ACI Africa, a Catholic news agency based in Nairobi and serving the Church in Africa, published on 12 July 2026 an interview with Sr Cissy Nakagiri, a Ugandan Canossian Sister, in which she speaks about her years of service in Sudan and her escape from the war that broke out in April 2023. The original text of the interview is reproduced below.
After spending 15 years serving in Sudan and fleeing the war that broke out in April 2023 through a two-week journey to safety, a Ugandan-born member of the Institute of St Magdalene of Canossa (FDCC), commonly known as the Canossian Sisters, says that the suffering she witnessed has not weakened her missionary vocation but has instead deepened her concern for the Sudanese people and strengthened her hope for peace.
Speaking to ACI Africa on Saturday, 11 July, 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 remaining in 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,” said Sr Cissy, who was in Nairobi for the perpetual profession of a Kenyan Canossian Sister.
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 the Diocese of El Obeid.
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 the 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 the Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum, 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 towards 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 11 July interview.