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TRANSCRIPT
A BLESSED MOMENT IN HISTORY! By Fr. Ron Sajdak
Forty pre-registered
African Sudanese
voters along with
Fr. Ron Sajdak
boarded a Grand
Tour Bus early
Sunday, January 9th
to begin a journey
to Toronto Canada
where they would
cast their vote in
the Historic Refer-
endum for residents
of Southern Sudan. The bus, sponsored by ROTA: “Reaching
Out 2 Africa” Ministries of St. Martin de Porres Church
and CRS: Catholic Relief Services of Western New York,
was filled with great excitement and joy as these Sudanese
“citizens in exile” exercised their new
freedom in this way.
Most recently in Sudan‟s com-
plicated history, a peace agreement was
signed in 2005 which brought an end to
a violent civil war between the North
and South that had been raging for over
twenty-three years. Since the peace
agreement, the South and North have had inter-dependent governments with
government ministries in the South
occupied by southerners and the presi-
dent of the South func-
tioning as the Vice-
President of the unified
government for the
whole country. Another
tenet of the agreement
was the sharing of oil
revenue 50/50 between
the South and the North. These monies, in addi-
tion to providing for the
government offices of
the South ,assisted in the
development of infra-
structure that had been
absent for all the years of the civil war. The final stipulation of
the peace accord was the right of Southern Sudanese to deter-
2011 SPRING NEWSLETTER
Website: www.reachingout2africa.com
E-mail: [email protected]
An Outreach Ministry of St. Martin de Porres Parish/Buffalo 555 Northampton Street/Buffalo, NY 14208 716-883-7729
Rev. Ronald P. Sajdak, SMDP Pastor/ROTA Director
Mrs. Joan Ersing, Executive Director
mine if their country should remain unified with the Northern
government or secede from the North to form an independent
country; the fifty-fifth on the African Continent.
A stipulation of the Referendum
Commission was that over 60% of the regis-tered voters needed to actively participate in
order for the election to be valid. To date
over 98% of the registered voters partici-
pated. To register, people in Southern Sudan
had to travel long distances by foot and wait
for long periods of time to prove their citi-
zenship as Southerners. Southern Sudanese
in exile around the world had designated
polling places established by the commission and many had to
travel many miles to reach them. Then beginning January 9th
until January 15th registered voters had to make the journey
again; this time to place their thumb print on which they prefer: unity as it is or separation: South from the North.
Though the temperatures were frigid, the spirit during
the two and a half hour ride to the polling station was at fever
pitch. Songs of praise and worship filled the bus and both men
and women led the call and response
to songs and rally style cheers. Our
bus delegation waited for over three
hours in the bitter cold to finally enter
the small community center and have
the freedom to exercise their new
found right to vote. As the world watched, this Biblical people stood up
for themselves peacefully and with
great order and dignity, participated in
a life changing event for their whole
country. The final results expected
99% have officially voted for separation. The implementation
of the will of the people will take
place on July 9th, 2011; a new In-
dependence Day for Southern Su-
dan. Congratulations to all our
Brothers and Sisters who remind us
of the value of fighting
for valuable
freedom.
