Missionaries of the Sacred Heart

The MSC began working in Senegal in 1953. The mission in Senegal primarily focuses on parish ministry, education and local development programs. There are currently 14 MSC priests ministering in Senegal and the MSC have four parishes (Gossas, Ndoffane, Gandiaye, Dakar). All of the MSC parishes are in poor, rural areas and one project is to help people increase their agricultural production, despite the fact that it only rains three months out of the year. Agricultural challenges often drive rural youth to the city with the hope of finding a job to support their families, but with an unemployment rate of a staggering 48%, this hope is often never realized. By training farmers to use the ground more naturally, how to take care of livestock and poultry, and how to create and manage a small business, the MSC are working to provide better options for agricultural families. Another project the MSC are working on is providing clean water to villages because women in the villages often must walk 2-3 miles in order to get water and finding clean water can be very difficult.

According to the latest statistics (CIA World Factbook), the average life expectancy is only 56.69 years and over 50% of the population is below the poverty line. Also, only 5% of the population in Senegal is Catholic; the majority of the country is Muslim. MSC work to provide support to the Catholic minority through retreats and workshops. Each year, every diocese in Senegal participates in an annual youth pilgrimage, which usually takes place the weekend before Pentecost.

Senegal has a literacy rate of only 39.3% and education is one of the most important focal points of the MSC mission. In each of our parishes in Senegal, the MSC have established a library which has all the books needed by grade school, high school and university students. The library provides a quiet place where students can study and gives them access to their textbooks because almost none of the parents are able to provide their children with all the books they need in a year. Last year the MSC Sisters in Senegal helped respond to the need for a place to study by creating a study room for high school and university students, and were happy to report that the students who used the study room did very well in their exams.

The MSC have also built several elementary schools and one high school, providing well-equipped facilities and a safe environment so that more children can have access to an education. In many cases, parents simply cannot afford to pay for schooling. Although the MSC work for the education of both boys and girls, the focus has been especially on young girls who often face even greater challenges due to traditional cultural mores and conservative Muslim beliefs. The high school founded by MSC in Kaolack is a boarding school open to boys and girls of all faiths. The Diocese of Kaolack now manages the school, but the MSC maintain two dormitories (one for boys and one for girls) to provide housing and a place to study for students whose families cannot afford other accommodations and who have no relatives in the area. The MSC provide accommodations for a cost of between $100-$200 per year, depending on the circumstances of each family. There is also a small farm where students whose families cannot afford to give them money for food can get their own vegetables.

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be loved everywhere!

Click here to see more pictures of MSC mission in Africa.