![]() But after a few minutes, I found myself putting my hand in my pocket and taking out a few single dollars to hand out. I was told not to give them any money, as it would cause mayhem. Of course, they see white people as being rich beyond their wildest dreams and in comparison, they are absolutely right. We went to an area notorious for having many street children, and as soon as we went out to film, they all ran over - pleading for money. As you can imagine, the streets are a dangerous place, with violence, drugs and killings commonplace. Many of their parents were killed in the civil war and now, as orphans, they do whatever they can to try and survive. As the name suggests, these are homeless children who roam the streets fending for themselves. It is estimated that there are around 3,000 “street kids” in the city. The first place we visited was right in the middle of Juba. But I was told by Noeleen that here in South Sudan it was vital we had these armed guards with us at all times. ![]() They would be with us for the entire trip, to offer us protection - again, at a cost. When we met our local contact, Irish lay missionary Noeleen Loughran, she was waiting for us with four policemen in military uniforms holding machine guns. ![]() No sooner had we stepped off the plane, an airport official approached us, pulled us to one side, and asked for a bribe to “help us through the airport.” This would happen again at passport control, as there was “something wrong with our documents,” and again at the baggage carousel, to “retrieve our luggage,” and at security when leaving the airport, to “allow our equipment to leave.” I quickly realized this was part of the reality of daily life in South Sudan. When we landed in Juba, the capital, the first thing my cameraman, Patrick Leonard, and I realized was that we were in a dangerous country. Last year, a few weeks ahead of the Pope’s originally planned trip, I traveled to South Sudan for EWTN News In Depth to get a real sense of how people in some of the hardest-hit regions live, and what I witnessed was hard to believe - especially in the central rural region of Rumbek, where I visited a leprosy colony, but I’ll get to that in a moment. The world’s TV cameras captured the smiling handshakes between the Pope and the president, the country’s Church leaders warmly welcoming their Holy Father, and the thousands of well-wishers who turned up for the papal Mass in the capital, all waving South Sudanese and Vatican flags.Īgain, don’t get me wrong, these trips hold immense value and have become an integral part of any papacy, but what they often fail to do is show the true reality of life for so many in the country.īecause in a country like South Sudan, it’s away from the smiling faces waving miniature flags, and the opportunist politicians having their pictures taken, that millions of the nation’s citizens lay weak and hungry, some even slowly starving to death. Pope Francis' visit was hugely symbolic, as he showed the Church's wish to see the country and its people grow and prosper as they continue to build their nation.īut as is normally the case with these papal visits, they are carefully choreographed and specifically stage-managed to show the very best a country has to offer. Pope Francis recently shone a spotlight on South Sudan in East Africa, when he visited the fledgling country to plea for peace.Įstablished in 2011, South Sudan is the youngest country in the world and has seen civil unrest and bloody conflict for years. South Sudan is regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, where even foreign aid and financial support sent to help people like these often goes “missing.” When I asked Betty why the government doesn’t fund the house, she says that when they ask the government for money, they just say they don’t have any - it’s that simple. But that does little to escape the scorching African sun. So when it gets tremendously hot, the only solution, really, is finding shade. But the system is broken and in need of repair. There is no national power grid in South Sudan, and so they have a small solar panel on the roof connected to large car batteries. She brought me into a small room where a sick baby, lying on a bed, was covered in sweat. ![]() “Momma Betty,” as she’s known, is the woman in charge, and she showed me around. but still, it's better than the streets, one of the older boys told me. Inside walls were covered in dirt, the children all slept in crowded rooms, and flies swarmed around their food. The orphanage is doing the best it can, but the conditions inside were still pretty bleak. ![]() Clare’s House, where some of the street kids are brought by local priests and nuns. We drove to an orphanage outside the capital called St. Colm Flynn poses some of the children he met during his visit to South Sudan. ![]()
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