue boat has carried thousands of Sudanese refugees on the three-day journey down the river to South Sudan’s northern  border.

Said Cardinal Czerny about the St. Bakhita, “It will be a boat that leaves the storm of conflict, violence, hatred, and vengeance behind, and sails on more peaceful waters where people can live together as brothers and sisters.”

Cardinal Czerny recounted the story of the stalwart and remarkably compassionate woman  who became canonized as Saint Bakhita, a girl seized at age 7 or 8 and conscripted into brutal slavery conditions. Achieving her freedom later in life, she became a devout Catholic and dedicated her life to the Lord, always preaching a message of forgiveness – the same message Cardinal Czerny emphasized to a nation marked by internal strife.

In his presentation, the Cardinal also referred back to Pope Francis’ message, when the leader addressed the people of South Sudan in his visit last February. In that message the Pope underscored themes of freedom from oppression, and restoring humanity as a priority to achieving social and political peace.

“When we enter the logic of fighting, of division among us, of bad feelings one against the other, we lose our humanity,” Cardinal Czerny expressed. “And this is the work that Saint Bakhita teaches us…to humanize ourselves and to humanize others.” 

Sudan Relief Fund remains committed to helping rescue families who desperately need to escape the brutality of the ongoing war in Sudan. We thank you for your continued support that makes this lifesaving mission by riverboat possible for so many.

Read the full article here.

News Report Issues Dire Warning on Hunger in South Sudan

February 26, 2024

The World Food Program says South Sudan is on the verge of a devastating hunger catastrophe, according to a recent report by Al Jazeera news.
The report highlights the confluence of devastating events that have hit the struggling nation over the past four years, citing widespread flooding and drought that wiped out much of the food supply, and events on the world stage that led to significant reductions in foreign aid.

Now, the report says the population explosion from hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people escaping war by entering South Sudan, is making the existing food crisis that much worse. The displaced arrive at border camps that are overcrowded and under-resourced, in a nation where 75 percent of people already need humanitarian assistance.


The United Nations is calling the situation the world’s worst humanitarian crisis at this time, yet aid response has been slow and vastly insufficient.

Facing a $300 million dollar shortfall in funding, Gemma Snowdon of the World Food Programme said their organization will be able to reach less than 40 percent of the people facing severe food insecurity in South Sudan this year. And out of those, the WFP can only provide 50 percent of the rations actually needed for the most at-risk victims of hunger.

“It’s an extraordinarily tiny amount,” said Snowdon, “It’s amazing that people can survive through it.”

She reiterated that South Sudan has the highest percentage of food insecure people in the whole world.  “We feel like we’re going to see a continuing deterioration (of the situation) in South Sudan, particularly with the added conflict in Sudan pushing people across the border,” Snowdon warned.

UNICEF reports that over 9 million people, including 5 million children, are in dire need of humanitarian assistance to see them through the massive food shortage.


Sudan Relief Fund has been on the ground since the beginning of this crisis, distributing food relief in refugee camps and to vulnerable communities. Your partnership has been and will continue to be critical to save lives from the horror of starvation – a tragedy that can and should be prevented in today’s world. To send immediate help, please go here.

New Education Centre To Open Career Opportunities at Loreto Rumbek

February 16, 2024

Bridging the Education Gap

Construction is nearly complete on a two-story building slated to become the Education Centre at the Loreto Rumbek school campus in South Sudan.

The Centre, expected to open in mid February, will house a variety of activities and programs, including a number of vocational courses designed to benefit the community and enhance career opportunities for the people of Rumbek. 

Adults will be able to take English classes, computer literacy courses, and learn occupational skills such as tailoring, to help men and women of the community achieve self-sustaining careers and build a skilled community workforce.
Sister Orla Treacy, a longtime partner of Sudan Relief Fund, is the principal of Loreto Schools and directs the campus activities. Sister Orla has long operated on the premise that education is the key to lifting people from poverty and empowering them for successful futures. For many marginalized citizens of South Sudan, attaining valuable career skills isn’t possible without programs like this one at the new Education Centre.

In addition to a co-ed primary school, the secondary school is blazing new paths for girls to achieve educational equality in South Sudan. A health clinic on the campus also serves both the school and the public at large, and is partially staffed by graduates and alumni of the school, who return after completing university degrees.

Raising up a New Generation for Peace

Over 90 youths from Loreto Schools participated in a pilgrimage walk for peace, traversing nearly 80 miles over several days from Rumbek to Tonj, South Sudan. Their theme was “Be Seeds of Hope,” focused on changing the divisive narrative and igniting a generation of adults committed to a peaceful, unified South Sudan. 

