Our concern for Africa is shaped by long term relationsips between Maryknoll missioners and the people of Sudan and South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Namibia. We honor their strength and wisdom and believe that African cultures and traditions often suggest solutions to seemingly intractable local and global problems.
In Africa our Global Concerns work is at times country-specific, focussing, for example, on the slow process toward peace between Sudan and South Sudan, or the genocide in Darfur; the political and economic collapse of Zimbabwe; the introduction of genetically modified seeds or the political situation in Tanzania; efforts to stop corruption in Kenya, among other issues. We also address transnational issues of great concern to all people in Africa: deep and endemic poverty; the HIV and AIDS pandemic; the call for the cancellation of illegitimate and overwhelming debt without conditions that worsen poverty; just trade agreements; the rights of women and children; and environmental degradation.
Knowing that Maasai representatives have, for years, submitted reports of evictions, human rights violations, and harassment to various UN bodies, including UNESCO, and called for investigations and protection, to no avail, we stand in solidarity with the Maasai people in requesting that UNESCO delist the Ngorongoro Conservation Area due to human rights violations against Indigenous peoples taking place with no abatement.
On April 15, over a dozen international human rights organizations march to the White House in solidarity with Sudan to mark the one-year anniversary of the bloody civil war. Sign the petition asking President Biden to speak out on Sudan.
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Stephen Veryser compares our annual commemorations of Easter to the to the smell of fresh rainfall or the jar of perfumed oil poured on Jesus’ head in the Gospel readings.
Maryknoll Sister Susan Nchubiri is reminded of the wisdom of ancestors in the keeping of our covenant with God.
Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland signed an agreement with landlocked Ethiopia to give it access to the sea by way of Somaliland’s coastline. The agreement could reshape geopolitics in the Horn of Africa.
The Brookings Institution published the 2024 edition of Foresight Africa, offering a positive outlook for the continent despite serious challenges.
The civil war nears a year old and remains largely ignored despite urgent reports of ethnic killings, dire circumstances.
Fr, Joseph Healey, MM, who served for five decades in East Africa, relates how young Catholics care for creation in Kenya by planting trees.
Fr. Frank Breen, MM sees Jesus’ communion with the lepers as an example for our Church.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution urging Tanzania to immediately halt ongoing forcible evictions of Maasai pastoralists from their ancestral lands.
Three Maryknoll missioners spoke about their experiences of mission while serving international displaced people and refugees from South Sudan.
Two generals in Sudan began warring for control of the government in 2023, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions.
Updates from Maasai peoples and church actors working in solidarity to defend the rights of Indigenous Maasai communities in Tanzania.
Maryknoll Fr. Tom Tiscornia is in Sudan and says “Please keep Sudan and its people in your prayers that sometime in the future we will know the peace that the Lord offers.”
Fr, Michael Snyder, MM, shares how the scripture readings are relevant to his work as a medical university chaplain in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Unsustainably high debt obligations complicate the African continent’s efforts to confront climate change and promote economic and social development.
Maryknoll Lay Missioner Joanne Miya asks how we as Christians keep the second commandment of Jesus.
The second MISA Newsletter features stories of favorable court rulings, over 60 arrests, and political machinations
