In Mount Sackville on the early morning of 27th October 2023, the senior prefects alongside Mrs O’Donovan began fundraising for “All Souls’ Stroll” in aid of the Cluny Missions. As part of this fundraiser for the Cluny Missions the senior prefects prepared an assembly followed by a walking event in the Phoenix Park for the entire Mount Sackville community.
At the Assembly, the staff and students greeted Sister Rowena Galvin, Sister Mary Magdalene and Sister Gertrude Mensah.
The Sisters gratefully taught the Mount Sackville community about life in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Ghana, Seychelles and Haiti.
Sister Gertrude shared her experience of working as the Mission Development Officer for the Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny who are scattered all around the world in 53 countries and are involved in various works such as education, health, outreach programs, and pastoral works. We heard about Sierra Leone, where, as Sister Gertrude explained, she was privileged to have worked with a past pupil from Mount Sackville, Sister Mary Sweeney, who started the first Hearing Impaired School there in 1979. Over the 40 years the school grew from 8 students back then to 280 now and enrolling 30 to 50 new ones every year. As they graduate they either pursue higher education or benefit from the vocational training.
"Keeping the connection is part of the Cluny DNA"
Sister Gertrude spoke about another St Joseph of Cluny school in a village in Ghana called Domeabra - if you love you come. The school founded there offered not only education but also provided a feeding programme. Rather than continue to use firewood for cooking, the sisters decided to embark on biogas production thus reducing the use of firewood by 50%. They also hope to support families with energy saving stoves thus improving air quality, decreasing premature tree cutting and enabling ecosystem recovery.
"Little drop of water as they say make a mighty ocean"
Sister Rowena told us how the sisters have continued to live and work in very difficult circumstances over the years. We learnt how the Sisters aid the people of Haiti through education and health care, especially since 2010 when a destructive earthquake of 7.0 magnitude destroyed the homes belonging to the people of Haiti. We heard how generously St Joseph of Cluny community in Ireland reacted to the fundraising appeal and how the money raised were allocated to rebuilding and refurbishment of 11 schools in Haiti. Sister Rowena stressed that half of the Haiti's population, including 3 million children, still need aid and that the sisters aim to provide respite to as many as possible.
We were deeply moved by the stories that the Sisters shared. After the assembly, all Mount Sackville staff and students went outside, through the gate and into the Phoenix Park to take part in the “All Souls’ Stroll”. This walk was led by our senior prefects in aid of the Cluny Missions. Mount Sackville walked for a total of 35 minutes on the morning of 27th October.
The senior prefects as well as Mrs O’Donovan were amazed by the generosity of the Mount Sackville community from all of their generous donations in aid of the Cluny Missions! Thank you everyone for your support.