EarthBeat Weekly: Catholic sisters' quiet ministry to save girls in South Africa's coal belt

Catholic sisters' quiet ministry to save girls in South Africa's coal belt   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change February 20, 2026   Steam comes from a coal-fired power station in Emalahleni, South Africa, Oct. 11, 2021. (AP/Themba Hadebe, file) In the South African coal mining city of Emalahleni, east of Johannesburg, extraction is not just an industry. It is the atmosphere people breathe and the ground they walk on. It is also where children and young girls are disappearing. Built at the heart of South Africa's coal belt, Emalahleni, whose name means "place of coal" in isiZulu, sits in Mpumalanga province, about 70 miles east of Johannesburg. For decades, coal and gold mines here powered the national economy and promised jobs, stability and development. They drew workers from across South Africa and neighboring countries, reshaping families, migration patterns and entire communities, reports Doreen Ajiambo, Africa and Middle East correspondent for Global Sisters Report. Now, as South Africa struggles to regulate thousands of abandoned and poorly rehabilitated mines, illegal mining networks have expanded into spaces the state has failed to govern, creating conditions where poverty, gender-based violence and child exploitation converge. Religious sisters working quietly in mining communities say they are seeing a rise in cases involving girls coerced into sexual relationships, early marriages and survival sex linked directly to illegal mining settlements. The abuses often go unreported and unpunished. Ajiambo traveled to Emalahleni to report this eye-opening story as part of Global Sisters Report's yearlong series, "Out of the Shadows: Confronting Violence Against Women," that focuses on the ways Catholic sisters are responding to this global phenomenon. As global demand for minerals accelerates — driven in part by the transition to green energy — Emalahleni has become a warning, Ajiambo reports. The same extraction that powers economies and climate ambitions is also deepening local harm. Mineral wealth continues to flow upward, while children and women absorb the cost. "We meet children after they have already been broken," said Holy Cross Sr. Sophia Phiri, who runs a registered community center serving vulnerable children. "By the time they reach us, abuse has already happened. Our work is to make sure it does not define the rest of their lives." Read more: In South Africa's coal belt, girls disappear — and Catholic sisters quietly pull them back What else is new on EarthBeat:   In Lenten reflection, US bishops call Catholics to ecological conversion and action by Brian Roewe "Indifference and distance from one another have led to devastating consequences for God's creation, including the poor. The conversion that we need is both metaphorical and physical," the prelates wrote. Read more here »   Pope Leo opens Lent with call for repentance from a world 'in flames' by Justin McLellan During his first Ash Wednesday as pope, Leo framed Lent as a communal reckoning with personal and structural sin. Read more here »   As Abrahamic faiths fast, let us consider food ethics by Shmuly Yanklowitz What is shared between three Abrahamic traditions — Islam, Christianity and Judaism — is the idea that food is never just simply food. Read more here »   Lent's CRS Rice Bowl collection seen as more critical than ever after USAID cuts by Kimberley Heatherington, OSV News By July 2025, the U.S. Agency for International Development — established in 1961, and which in 2024 provided $187 million in humanitarian funding to Ghana — effectively ceased to exist, with 85% of its programs cut. The result was that many in-country aid organizations also ceased operations. But not CRS. Read more here »   This Lent, give up calling yourself a machine by Scott Hurd "As people of faith, we have an opportunity to push back and offer a compelling vision of the complex and beautiful creatures that we are," writes Scott Hurd. "And it can start with how we refer to ourselves." Read more here »   Pope's grand tour of Italy over the next few months takes him to Lampedusa and beyond by Nicole Winfield, Associated Press The Vatican released Leo's agenda for day trips to a half-dozen Italian cities over the next six months. The Vatican has rarely released such plans together and so far in advance, but word of the visits was starting to filter out. Read more here »   Cuban bishops postpone 'ad limina' visit amid fuel shortage crisis by Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News Cuban bishops published a message Jan. 31 warning that the "elimination of all possibility of oil entering the country raises alarm bells, especially for the most vulnerable." Read more here » What's happening in other climate news: The quest to warn everyone on Earth about deadly weather —Rebecca Hersher, Ryan Kellman, Tat Odoum for NPR Trump climate health rollback likely to hit poor, minority areas hardest, experts say —Dorany Pineda and Seth Borenstein for the Associated Press Trump order aims to boost weedkiller targeted in health lawsuits —Hiroko Tabuchi and Sheryl Gay Stolberg for The New York Times Europe defies Trump team over IEA climate fight —Sara Schonhardt for E&E News Notoriously hazardous South L.A. oil wells finally plugged after decades of community pressure —Tony Briscoe for the Los Angeles Times DC mayor Bowser declares Potomac sewage spill an emergency, seeks federal aid for cleanup —Jenny Gathright and Dana Hedgpeth for the Washington Post What's behind your eye-popping power bill? We broke it down, region by region. —Naveena Sadasivam and Clayton Aldern for Grist What are the biggest climate polluters near you? —Karin Kirk for Yale Climate Connections Final Beat: As mentioned at the top of this edition of EarthBeat Weekly, the compelling story this week from Doreen Ajiambo was part of a yearlong series by Global Sisters Report, "Out of the Shadows: Confronting Violence Against Women."  Ajiambo provided insights into her reporting in South Africa's illegal mining zones in this Reporter's Notebook. In past articles, she has reported other environmental ties with violence against women, from sexual violence in the Congo conflict that stems partly from competition for its vast mineral resources, to women accused of witchcraft in Kenya an effort to seize their lands, to women  across Africa on the frontlines of climate change demanding action from world leaders. You can check out her other reporting, as well as all the tremendous journalism by the GSR staff on the Out of the Shadows feature page. As always, thanks for reading EarthBeat.   Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org     Featured Advertisers   Learn more about graduate theological studies at Boston College - 100% of master’s students receive financial support.   Advertisement