Students from different tribes and regions come together from all over the country to learn side by side at Loreto Schools, where part of their holistic education includes an emphasis on being one student body of one South Sudan.  

As the students traveled from village to village, they stopped at parishes along the way to visit with priests and local residents, carrying their message that included teachings from the Pope’s visit to South Sudan in February of last year.

Internship Program Helps Students Achieve Higher Ed

The Internship Program at Loreto Schools is considered one of its most successful initiatives. Recent graduates serve two years working at the school in career-related capacities such as education or healthcare, after which they receive scholarships allowing them to attend any college or university in Nairobi. 

The exchange of volunteer work for future higher education makes attending college or university possible for students who couldn’t otherwise go. Investing in these young people is a win-win, as many return to their home communities or to Loreto Rumbek to serve with their new skills acquired from their college degrees. This inspires other young people to pursue their dreams of higher education and brings a skilled workforce into communities.

This year’s interns gathered for a retreat in Mombasa by the sea, where they spent three days being mentored in key areas of personal and professional development, before returning to begin their third semester of college.

Sudan Relief Fund remains proud to partner with Loreto Schools and support their mission to empower South Sudan’s youth through holistic education and vocational training. Thank you for helping to make this transformation possible.

Hawa Kafi

February 13, 2024

Mother Finds Critical Help at Only Hospital Able to Treat Her

Even today, tuberculosis remains the deadliest infectious disease killer in the world. It can attack various parts of the body, sometimes without symptoms, where it lurks silently as it multiplies. It may attack different organs, even the spine and brain. It’s also highly contagious.

Thankfully, victims can be cured of TB with appropriate treatment if received in time. Hawa Kafi, a mother living in Kacha – a village in the western Nuba Mountains – knows just how lucky she is to be one of them.

Like many victims, Hawa didn’t know she contracted tuberculosis. Her ailment began with back pain – something easily mistaken for other causes. After dealing with the constant pain in her back for a month, she began to notice pain in her legs also. Then her legs began to swell. Frighteningly, they swelled so much that Hawa couldn’t walk or even get out of bed. Her body also burned with a high fever. 

When this happened, relatives took Hawa to the nearest hospital in Lwere. She stayed there for twelve days, but only grew worse. Fortunately, Hawa was referred by the hospital to Mother of Mercy in Gidel – a Sudan Relief Fund sponsored facility directed by missionary doctor Tom Catena, who serves as the only residing surgeon.

Although she didn’t yet know it, that referral was critical to saving her life. Mother of Mercy is the only hospital in the region capable of treating tuberculosis and equipped with the necessary medicine to fight it. This is possible because generous donors provide funding for TB and other vital medicines to the hospital that enable Mother of Mercy to save lives like Hawa’s.

Hawa endured a six hour drive by truck to make it to the facility which is the only one of its kind for hundreds of miles. When she arrived, she was immediately diagnosed and put on a protocol of powerful antimicrobial TB medicines.

It was a tough road for Hawa. The disease had taken a powerful toll on her body before she found help. But the relentless regimen of treatment eventually turned the tables on her illness. Five months after being admitted, Hawa at last turned a corner and started to improve. She was moved with incredible joy when she could begin to use her legs again and move around with support.

By now Hawa reports she is doing much better, with only a little pain remaining in her back and right knee. She continues to recover steadily. She knows this is only because of a hospital that was there to offer the help she needed, when her life was on the line. 

Dr. Tom and his team work every day to save victims like Hawa from deadly diseases. Your support makes it possible for Mother of Mercy Hospital to maintain vital medicines that are making the difference. Thank you for helping to save lives.

Would you like to pray for us? Sign up for our email prayer group to receive weekly emails sharing important needs to pray for. You’ll join a faith community around the globe praying to bring hope and help to suffering people in a forgotten part of the world. Click here to find out more.

South Sudan Reports Outbreak of Yellow Fever

February 8, 2024

St. Theresa Takes Steps to Ready Hospital in Nzara

The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed thirty cases of the viral disease yellow fever in the Western Equatoria state of South Sudan. As of February 1, six deaths were reported among the thirty cases identified.

Fifteen of the cases occurred in Yambio County where the largest outbreak remains, with seven cases confirmed in Tombura, five in Nzara, two in Ebba, and one instance reported in Ezo. 

