St. Francis Xavier Parish community will sell wood carvings to help Ugandan children

Intermountain Catholic/Christine Young

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Wood carvings such as these will be available at the Saint Francis Xavier Parish festival to raise funds to purchase school supplies for children in Uganda.

KEARNS — Mahogany and ebony wood carvings from Uganda will be sold at the Saint Francis Xavier Parish Festival in Kearns Aug. 27. The funds raised will be used to purchase school supplies for orphans in Uganda.

The wooden nativity sets and figurines were carved by Ugandans as a means to rebuild their war-torn villages and their lives.

Blessed Sacrament Father Dennis Ruane, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Copperton, and Father Robert Moriarty, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish, came up with the idea to sell the wood carvings to help the orphans while thinking of the plight of the Ugandan children.

"We want to be able to give the children in Uganda backpacks, pens and notebooks," said Fr. Ruane. "Because I have experience in Northern Uganda, I contacted Sister Beatrice Lalam at the school where most of the orphan children are educated."

Fr. Ruane taught in Africa from 1969 to 1984 and has returned regularly.

"Sr. Beatrice is a registered nurse who worked in a rehabilitation center where I trained her and the staff. She went on to get her master’s degree and certify as a counselor. As a result, the bishop in the diocese selected Sr. Beatrice to lead the Catholic effort of recovering the orphans of Northern Uganda," Fr. Ruane said.

For the past 25 years, northern Uganda has been ravaged by guerilla warfare. "The children have been abducted, put into the army and forced to kill people," Fr. Ruane said. "It’s horrendous."

The Ugandan people are now rebuilding their churches. Charles Odoch, a wood carver, is working for the diocese to help them restore the statues in the churches in northern Uganda. Sr. Beatrice knows Odoch, and put Fr. Ruane in contact with him.

"He was put out of business as a result of the war," Fr. Ruane said. "Now he is so busy that he trains and employs other Ugandans to carve."

The African culture can be seen in the wood carvings, Fr. Ruane said. "They all have beautiful African faces. They vary in size, style and in characteristics. There also are some crosses that were made in Kampala. We have a lot of wood carvings to sell and we can get more, which will help us purchase more school supplies. The orphans desperately need the school supplies."

While education is free in Uganda, students have to buy their own uniforms and school supplies, "and they can’t afford that," Fr. Ruane said. "They live on $1 a day. In fact, when Ugandans see visitors on the street, they will ask them for money for school supplies. They don’t have books. The students do everything from memory. The teachers write the lessons on the chalk board and the children memorize everything."

After the children in Uganda receive the school supplies, Sr. Beatrice will put them in contact with the students at St. Francis Xavier School "so they can develop an awareness of their peers in other countries and a greater sense of community," said Fr. Moriarty.

Wood carvings will be available for purchase at Saint Francis Xavier Parish Festival, Saturday, Aug. 27.

To donate school supplies for the orphans or for more information about the wood carvings, contact Fr. Robert Moriarty at St. Francis Xavier Parish, 801-968-2123.