ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE REPORT:
George Piech Meat is a South Sudanese refugee who migrated to Australia with his wife Tabisa and their children in 2004. George is the father of six children. He works as a Sudanese Catholic community pastoral worker and is studying at Catholic Theological College to become a permanent deacon in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. In December last year, six months after South Sudan was declared independent, he travelled with the parish priest of Holy Saviour Parish, Glen Waverley North, Fr Tony Feeney, and Br Michael Lynch SDB to his homeland. George wants to help the people of his hometown, Bantiu, build an urgently needed school. He spoke to Kairos Catholic Journal’s Edwina Hall about his journey to the world’s most recently established country.
Tell me about your trip to South Sudan.
My country received its independence in July last year and it was a good opportunity for me to go and also to take Fr Tony Feeney and Br Michael Lynch with me, to see the need and the situation of the people there. This is one of the reasons we went to Bantiu, where the problem is now. We met the auxiliary bishop in Juba the capital of South Sudan. He gave us a little bit of history and a brief on what is happening. There is a lot of need.
South Sudan is the world’s newest country. How is it developing?
We are very proud to have received our independence; we lost 2½ million people during two civil wars and about 4 million were driven out of the country. I am one of them. People are now very happy. Our government is still struggling with lack of management because all the top leaders now were the fighters before—they have never held office until now so they are struggling. But through the help of the United Nations and neighbouring countries that are willing to help South Sudan there is a lot of improvement. A lot of people volunteered to fight and protect their children and their country. They hope for a better education and future for their children. We are very proud that this happened during our time.
Tell me about the needs of the South Sudanese people.
The Church has a very great need, especially schooling. The disadvantaged families now are the people who were in the north before South Sudan became independent and who, because of the separation of Sudan, are returning to South Sudan where there is a lack of schooling opportunities. In Bantiu there is a very big parish but no Catholic school. After Sudan became independent in 1956 they developed the north through our resources, resources of South Sudan, and they forgot about the south. There is one parish with 10 centres around Bantiu. Fr Tony was the main celebrant at a 3½-hour Mass to celebrate the New Year and over 5000 people attended. It was like a pilgrimage, witnessing what was happening. Fr Tony and Br Michael were eyewitnesses; neither of them had been to Africa before.
What is going on in South Sudan today?
Recently there has been a lot of fighting and it is good that the media is already there. There is a problem between the south and the north because Bantiu is a rich oil place, all the oil of South Sudan and of Sudan before comes from Bantiu. The north wants it, especially the area called Leich. There is uncertainty about the border. The international community is now working very hard to bring them together for the peace process and negotiations so that the border issues can be resolved. People are still suffering, there are no production companies. All the food comes from east Africa—Kenya, Uganda—because the north has blocked off the border and food supply is the number one issue.
What effect did returning to South Sudan have on you?
I was very happy to go and see my new country. This is the first time I have returned since South Sudan gained independence. Seeing children just walking along the street without a school was very difficult. I said to Br Michael, I want the best schooling and best opportunities for my children, but I don’t want to forget about all my village people. So, I asked Br Michael and Fr Tony to go and to see my country and be witnesses. I am very happy that we are now a nation and our people can look for a better future for our children and for the nation.
When did you move to Australia and why?
We moved to Australia in 2004 because of the war. My wife and I decided to leave Sudan and search for a better life for our children. We fled to Egypt; we stayed there for two years and three months. We applied to Australia but we were rejected the first time. We came here with our three children and then we had another three. I came here as a refugee but I am a citizen now. It was difficult coming to a new country and new culture. St Anthony’s has been my parish and Fr Tony my parish priest when I arrived. I am where I am today because of him. Now I am in the last year of my Bachelor of Theology degree.
Did you always have faith when you lived in Sudan?
In Sudan I was a catechist. The catechists in Sudan generally have a lot of pastoral responsibilities, taking care of the parishes in Sudan, especially when they don’t have a priest; doing the Liturgy of the Word, Communion Service on Sundays. My last parish was in Bantiu. We received priests twice a year, at Christmas and Easter, so this is my connection to the faith. Coming to Australia, I continued work as a catechist and by the will and the grace of God I will be ordained this year as a permanent deacon. This is my Christian journey, journey with a struggle, journey with disappointment … but finally I am here.
How do you think having faith helps you in the situations you have been through?
Persecution as a Christian is one of the struggles that we have been through in Sudan. Because Sudan is one of Islam’s strongest countries and we in the south are Christian, we struggle a lot with how we can protect our faith. Sometimes you see people who, because of the persecution, convert to Islam; some were killed. So, this is the struggle that we’ve been through. Reflecting on the Bible is always part of the courage that I receive. Whatever your problems you will find something in the Bible that can touch you and also can encourage you. Also the life and the struggle of Jesus. Jesus said, if you want to be my disciple, take your cross and follow me.