D‟YOUVILLE WINTER BREAK WORKING ON KOIYOM MEDICAL CLINIC
By Fr. Ron Sajdak
As soon as the last exam was complete, former “Lost
Boy” Fidele Diing Dhan departed Buffalo headed to Kampala
Uganda first to spend time with his immediate family. He had
relocated them there so that his younger siblings could attend
school. After a brief week to recover from the jet lag, just be-
fore Christmas, he made his way into Sudan and the Village of
Koiyom. Because of
the upcoming Referen-
dum Vote that was to take place January 9th,
buying supplies was
more difficult than
usual. While there he
was able to supervise
the completion of the
roof project for the
clinic, finishing with
cement both the interior and exterior walls, as well as making
provisions for the laying the
foundation for the veranda porch. Unlike in this country
where we hire a developer
who hires the subcontractors
who purchase all the supplies
needed to complete the job, all
the business in the Sudan tends
to be al-a-cart. Going into the
town of Aweil, Fidele needed
to purchase additional cement
and additional sand. Having
purchased the products
needed the next step was securing a means to transport
the goods back to the village
and of course each and every
step requires good negotia-
tion skills in order to be cost effective. The final purchases in-
cluded timbers and supplies that
would be used to dig, line, and
finish the septic tank system as
well as the six pit
toilets and six
shower stalls that will be for both
the staff and the
patients of the clinic. It is our hope that we
will be able to finance another well and above
ground water tank that will enable the toilets, septic system and
showers to work. Many thanks to Fidele who in two weeks
accomplished much more than our village team seems to do in
many months. Many thanks to St. Jude/Sardinia Confirmation
Class, St. Benedict Parish Community, and many of you our
new benefactors who continue to make these miracles possible.
PLATINUM, GOLDEN, & BRONZE SHOVEL ROTA AWARDS DINNER
We are most grateful for all the support shown the ministries of
ROTA: Reaching Out 2 Africa. In September 2010 we had the
opportunity to recognize and thank all you our supporters.
PLATINUM SHOVEL AWARDS - $5,000+ Donors
ANONYMOUS – Florida Donor
Queen of Heaven Parish Community
St. Paul Episcopal Cathedral
D‟Youville College
Saints Peter & Paul/Hamburg Immaculate Conception/East Aurora
GOLDEN SHOVEL AWARDS - $1,000+
Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rotary Club
Queen of Heaven School
R&P Oak Hill Development LLC
Susan Santandreu
Dr. Joseph & Annalise Biondolillo
Good Shepherd Parish
St. Benedict School Class of 2010
BRONZE SHOVEL AWARDS - $500+
In Memory of Fr. Gary Bagley
Mary Ellen Glass
Msgr. Leo Hammerl
Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph
Sonia L. Walker
St. Mary‟s Elementary School
Daniel & Joanne Zwolinski
A CHRISTMAS PARTY FOR REFUGEE CHILDREN
By Joan Ersing
This Christmas the Williamsville and
Clarence ROTARY Clubs hosted a
Christmas Party for our children of our
Sudanese Families. Assumption Parish on
the Westside of Buffalo donated the use
of their cafeteria in the
“Our Lady of Black
Rock School” build-
ing. Fifty of the children that ROTA has
worked with gathered for a Sunday after-
noon filled with Christmas crafts, pizza, live Christmas music and of course, a visit from
Santa himself! Dominic and Diane Cortese
were the driving force behind this project. They organized the
volunteers from their ROTARY clubs, gathered gifts from do-
nations at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Harris
Hill, donated the food and provided a wonderful time of fel-
lowship and fun for all. ROTA is extremely grateful for the
overwhelming endeavor undertaken by our new friends!
CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE
www.reachingout2africa.com
Many thanks to Norman
Miller, one of our young men
in the East Side Buffalo Com-
munity who continues to
assist us with our website……………… Check us out!!!!!!!!!!
JOYFUL NEWS SHARED AT THE SECOND “GOLDEN SHOVEL AWARDS” BANQUET
By Fr. Ron Sajdak
In addition to a beautiful evening with friends and
supporters last September, Fidele Diing Dhan surprised those
gathered by carefully sharing some very good news. He spoke
of how ever since he made himself known again to his family
back in 2006, that for family security reasons as well as tribal
tradition, his mom and family were impressing upon him the
need for him to marry. After successfully skirting the issue he
returned back to Buffalo and then began the clinic project.
