On Feb. 21, 2012, a fire swept through the Locaruk village in the Lopit Mountains of South Sudan, burning everything to the ground and leaving more than 5,000 Lopit people without homes or possessions.
When news of the devastating fire reached Australia, members of the Lopit community in Melbourne contacted the Bumblebee Global Renewal Projects Cooperation Circle. The Australian CC has aided other victims of natural disasters by finding and filling entire 40-foot shipping containers with food, clothing and emergency supplies – and by making the containers part of their donation.
While Bumblebee members put out a call for clothing, food, medical supplies, sewing machines, organic seeds, hand tools, school books and construction materials (including a water tank), students from St. Gerard’s Primary School in North Dandenong painted the inside of the container with designs inspired by Lopit culture. Bumblebee members hope the container will be used as an emergency shelter – and perhaps as part of the rebuilt Locaruk village.
On Oct. 19, at a special Children’s Mission Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne, Bishop Vincent Boi Na of Ghana blessed a special cross made from Australian redgum. The cross, a gift of the St. Gerard’s students, will accompany the other items in the Bumblebee container as a symbol of hope and of connection between the two communities.
The container departed Melbourne aboard the Safmarine Mulanje on Oct. 30, and is expected to reach Locaruk in early January.
In addition, the Bumblebee CC has continued to work closely with members of the local Lopit community in Melbourne. With the help of advisors from St. John’s Regional College, Bumblebee chair and founder Pauline Crosbie has helped a group of Lopit women develop a cooking group called Ngeita – “running feet” – selling handmade biscuits, sweets and traditional sauces and preserves.
For more information about this project, visit the Bumblebee/Koala Spirit site here.
