I don’t have to be rich to bless the poor in the society. I can still touch lives with the little I have because I am transformed to transform and empower”.

This is the slogan of the girls as they walk along the Loreto corridors and in the larger Loreto community. As we have received help from our pillars, we have also learned to touch other people’s lives in small ways, and this has made us develop a culture of sharing. At Loreto, our girls extend their kindness to the community.

Before the end of our previous school term, our students were encouraged to donate whatever they could afford to support the less fortunate in our community. At the beginning of this term, our students and staff brought items to donate from home; clothes, soap, biscuits, peanut butter paste, and money.

Mary Akuer, the current Miss Loreto, initiated this donation program to help the less fortunate in our society. More specifically, the donations were for the women and children who participate in the emergency feeding program at the Loreto Primary Health Care Unit (LPHCU).

The joy of receiving the gifts could be read from the smiles worn on the women’s faces. Debora Nyitur is one of the women in the feeding program, and she is blind.

She explains, “I have been in Loreto program for one year now. I am so happy for these things Loreto has given me and my friends here. I am so thankful to God. These items will help me and my son.”

Deborah Ayen adds, “At home I’m struggling alone to keep the children. These clothes and soap will help me a lot with my kids. I thank Loreto clinic and girls because these things I would not have not gotten from other hospitals. You will be blessed”. In gratitude, the women offered a prayer to bless the Loreto girls.

Mary Akuer and our other students have been inspired by an ethos of service and generosity that permeates the Loreto mission in Maker Kuei. The LPHCU frequently donates mattresses to those in need such as the women in the emergency feeding program and the infirmed and elderly. Once a month, our casual and contract workers are provided with grain to help with the food insecurity situation facing their families.

According to one of our workers, Yar Der,

The food we are given helps me feed the family and I don’t have to prepare the same meal every day. I don’t starve as I wait to get salary. In the market things are very expensive and It’s not easy to get many things. When I get money I can use it to buy more food and other things to use at home.”

This culture of generosity has helped our students to embrace the tenet of sharing with love. They are using the support that they have received to touch other lives in small ways, a mindset that is vital to the building of a young nation.