Out of Africa
SISTER SHARES MUSIC & FAITH WITH MISSION CHILDREN
Sister Lorita Kristufek enjoys time with some of the children at St. John Mission in Barberton, South Africa.
Sister Lorita Kristufek took a month-long mission trip to Barberton, South Africa in 2016 to help Our sisters at St. John Mission care for and educate children with HIV who have been displaced from their families. She was inspired by her time there and offered the following reflections on her trip:
Our Sisters live at Our Lady of the Angels Convent on the property at St. John Care Center in Barberton, South Africa, with 33 children ages 2 through 18 who have HIV. All but eight children go out to two different schools in nearby Barberton and one public primary school on our mission property. The Diocese of Witbank owns the mission properties, and Bishop Joseph Sandri, MCCJ is always in close contact with Sister Anece, who is presently the “Guardian of the Mission.”
My main ministry from January 4 through February 6 was teaching eight special education children ages 2 through 12 who cannot go out to local schools due to their special educational, physical, emotional and mental needs. I was delighted to teach music, language and speech lessons, and large and small motor skills while taking several pretend-safari trips with the children in my “playroom classroom,” as the new Learning Skills Center is still being developed and put into working order.
The children all have an innate gift of rhythm, and they sing and dance with a joyful spirit despite the many side effects they experience from the various medications that they take. Some of the children have no family, and others have a few family members who cannot or do not choose to keep them at home to care for them due to poverty or other issues.
We are located in the Mpumalanga Province and are a part of the Diocese of Witbank. Vocations are few, and our diocesan priest, who has several parishes in Barberton, is from Kenya. Statistics from the Census International Database show that the population in Africa in 2013 was near 400,000,000, with a Catholic population of approximately 206,224,000. The projected Catholic population in 2050 is 430,557,412.
I have literally seen and experienced mercy in action, and I praise and thank our good and merciful God, who has gifted His children with our good and dedicated missionary sisters and volunteers throughout the years who have and continue to “help build up the Kingdom of God” with mercy, care, compassion and a sincere dedication to educating “the poorest of the poor!” Mercy is alive and truly in action as our Franciscan values of peace and all good continue to be spread and shared throughout the world.