South Sudan’s Ministry of Health has activated an emergency operations center and a rapid response team to monitor the outbreak and conduct investigations.

Yellow fever is a bloodborne disease transmitted to victims by mosquitoes, and is considered highly infectious. Early onset symptoms include fever, muscle pain, prominent backache, headache, and loss of appetite, which may be accompanied by nausea and vomiting. 

If allowed to progress, yellow fever can result in coma and organ shutdown. The death rate in severe cases is estimated at 50 percent, similar to Ebola. 

Victims can be infected with yellow fever for days before presenting symptoms, which escalates chances of the disease’s spread and the challenge of containing it. 

South Sudan is situated in the yellow fever belt and the nation experienced previous outbreaks in 2003, 2018 and 2020. In the absence of widespread vaccination campaigns, concerns remain that hospitals could quickly become overwhelmed in the event of a large spread of the disease. 

Healthcare professionals are stressing the need for early detection, testing, education, and preventive vaccination measures to contain an outbreak.

St. Theresa Hospital, a Sudan Relief Fund sponsored facility in Nzara, is taking steps to ready its staff and facility. Currently the hospital is working with the World Health Organization and other NGOs to set up isolation areas to treat infected patients and contain the disease.  

Civilians are urged to protect themselves from mosquitoes both day and night by using insect repellent, wearing long-sleeved shirts and pants, treating clothes and gear with repellent sprays, regularly eliminating standing water sources, and utilizing mosquito nets. Travelers are encouraged to receive the vaccine if journeying to an affected area.

Reductions in Aid and Allied Support Leave South Sudan Vulnerable   

January 31, 2024

The western world should step up efforts to support South Sudan, says a January 25th article published in Time Magazine, which sheds light on how cutbacks in vital funding and an absence of political leadership is the opposite of what this young nation needs, as the country continues to struggle under myriad pressures.

Backed by western allies in a protracted war for independence from Sudan, the country has relied heavily on its democratic counterparts since gaining hard won freedom in 2011. Nevertheless, the hoped for democratic state leading to peace for its war-weary citizens, intended to stand as a symbol of democracy among its neighboring nations, has continued to struggle with poverty, hunger, poor education rates, and a decided lack of unity.

Diverted funds and food supplies since the war in Ukraine has been one source of South Sudan’s bleeding. Another is a swath of severe weather events that left much of the country reeling under devastating floods or life threatening drought. The resulting hunger crisis is worsened by a continuous flow of Sudanese refugees from the north, seeking asylum across South Sudan’s borders since war broke out there last April. 

The current administration is blamed for business as usual corruption tactics in misusing the country’s promising natural resources, and faulted for failing to extinguish flames of ethnic rivalries that persist among more than sixty different tribes that comprise South Sudan’s citizenry.

The World Bank continues to identify South Sudan among “the poorest countries in the world,” in which four out of five people live below the international poverty line. Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report places the nation in a tie alongside Tibet and Syria at the bottom of 210 countries and territories considered “not free.” Other dismal rankings were given for corruption and fragility. 

The article calls for western governments to reinstate political and financial relationships that were once a hallmark of the world’s newest nation, but of lately have been met with indifference. If western allies do not, the author points out, factions of South Sudan will reach out to strengthen relationships with enemies of the west, and the free world could risk losing the progress that was painstakingly achieved.

Further, South Sudan’s population is in greater need than ever of humanitarian support, with the significant drop in aid that occurred in unfortunate timing alongside the country’s natural disasters and influx of war refugees. To say now is not the time to look the other way in a crucial moment of South Sudan’s journey is understated. With the fragile nation at a potential tipping point, it’s of greater importance to prioritize their humanitarian and political support higher up the list, ensuring the scales are tipped in the right direction. Continue reading here.

Kumi

January 16, 2024

Boy Saved from Deadly Cerebral Malaria

Ten year-old Kumi is described as a lively boy who enjoys laughing and joking with his family and neighbors. Like so many in Africa, the people of Laro Village in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains are vulnerable to malaria. The nation of Sudan has the highest incidence of malaria in the eastern mediterranean.

At first it resembled flu-like symptoms when Kumi complained one day of a headache and general body aches. But by day two he took a serious turn for the worse. As he was walking, Kumi suddenly collapsed and fell unconscious.

Mother of Mercy Hospital, where Dr. Tom Catena has served as missionary doctor and hospital director for 15 years, is a two-hour journey from Kumi’s home. Kumi’s mother carried her son the entire distance to the hospital, hoping to get him critical help in time.

