Mission
By Sr. Ylenia Ramos
My name is Ylenia Ramos. I was born in Mexico in 1983. When I first heard the voice of God calling me, I refused to accept it. I was a difficult child and teenager, not very good at school and with an aggressive strike. I had been involved in a lot of problems until my cousins tricked me to go for a retreat organized by the Charismatic Renewal. The experience changed my life because I discovered that I was loved by God, accepted and forgiven. I started serving in my parish: in the youth groups, visiting the sick, helping Caritas and teaching catechism to children with special needs but, it was not enough for God, in my heart, He was asking me for something else. One day, I heard the testimonies of some missionaries and of St. Daniel Comboni. I understood what the Lord was asking from me. He was calling me to be a missionary. In 2009, I professed as a Comboni Sister. It was the happiest day of my life because finally, I belonged to God and was appointed to Uganda.
Soon after I arrived, I was sent to Moroto in Karamoja. I have also been in Aboke, Kampala, and in Kangole. My missionary experience in Uganda has been very rich. God has offered in my path the youth ministry; maybe because I was a troublesome child. I feel I can understand and accept the youth without limitation. I love to encourage them to do things that bring them near to God and make them feel fulfilled. The first time I experienced this joy was when I helped the youth in Mbuya organize the Way of the Cross, their joy and commitment to share Jesus’ love touched me. In 2017, I started working as a teacher in St. Daniel Comboni S.S.S, a community school in Matany in Karamoja.
There, I have come across a terrible reality: children and youth are disappearing. Many, with the consent of their parents, but, many others, without it. One day, one of my students asked me to let him go home because his nephew had disappeared. The boy was on his way to school but he never arrived; the family had mobilized to look for him. Luckily, the boy was found weeks after, but the family had to give a goat to the man who was having him. It was not the first time a child had disappeared from the district in such a way.
More than once, I have heard desperate parents looking for their children, announcing on the radio and in the church. Some parents even ask for help from the sisters to go to Kampala in order to look for their children who may be on the streets. My heart was broken; why children who belong to a family and deserve to grow in a peaceful and lovable environment are exploited for selfish interest? As I tried to get more information, some mothers explained to me how children are disappearing. Sometimes, an “aunty” offers the family to take the child to school in Kampala or they may receive the promise of a job for the child which will bring fortune to the family.
Sometimes, it is the very mothers sending them or a fellow youth, who has already been in the city, comes back to Karamoja to encourage others to follow. Many times, they end up on the streets begging or in prostitution. At times, the whole family moves to the big cities. You may think the majority of the Karimojong children are begging on the streets of Kampala, Jinja or Mbale… the reality is more scary. According to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNOC), only 37% of people trafficked remain in their country, 37% cross the borders and 26% are taken far away. 62% are female, out of which 53% is involved in sexual exploitation; but they are also trafficked for labour, petty crimes, organ harvesting, rituals and domestic work.
For the past year, I have been moving around Napak District talking in schools, to mothers, future teachers and on the radio about Human Trafficking. After hearing one of the members of “Dwelling Places”, a group of my students who belong to the Human’s Right Club requested the club patron and I that they wanted to do something. They have organized an anti-trafficking troupe and in some occasions, they have presented drama, poems and songs that denounce human trafficking which is taking place in Uganda.
As a missionary, it is impossible to see injustice and keep quiet. I feel we need to do more to save children and youth from the risk of being victims of Human Trafficking. Let us allow the children to go to Jesus, not to the streets.
My heart was broken; why children who belong to a family and deserve to grow in a peaceful and lovable environment are exploited for selfish interest?