When he returned back to the Sudan in late 2007, he found that his family had selected a wife for him. As the
eldest in his family, Fidele is responsible for his
mom and younger siblings. None of his
younger brothers would be allowed to marry
until he was wed. In late 2007 Fidele agreed
and married a beautiful young woman named
Abang whom his family had chosen for him. It
was after the traditional tribal wedding that he
relocated his mom, new wife, as well as
younger siblings to Southern Uganda for safety
reasons and opportunities for education. When Fidele and I had traveled into Sudan for the
ground breaking celebration back in 2009, af-
terward he was on his way back to Uganda. It
was also at this time that he revealed the good news to me that
he was, for the first time, going to meet his four month old son,
Diing Diing. At this writing little Diing Diing
is over two years old. Fidele often says that he
enjoys school and all the opportunities he has
had and still has as an American citizen. How-
ever now when he goes back to Africa to his
family‟s temporary home in Uganda, his fam-
ily includes his own wife and child. On March 29th
Abang called her husband
Fidele and shared some
good news. She gave birth to Fidele‟s sec-
ond child; a baby girl that they named
Abuk Diing Dhan. “Abuk” is the name
“Eve” in the Dinka language. Coming back
to America each time is much more diffi-
cult for Fidele as he leaves his wife and
children behind for now. Fidele continues
to study finishing his first year of a nursing program at D‟Youville College. His future objectives include:
continue school for a few years finishing with a degree as a
nurse practitioner, building a more stable house for his mother
back in the village of Koiyom, work here and pay off some of
his debts, establish himself here in America to the point that he
can move his family here to USA. We pray for Fidele, Abang,
Diing Diing, and Abuk. Many thanks to the St. Vincent de Paul
Parish Hope Fund and many others who have contributed to
help support Fidele‟s extended family while he works on his
degree in nursing at D‟Youville College.
CONGRATULATIONS FIDELE DIING DHAN his wife ABANG
DIING DIING DHAN & ABUK DIING DHAN
MONTH OF JUNE MISSIONARY APPEALS By Fr. Ron Sajdak
June is the month of welcome for missionaries from
around the whole world into the Diocese of Buffalo. ROTA
was pleased to provide the transportation, room and board for one of our African friends, Fr. Emmanuel Katabaazi of the
Diocese of Masaka, Uganda. Fr. Emmanuel
was best friends with Fr. Evarist Lubega
who assisted ROTA in expanding out reach
onto the African continent itself. I met Fr.
Emmanuel when Richard Ersing and I made
our first journey to the Diocese of Masaka
Uganda to visit our good friend Fr. Evarist
Lubega. Fr. Emmanuel was the local parish
pastor. I was surprised that he was able to
open a medical clinic within his parish to
help provide needed medical care for his parishioners. Fr. Emmanuel‟s bishop no-
ticed his love for medical assistance of peo-
ple and currently he is the coordinator of the Catholic Health
Care System for his Diocese. He oversees twenty-nine clinics
and two hospitals. After consultation with ROTA it was deter-
mined that we would support his efforts to construct a medicine
depot which would purchase medicines in bulk and distribute
them to the twenty-nine clinics and two hospitals within the
Church‟s health care system in Masaka. The Propagation of the
Faith Office in Buffalo accepted ROTA‟s 2010 request to have
Fr. Emmanuel come to Buffalo a second time and he was as-signed various parishes last
June. He had preached in Im-
maculate Conception Parish in
East Aurora, Good Shepherd &
St. Augustine worship site, and
Saints Peter & Paul in Ham-
burg. Many thanks to each pas-
tor and the generosity of the
people. The funds wired to Fr.
Emmanuel enabled
him to begin the
medical depot pro-ject. Land was se-
cured and measured
off. The foundations
were laid and the
building has begun
to take shape. Fr.
Emmanuel has been
in communication
with ROTA and
hopes that the $15,000 USD necessary to complete the project
may be raised. ROTA has been accepted again for the 2011 Mission Cooperative in the Diocese of Buffalo. We hope that
we will be able to raise the much needed funds to complete this
project. Unlike our building project in Sudan, Masaka Uganda
has building materials, a skilled work-
force, and an economy that allows
one American dollar to be massively
productive. We pray for the success
of our appeal and for the completion
of this much needed project for our
sisters and brothers in Uganda.
