St. Max parishioner helps bring water to village

By Eileen Connelly, OSU

ARCHDIOCESE — There was a time when Katie Giuliano could only dream of making a mission trip to Uganda, a country she grew to love from a distance after two African priests visited her parish — St. Maximilian Kolbe — in 2005.

The dream became a reality for Giuliano and a group of other young people and adults from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the Diocese of Covington when they traveled to Uganda in July. The 16-day trip was arranged with the help of Embrace the Children, an organization of predominantly lay Catholics dedicated to supporting missionary outreach projects in Africa, in conjunction with Comboni Father Richard Kyankaaga. Together, they had built a high school named for St. Josephine Bakhita, a former slave from southern Sudan, known for her faith and courage, fulfilling Father Kyankaaga’s vision for a means to educate the young people in the remote Ugandan village he calls home.

COURTESY PHOTO

Katie Giuliano, a senior at Ursuline Academy, puts the well her efforts help fund to the test during a recent trip to Uganda.

Between painting the high school and playing with the local children, the students put in some long days, Foti said, sustained by the eucharistic celebrations they attended with the villagers, featuring dancing, singing and chanting. They also witnessed firsthand the poverty that plagues the area — children dressed in rags and families living in small mud and brick huts without electricity or running water.

In spite of the stark conditions, the group found the villagers to be "very gentle and welcoming," said Dallas Auvil, an area psychiatrist who had the opportunity to visit the village’s dispensary.

"You could see the excitement in the wide eyes of the children," added Susan Giuliano, Katie’s mother.

Particularly meaningful for her daughter was the opportunity to visit a well, recently dug through donations from Embrace the Children and funded, in part, as a result of Katie Giuliano’s efforts. Last fall, the teen-ager held a huge garage sale to raise money for the cause after learning many Ugandans lack clean, safe drinking water. Giuliano estimates she raised some $2,000 for the project. "I got to see the well and pump water from it," she said. "During our visit, there was a blessing over the well, and the people were dancing. They were so excited and it was cool to think that I had a part in that."

Giuliano is now working on funding to help build an irrigation system in a neighboring village. On Oct. 12, she will play her harp for a concert at Ursuline Academy, where she is a senior, joined by Monday’s Child, a Northern Kentucky band comprised of students from Bishop Brossart High School. The concert begins at 8 p.m., and a $5 donation is requested.

"The trip transformed all of us and was a realization of how much we need each other," Foti added. "I was really struck by the kindness and generosity of the people there and touched by the students’ openness to building relationships."

"You can imagine poverty, but not until you’re really exposed to it does it transform you," Auvil said. "In spite of the suffering, these are joyful people. I now see myself as their brother. We’re connected with them now."

Embrace the Children’s effort to raise funding for outreach projects is ongoing, from helping in Ugandan children continue their education to constructing a goat farm run by a number of families who have formed a co-op and will sell the animals for income or use them for food. At press time, the organization had 23 refurbished, solar-powered computers ready to ship to complete a computer lab at a Ugandan school. For more information, visit www.embracethechildren.org.