All my work was in the south. In the south there was a chance of evangelising. But there were a lot of problems because the northern military used to occupy the area that I worked in. Sometimes it was difficult to go to the church and pray, you expected any attack could happen. There was lots of struggle. This is the beauty of this country, that there is freedom of religion, you can do whatever you want to do and we have been welcomed into our parishes. We have become part of our parish. We have our Sudanese Mass once a month, we celebrate the Mass in the way we use to celebrate Mass back home. The Australian priests are working well to welcome us.
What are some of your plans for the future of South Sudan?
We put this in God’s hands. We don’t know what will be. Here in Australia we don’t have any idea of what is happening there but through Fr Tony’s witness and Br Michael’s witness we pray that we can tell the story of what is happening. We have found an Australian lawyer who has a job with the United Nations in South Sudan as a project manager. We met him and gave him some ideas and he has now connected me with an architect here
to design the school and he will apply for donors.
Some parishes are happy to help: St Brigid’s in Mordialloc and St Louis de Montfort want to establish a social justice committee. There is already a school but it is only for grade 1 and grade 2. We send money so the tukult—a local building in South Sudan—can be repaired to accommodate children in the wet season. I am still wondering how I can help and what kind of help I can offer my people. The help will come through my connection with some friends in the church and the good Samaritans who wish to help through the Don Bosco Mission.
Why are you studying to become a deacon?
Coming here as a catechist and also working with my community now—the South Sudanese Catholic community is the largest African Catholic Community in Australia and the majority are here in our diocese—will allow me to continue to serve my Church. On 1April a group of Sudanese catechists was commissioned and is working and connecting our people with the Church, serving them in different ways, connecting them with the parishes and schools. Being a permanent Deacon working with my community will connect my people more with the Church and the Church will benefit from that because we hope that our children will join the seminary and religious life in Australia.
Time out with George Piech Meat
George Piech Meat is a South Sudanese refugee who migrated to Australia with his wife Tabisa and their children in 2004. George is the father of six children. He works as a Sudanese Catholic community pastoral worker and is studying at Catholic Theological College to become a permanent deacon in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. In December last year, six months after South Sudan was declared independent, he travelled with the parish priest of Holy Saviour Parish, Glen Waverley North, Fr Tony Feeney, and Br Michael Lynch SDB to his homeland. George wants to help the people of his hometown, Bantiu, build an urgently needed school. He spoke to Kairos Catholic Journal’s Edwina Hall about his journey to the world’s most recently established country.My country received its independence in July last year and it was a good opportunity for me to go and also to take Fr Tony Feeney and Br Michael Lynch with me, to see the need and the situation of the people there. This is one of the reasons we went to Bantiu, where the problem is now. We met the auxiliary bishop in Juba the capital of South Sudan. He gave us a little bit of history and a brief on what is happening. There is a lot of need.
South Sudan is the world’s newest country. How is it developing?
We are very proud to have received our independence; we lost 2½ million people during two civil wars and about 4 million were driven out of the country. I am one of them. People are now very happy. Our government is still struggling with lack of management because all the top leaders now were the fighters before—they have never held office until now so they are struggling. But through the help of the United Nations and neighbouring countries that are willing to help South Sudan there is a lot of improvement. A lot of people volunteered to fight and protect their children and their country. They hope for a better education and future for their children. We are very proud that this happened during our time.
Tell me about the needs of the South Sudanese people.The Church has a very great need, especially schooling. The disadvantaged families now are the people who were in the north before South Sudan became independent and who, because of the separation of Sudan, are returning to South Sudan where there is a lack of schooling opportunities. In Bantiu there is a very big parish but no Catholic school. After Sudan became independent in 1956 they developed the north through our resources, resources of South Sudan, and they forgot about the south. There is one parish with 10 centres around Bantiu. Fr Tony was the main celebrant at a 3½-hour Mass to celebrate the New Year and over 5000 people attended. It was like a pilgrimage, witnessing what was happening. Fr Tony and Br Michael were eyewitnesses; neither of them had been to Africa before.
What is going on in South Sudan today?
Recently there has been a lot of fighting and it is good that the media is already there. There is a problem between the south and the north because Bantiu is a rich oil place, all the oil of South Sudan and of Sudan before comes from Bantiu. The north wants it, especially the area called Leich. There is uncertainty about the border. The international community is now working very hard to bring them together for the peace process and negotiations so that the border issues can be resolved. People are still suffering, there are no production companies. All the food comes from east Africa—Kenya, Uganda—because the north has blocked off the border and food supply is the number one issue.