FAITH JOURNEY By Joan Ersing
Aman Alou, from Southern
Sudan, on the right, wife of
Akol Madut, and mother of eight children, has been on a
journey of faith with Marthe
Ngwashi and Brenda Smith at
St. Martin de Porres Church.
Every week they meet to
share faith and support one
another on their journey to
full membership in the Catholic Church. Aman never had the
opportunity to be baptized while living in Sudan. She has wit-
nessed her husband‟s baptism, had her children baptized and
now she has prepared for baptism this Easter at St. Martin de
Porres, her Church home! We pray for Aman and her two fel-low companions. God bless them and St. Martin de Porres.
DAY TO DAY NEEDS By Joan Ersing
ROTA has always been known as a „support‟ organization for
the Sudanese community here in Buffalo. Some times the need
is for diapers for their children,
food for the family until their
benefits arrive, bus tokens or
gas to get to and from work and
school. Whatever the need, ROTA tries to help. That help is
provided by the generosity of
our many supporters: Parishion-
ers of St. Martin de Porres, St. Bernadette Parish Neighbors,
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Harris Hill, St.
Jude in Sardinia, Buffalo for Africa and over 500 individual
supporters. It takes many hands to help those in need. We are
for ever grateful to all who recognize the charitable work of
Reaching Out 2 Africa. God Bless You!
IT TAKES A VILLAGE By Joan Ersing
American parents often assume that they are the only ones that
influence their children‟s growth and development. The Afri-
can saying that it takes a Village to raise a child, is extremely
apparent in ROTA‟s work with African families here in Buf-
falo. We have witnessed a birth, we have helped them to bury
their 16 year old son and we have visited them in prison. Rais-
ing children in our modern world is difficult for Americans
born and raised here, the task is sometimes impossible for refu-
gees from other lands. ROTA‟s Youth Work program has as-
sisted many young men in learning skills, developing work
ethics and encouraged them on their journey to lifelong suc-cess. ROTA funds their employment and training through do-
nations from our supporters. The difference we can make as a
VILLAGE is amazing! Help encourage our African youth to
work, learn and become productive members of our City!
YOUR PRAYERS &
DONATIONS HELP
US TO CONTINUE
THIS MINISTRY
MAPER DUT „FUTBOL‟ TEAM SPONSORED BY
R&P OAK HILL DEVELOPMENT / BUFFALO By Fr. Ron Sajdak
Many thanks to Gary Bichler and R&P Oak Hill Develop-
ment, for their generous contribution that allowed former “Lost
Boy” Fidele Dhan to answer a request by many youth of his hometown of Koiyom, Southern Sudan.
While traveling back home for a ground
breaking ceremony for the new medical
clinic in April of
2009, a group of
youth approach he
and Fr. Ron with a
hand written request
for their soccer team.
Though we could not
fulfill all of what they wanted, our
friends at R&P Oak Hill responded with a
show of support and enabled
Fidele to have soccer uniforms
made here in Buffalo. He car-
ried them with him to Sudan
when he returned home last
summer and they were pre-
sented to the team through a
public gathering with the
Southern Sudan Minister of
Sport. While back in the vil-
lage this past December and
January, Fidele caught up with
the team who posed for photos
with their new uniforms. Fi-
dele commented that “though
they have had the uniforms and have used them for a few
months they still look as good
as new.” Many thanks to Gary
Bichler and our friends at R&P
Oak Hill for their support of
youth half way around the world. They and we will never for-
get your generosity.
ROTA BOARD GETS WORD OUT By Fr. Ron Sajdak
Young Board member, Jenaro Aken,
shares information about Reaching
Out 2 Africa at the 2011 Catholic
Men‟s Conference. In the past few
months we‟ve had the pleasure of
sharing the miracles and aspirations of our ministry in a variety of venues:
Buffalo for Africa Women‟s Confer-
ence, West Seneca Elementary School
book club, Akron Rotary Club, St. John the Baptist Outreach
Ministry, St. Vincent de Paul Parish and St.
Benedict Catholic Community. Thank you to
all for your most kind invitations.