"If asked, I'd even go back to Sudan to serve": Canossian Sister Recalls Escape from War, Keeps Hope Alive
By Fr. Don Bosco Onyalla, CSSp.
Khartoum, 12 July, 2026 / 7:14 pm (ACI Africa).
After spending 15 years serving in Sudan and escaping the war that erupted in April 2023 through a two-week journey to safety, a Ugandan-born member of the Institute of Saint Magdalen of Canossa (FDCC), popularly known as the Canossian Sisters, says the suffering she witnessed has not diminished her missionary vocation but deepened her concern for the Sudanese people and strengthened her hope for peace.
Speaking to ACI Africa on Saturday, July 11, Sr. Cissy Nakagiri reflected on her years of ministry in Sudan, the traumatic evacuation that followed the outbreak of war, and the resilience that has enabled her to continue serving the Church while keeping close contact with the people she left behind in Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of El Obeid.
"I have no reason to keep dwelling on my own trauma or fear. I was never physically harmed. I never lacked food. My pain is really for the people of Sudan," Sr. Cissy, who was in Nairobi for the Perpetual Profession of a Kenyan Canossian Sister said.
The Ugandan-born Canossian Sister, who now serves her Congregation in the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, spent 15 years in Sudan, where she served as headmistress in one of two schools run by the Canossian Sisters under El Obeid Diocese.
When fighting erupted on 15 April 2023, she immediately sensed the danger.
"After one week I decided to leave, even before the Bishop gave the go-ahead," she recalled, referring to Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille, and explained, "Because I had experienced wars in Uganda, I did not want to face another one."
Before violence reached El Obeid, fellow Canossian Sisters serving in Khartoum had already endured terrifying moments after armed fighters entered their convent.
"Our sisters were severely threatened because the rebels broke in. They ordered them to leave the house, and then they took over both the convent and the school, using them as their barracks," Sr. Cissy recounted.
The Canossian Sisters, who had been serving in Khartoum Catholic Archdiocese eventually reached El Obeid after a week, but, she said, "they were deeply traumatized."
As the violent conflict expanded, Sr. Cissy and a small group of Sisters began a difficult journey toward Uganda.
"It took us about two weeks because you could not travel continuously. You moved when it was safe, then waited, then continued," she said.
The group travelled by road, finding temporary refuge in Catholic missions along the way.
"We travelled by vehicles, but with many stops. We rested in Catholic parishes run by the Comboni Fathers. Whenever transport became available, we moved to the next station," she told ACI Africa during the July 11 interview.
Eventually, they reached capital city of South Sudan, Juba, where the United Nations registered them for evacuation.
"At the airport, I cannot remember its name, there were thousands and thousands of refugees. There was no food and no water," Sr. Cissy recalled.
She said the Ugandan government closely monitored the evacuation of its citizens. "By God's grace, because the Ugandan government was following our case closely, we got seats on a very small plane carrying about twenty-four people," the Canossian Sister recalled.
The Sisters stayed in Juba for three days before boarding a Uganda Airlines aircraft sent by President Yoweri Museveni to transport Ugandan nationals to Entebbe.
Looking back, Sr. Cissy says one of the hardest memories is not knowing what became of many of those who remained behind. "I don't know what happened to many of those people who remained behind," she said.
The emotional burden of the experience remained long after reaching safety. She said, "Our Congregation later helped us through trauma counselling. Some sisters came to Nairobi for counselling."
Despite the counselling, she continued following developments in Sudan through the people she had worked with.
"I continued calling Sudan and the people I had left behind. They kept updating me, and unfortunately things have never really improved."
She remains in regular contact with teachers from the Catholic school where she served. "They are traumatized. They are almost getting used to suffering," she said.
According to Sr. Cissy, the war abruptly interrupted what had been one of the country's leading Catholic educational institutions.
"Our school in El Obeid was one of the best schools in Sudan, just like our school in Khartoum. We had been preparing for graduation when suddenly the war broke out without any warning," she recalled.
She said the destruction in Khartoum extended beyond the occupation of Church property.
"After registration, the Sisters had collected school fees. Since banks were unreliable, they kept the money in cupboards. The rebels took millions from the school," Sr. Cissy said, and added, "They destroyed everything because they thought money was hidden everywhere. They even shot at the Blessed Sacrament and destroyed religious images."
While she believes the Canossian Sisters are unlikely to return to Khartoum because the mission now lies dangerously close to military installations, she has not ruled out returning to El Obeid should peace return.
"I don't think we will ever return to Khartoum, even if Sudan settles. The bishop has already agreed. But El Obeid, we can return there if peace comes."
Far from discouraging her missionary spirit, the experience has strengthened it.
"If asked, I would even go back to Sudan to serve again," Sr. Cissy told ACI Africa.
Now serving her Congregation in its leadership through formation ministry in Tanzania, Sr. Cissy says religious missionaries remain ready to serve wherever they are sent.
"We are missionaries, not a local Congregation. Wherever we are sent, we serve," she said.
She also believes the lessons of Sudan extend beyond the country's borders. "I pray that Sudan will find peace, and also (DR) Congo, Ukraine, South Sudan, and every country suffering from war," the Ugandan-born Canossian Sister.
For lasting peace to take root, she said, transformation must begin within each individual. "Peace begins with each individual."
"I cannot speak about peace while I still have war inside myself. First, I must forgive and live peacefully with those around me. Then I become a channel of peace, and peace spreads from one person to another," Sr. Cissy told ACI Africa on July 11.
