We are aware that the delivery of this year’s newsletter has been affected by the disruption in the postal service, and that some of our supporters have not yet received their copy. It will arrive in the end, but, in the meantime, a copy including the latest news we had at the time of publication, is published in a separate post.

We have subsequently received the sad news that, despite the hopeful outlook in June, things have since gone very badly in Dawhan. It appears that in late September, the town underwent days of shelling by Eritrean forces, resulting in the entire population fleeing, including the Father and related staff who had somehow always managed to hang in there, which contributed to keeping the school and convent safe from earlier bouts of looting. The Father left and many weeks later he found out that the school, convent and his house have been severely looted. He has not been back there, so the exact details are not to hand, but he believes that everything that could be carried has been carried, and that the rest was smashed up. We don’t have any further details. Hopefully the iron sheets on the roofs are there!

The sisters of St Louis are heartbroken as the narrative was leaning towards opening in the new year, even if the sisters still stayed at some of a distance in Addis. They send their regards to all the members of the Jean Grove community.

We can but hope and pray for peace in 2023. We will update this site as and when we have any more news.

December 2022