When he arrived, he was rushed in for testing and Dr. Tom diagnosed the ten year-old boy with cerebral malaria – a fatal condition if not immediately treated. It is the most dangerous and severe form of neurological malaria.

Dr. Tom wasted no time intubating Kumi and administering antimalarial medications. For a tenuous four days, Kumi’s mother, Khalatia, waited by his side. “I didn’t know or believe that my son would live,” she said. Kumi couldn’t eat or drink during that time, and he received nourishment through an NG tube.

Five days later, the treatment finally began to get the best of his illness. Kumi regained consciousness, and when he awoke, it became clear he had turned a corner. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Kumi was going to be all right.

His mother was emotionally exhausted but elated with gratitude. “Thank you to all the doctors and nurses for their good work for my son to recover,” she expressed. “Having been given this medicine, he is improving so well. I thank God for all the generous donors who send medicine to this hospital – God bless you!”

At the time of this writing, Kumi was able to stand again and eat on his own. He is expected to fully recuperate. Soon he will be back to teasing with his siblings and friends at home in Laro Village – because a team of dedicated medical professionals and supporters from across the world were there when he needed it most.

These stories of Lives Saved are possible because of your support to Dr. Tom and his team at Mother of Mercy Hospital. Thank you for helping save children like Kumi from the ever-present but treatable threat of malaria.

Would you like to pray for us? Sign up for our email prayer group to receive weekly emails sharing important needs to pray for. You’ll join a faith community around the globe praying to bring hope and help to suffering people in a forgotten part of the world. Click here to find out more.

 Dr. Tom Catena Honored as 2023 Theodore Roosevelt Award Recipient

January 15, 2024

Dr. Tom Catena, longtime partner of Sudan Relief Fund, has been named this year’s recipient of the NCAA Theodore Roosevelt Award in recognition of his 15 years of selfless service as a missionary doctor and hospital director in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains. He was formally recognized on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, at the NCAA Convention Welcome and Awards Presentation in Phoenix, Arizona.

The award is given in honor of a “distinguished citizen of national reputation and outstanding accomplishment, who graduated from an NCAA member institution and earned a varsity athletics award or participated in competitive intercollegiate athletics.” The individual who receives the Theodore Roosevelt Award “exemplifies the ideals to which collegiate athletics programs and amateur sports competitions are dedicated through their personal example and societal contributions.”

Dr. Tom was instrumental in founding Mother of Mercy Hospital which serves a population of over a million people in the remote region of Nuba, where few have access to medical treatment. The Sudan Relief Fund sponsored facility is the only one of its kind for hundreds of miles in all directions. There Dr. Tom works seven days a week as the only resident surgeon. He sees up to 400 patients a day and is on call every night. Dr. Tom has worked through times of warfare, intense political persecution, and survived bombing raids and serious illnesses – including one severe bout of malaria that put him in a coma. Nevertheless he remains steadfast to continue serving the under-reached people of Nuba.

Dr. Tom Catena is a graduate of the ivy league Brown University, where he majored in engineering and distinguished himself as an All American football player. He later felt called to move into the medical field to do medical missionary work. Since 2009, he has worked in partnership with Sudan Relief Fund to bring medical care to the people of Nuba, at Mother of Mercy Hospital and through a medical training program he recently established to put more healthcare professionals in the field locally.

Dr. Tom notes how the principles of success in sports, similar to those he used playing college football at Brown, equate with life challenges – lessons like consistent hard work and persevering through adversity.

“There are direct correlations between a sport and the life I certainly experience here in the Nuba Mountains,” he said. “We’ve had multiple times when I was the only doctor here … There’d be 100 wounded (soldiers) come in during the middle of the night, and I, along with my small team, would have to get through all those patients and be up all night working.”

It’s not the first time Dr. Tom’s laudable record of self-sacrifice has been recognized. He is known locally as a hero of the people, and has received international honors including the 2017 Aurora Prize Laureate for Awakening Humanity, the 2018 Catholics in Media Associates Social Justice Award, and the 2020 Gerson L’Chaim Prize for outstanding Christian medical missionary service.

True to his character, Dr. Tom’s perspective is laser focused on his lifesaving work. He delights that the NCAA award brings publicity to the needs of people in this remote outpost of Sudan. He continually focuses on moving forward, including his current push to establish local clinics staffed with professionals he’s trained himself, to give more of the population access to healthcare. Read the full article here.