A member of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions tells her story.
 

Article published in L'Osservatore Romano
 

In 2008, the Sudanese Bishops’ Conference sent out a request for help. Both the Union of Superiors General (USG) and the International Union of Superiors General (UISG), representing men and women religious, responded immediately with the creation of Solidarity with South Sudan. Sr Margaret Scott, a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions, tells her story regarding her personal participation in this inter-congregational mission, and shares what Pope Francis’ visit means for the people of South Sudan.

(...)"Most people saw that if there was going to be any development, a good education system needed to be in place. At that time, there were very few trained teachers due to a lack of teacher training colleges. Those that existed were not operational due to lack of funding. We were one little piece contributing to building up that puzzle to provide trained teachers. Across the country, there was a desire for learning, for education, and to have teachers trained so they could teach future generations.
 

From the very beginning we found that many of the teachers in the schools who hadn’t been trained had a great desire to be educated. So, we worked in two modes: in-service and pre-service. Students we had at the college who had no prior training ranged from their mid-20s through to sometimes 50. They were enthusiastic and eager to learn. When they graduated, they were eager to go back to their schools, or to get into the system and be teachers, because they wanted something better for the young ones. The positivity was amazing even though they worked under extremely poor conditions. Even today you find people teaching under trees. But they want to teach."