Fr. Hyoe Murayama SJ Director of NOSSEF shares a special video marking the 20th anniversary of the Secondary School in our sister parish of Railaco. It highlights the St Canice’s connection, and the foundational role that so many of our parishioners, past and present, have played. Thank you.
RAILACO
2021 End of Year Report Railaco Jesuit Mission
The Jesuits and the people of Railaco are most grateful for the continuing support of St Canice parishioners, but perhaps more importantly in the knowing that we continue to stand in solidarity with them in such challenging times.
My “Best” Christmas and New Year Celebrations – Philip Heng SJ
Fr Phillip Heng SJ, a Singaporean Jesuit, has recently arrived in Timor from Singapore to join the Jesuit Mission.He celebrated Mass at Christmas in one of the Railaco villages and has written a description of his experience. The story illustrates how important our sister parish relationship is in helping these people to obtain an education that will enable them to improve the quality of their life and improve the living standard of their nation.
Your donations make this possible.
‘Update from Nossef Railaco’ 2021
To our Friends and Benefactors,
This past year 2021 was also marked with the pandemic. Timor-Leste also faced the destructive power of natural disasters such as heavy rains and flash floods. Since October there have been fewer or sometimes no cases of COVID-19 in the Timor-Leste daily report, but attention still needs to be paid. Our academic year 2021 ended peacefully in Railaco, and we’d like to express our gratitude to all our collaborators and supporters who have helped our teachers and students in this difficult time in various ways through scholarships, teacher salary grants, generous donations of supplies, and prayer messages.
Since mid-September, NOSSEF Secondary School has resumed its regular campus activities. The students express their joy of studying together.
Meet NOSSEF Railaco Student, Julieta
Julieta, 18, is a Grade 10 student at NOSSEF Secondary School Her story combines the commendable traits of kindness, deep faith and action. It’s an example of how a good Catholic education can lift poor children living in desperate rural circumstances and provide them with opportunity in life.
2-min Video – Joyfully building our Railaco relationship
Joyfully building
our sister parish relationship
with Railaco Jesuit Mission
We promote a culture here at St Canice’s to support the marginalised not only in our own back yard but also in our sister parish in Railaco East Timor. For the past seventeen years, our community has been contributing generously to the health, nutrition, and educational needs of our near neighbours at the Railaco Jesuit Mission in Railaco.
This 2-minute video provides a snapshot of the wonderful works of the Mission.
Railaco – Continuing with Hope in 2021
Thankfully, the recent floods and spread of Covid in East Timor have not impacted the people of Railaco in a big way. In heavily populated areas such as the capital Dili and some other areas, Jesuit Social Services Timor-Leste has been very actively involved in distributing food, clothing and blankets to those affected.
Fr Bong reports from Railaco that plans for 2021 for the Mobile Medical Clinic and Children’s Feeding Program just continue as before.
Welcome to E J Gerilla SJ, new parish priest of Railaco
I look on this relationship as an experience of a being part of a ‘missionary church’, a church in which we are sent. In many ways you have expressed that you are this ‘missionary church’ reaching out to a less privileged people, and especially to the Timorese. We are committed to making this relationship even more meaningful, and in return we like to share with you our prayers and those of the Timorese people.
Railaco – Re-emerging from Covid-19
The first two minutes of this video will update you on how the Railaco Jesuit Mission is emerging from the Covid-19 lockdown and its ongoing needs. The remaining few minutes of the video gives you a good opportunity to ‘meet’ Fr Martin Bong SJ, a Filipino medical doctor and Jesuit priest, who has been ‘on mission’ in Railaco for nearly twenty years.
Farming and Leadership in Railaco – ‘True Grit in Spades’
Some years ago, the Jesuits were offered ten hectares of land about seven kilometres from the school. In October of 2019, taking the initiative and drawing on his family background in agriculture, Br Apu was able to organise the ‘dormers’ (as they are affectionately known) to begin work on a farm. This would provide food not only for the ‘dormers’, but for the Railaco Jesuit community, and other students in the NOSSEF canteen.