Immaculate Heart of Mary Ocodri Catholic Parish

Ocodri Catholic parish is a Parish which was started in 1972, and it was curved out from Aripea parish and the blessing was done in 1978 by Bishop Tarantino Angelo. Since then, there has been over 10 priests who have worked in Ocodri parish.

The parish is located along the Arua/Rhino Camp road about 28 km east of Arua and the area is about 16 kilometres North- south , and 19 kilometres East- west ,it is located in Terego a newly created district  curved out of Arua district on the 1/7/2020. It is quite big and consists of the following parishes; Oluko, Otumbari, Oriajini, Yoro and Aripea So far the parish has produced thirteen priests and four sisters.

The Parish has 30 chapels divided into 8 zones and 142 small Christian communities it has one Parish Priest who is supported by a curate and 52 catechists.

The population is dominated by peasant farmers who are low income earners, average education which has affected their standard of living. The parish is occupied by one tribe (Lugbara), church goers and so friendly people mainly lugbara speaking therefore due to the low income levels of the Christians living here, this has also impacted on the income of the parish.

Below is a table showing the last population censure in 2015.

POPULATION TABLE FOR OCODRI PARISH AS IN 2015 

CATEGORY TOTAL NUMBER
MEN 5769
WOMEN 7990
YOUNG BOYS 8896
YOUNG GIRLS 9040
CHILDREN UNDER 8 YEARS 10876

LIST OF ALL CHAPELS AND ZONES

Before the creation of Yoro sub parish Ocodri Parish had 52 chapels but currently has 30 chapels, 8 zones and 142 small Christian communities namely;

Aria, Ajiraku, Nicu, Oriama, Otumbari, Ejome, Onzua and Ipa zones.

There are 52 catechists who support the parish and they also benefited from the bicycle project which was implemented by the project office.

The parish house has nine bedrooms with different allocations without running water and in a very bad condition not healthy for accommodation but just used conditionally, a local kitchen, and one external latrine.

The Parish house has the following properties

S/No.
Item Number
1 Beds 4
2 Office chairs 4
3 Office tables 3
4 Window and door curtains 18
5 Sofa sets 2
6 Cupboards in the bed rooms 3
7 Screen and a deck old modal 2
8 Fridge(old) 1
9 Dining tables 2
10 Dining chairs 6
11 Tea cups 12
12 Feeding plates 20
13 spoons 18
14 Forks 18
15 Drinking glasses 14
16 Cupboard in the dining 1
17 Solar system 1

The solar system was installed since 2002 but the batteries are very weak for lighting and running the computer etc. The Parish has quite a big piece of land  since 1970s,this land has been used for establishment of like the father’s house, the parish church, the health center, Aria primary and Secondary schools, Immaculate Heart of Mary Nursery and Primary schools and also St. Francis Health Center III Ocodri.

The land of the Parish is entirely under the administration of the Parish Priest who is the representative of the Bishop Ordinary Rt. Rev. Bishop Sabino Ocan Odoki and the parish is in the process of leasing the land the details have been forwarded to the land Office department of Arua Dioceses.

All the chapels have pieces of church land due to money constraint they are unable to lease the land and most of the chapels have semi-permanent structures in place though  some pray in  unfinished churches then the others still pray under  trees, the chapels all have Cassocks , Liturgical equipment, means of transport (bicycles) especially for the Catechists.

The parish has an old Land Cruiser Toyota number plate 044-UAX   not on road for eight years now, and an old HONDA XL Motorcycle number plate UDD-373T which was left from the Jesuits who were by then working with the refugees at Yoro refugee settlement.

In summary Ocodri actually has no proper means of transport with proper documents.

LIST OF ALL THE CATHOLIC FOUNDED SCHOOLS

S/No Name Category
1 Aria Primary
2 Ajiraku Primary
3 Ejome Primary
4 Ngaziku Primary
5 Ipa Primary
6 Kaijo Primary
7 Perea Primary
8 Aria Secondary
9 Ejome Secondary
10 St. Tereza High school (private) Secondary
11 Immaculate Heart of Mary Ocodri Catholic Parish Nursery and Primary School Nursery/Primary

More of the details on the above mentioned schools can be found from the office of the education secretary and the list and names of the head teachers and teacher will be provided for future reference in a later date.

The Parish has one founded health center facility and all the details concerning St. Francis Health Center III can be retrieved from the Diocesan Health Coordinator (DHO).

The monthly financial report to the diocese is still a new thing to the Christians however the Parish Priest is working hard to educate the people on the subject matter, he therefore promises to clear all the arrears when the financial years starts with the help of God.

In accordance to the payments made to the Diocese the Parish Priest says this needs a serious sensitization of the Christians  otherwise he stands to implement this policy with the help of God.