What effect did returning to South Sudan have on you?I was very happy to go and see my new country. This is the first time I have returned since South Sudan gained independence. Seeing children just walking along the street without a school was very difficult. I said to Br Michael, I want the best schooling and best opportunities for my children, but I don’t want to forget about all my village people. So, I asked Br Michael and Fr Tony to go and to see my country and be witnesses. I am very happy that we are now a nation and our people can look for a better future for our children and for the nation.
When did you move to Australia and why?
We moved to Australia in 2004 because of the war. My wife and I decided to leave Sudan and search for a better life for our children. We fled to Egypt; we stayed there for two years and three months. We applied to Australia but we were rejected the first time. We came here with our three children and then we had another three. I came here as a refugee but I am a citizen now. It was difficult coming to a new country and new culture. St Anthony’s has been my parish and Fr Tony my parish priest when I arrived. I am where I am today because of him. Now I am in the last year of my Bachelor of Theology degree.
Did you always have faith when you lived in Sudan?
In Sudan I was a catechist. The catechists in Sudan generally have a lot of pastoral responsibilities, taking care of the parishes in Sudan, especially when they don’t have a priest; doing the Liturgy of the Word, Communion Service on Sundays. My last parish was in Bantiu. We received priests twice a year, at Christmas and Easter, so this is my connection to the faith. Coming to Australia, I continued work as a catechist and by the will and the grace of God I will be ordained this year as a permanent deacon. This is my Christian journey, journey with a struggle, journey with disappointment … but finally I am here.
How do you think having faith helps you in the situations you have been through?
Persecution as a Christian is one of the struggles that we have been through in Sudan. Because Sudan is one of Islam’s strongest countries and we in the south are Christian, we struggle a lot with how we can protect our faith. Sometimes you see people who, because of the persecution, convert to Islam; some were killed. So, this is the struggle that we’ve been through. Reflecting on the Bible is always part of the courage that I receive. Whatever your problems you will find something in the Bible that can touch you and also can encourage you. Also the life and the struggle of Jesus. Jesus said, if you want to be my disciple, take your cross and follow me.
All my work was in the south. In the south there was a chance of evangelising. But there were a lot of problems because the northern military used to occupy the area that I worked in. Sometimes it was difficult to go to the church and pray, you expected any attack could happen. There was lots of struggle. This is the beauty of this country, that there is freedom of religion, you can do whatever you want to do and we have been welcomed into our parishes. We have become part of our parish. We have our Sudanese Mass once a month, we celebrate the Mass in the way we use to celebrate Mass back home. The Australian priests are working well to welcome us.
What are some of your plans for the future of South Sudan?
We put this in God’s hands. We don’t know what will be. Here in Australia we don’t have any idea of what is happening there but through Fr Tony’s witness and Br Michael’s witness we pray that we can tell the story of what is happening. We have found an Australian lawyer who has a job with the United Nations in South Sudan as a project manager. We met him and gave him some ideas and he has now connected me with an architect here
to design the school and he will apply for donors.
Some parishes are happy to help: St Brigid’s in Mordialloc and St Louis de Montfort want to establish a social justice committee. There is already a school but it is only for grade 1 and grade 2. We send money so the tukult—a local building in South Sudan—can be repaired to accommodate children in the wet season. I am still wondering how I can help and what kind of help I can offer my people. The help will come through my connection with some friends in the church and the good Samaritans who wish to help through the Don Bosco Mission.
Why are you studying to become a deacon?
Coming here as a catechist and also working with my community now—the South Sudanese Catholic community is the largest African Catholic Community in Australia and the majority are here in our diocese—will allow me to continue to serve my Church. On 1April a group of Sudanese catechists was commissioned and is working and connecting our people with the Church, serving them in different ways, connecting them with the parishes and schools. Being a permanent Deacon working with my community will connect my people more with the Church and the Church will benefit from that because we hope that our children will join the seminary and religious life in Australia.
Donations to support this new school, which are tax deductable, can be made out to:
Salesian Mission Office,
PO Box 264, Ascot Vale 3032.
T: 9377 6014 or salemiss@salesians.org.au
Photos:
Top: George Piech Meat. Photo by Edwina Hall.
Middle: Students of St Martin de Porres school Bentiu, South Sudan inside their local classroom. Photo supplied by George Piech Meat.
Bottom: From left: Mr John Dour, Fr Anthony Feeney, Bishop Santo Lako, Br Michael Lynch SDB and George Piech Meat.Photo supplied by George Piech Meat.
Salesian Mission Office,
PO Box 264, Ascot Vale 3032.
T: 9377 6014 or salemiss@salesians.org.au
Photos:
Top: George Piech Meat. Photo by Edwina Hall.
Middle: Students of St Martin de Porres school Bentiu, South Sudan inside their local classroom. Photo supplied by George Piech Meat.
Bottom: From left: Mr John Dour, Fr Anthony Feeney, Bishop Santo Lako, Br Michael Lynch SDB and George Piech Meat.Photo supplied by George Piech Meat.
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