Detwoc is a Shilluk village located on the western bank of the Nile

Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...

 river, ten miles from the town of Kodok

Kodok

Kodok is a town in the northeastern South Sudanese state of Upper Nile. Kodok is the capital of Shilluk country, formally known as Shilluk Kingdom. Shilluk has been an independent kingdom for more than sixteen centuries...

 (itself approximately two hours by boat north from the city of Malakal

Malakal

-Location:The city of Malakal is located in Malakal County, Upper Nile State, in the northeast of South Sudan, close to the International borders with the Republic of Sudan and with Ethiopia...

, in Upper Nile province in South Sudan

South Sudan

South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...

. The Catholic Church established a mission

Mission (Christian)

Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...

 station there in 1923, its third in the region after Lul

Lul

Lul is a Shilluk village located on the western bank of the Nile river, approximately one and a half hours by boat north from the city of Malakal, in Upper Nile province in South Sudan. The Catholic Church established one of its first mission stations there in the early part of the 20th century,...

 and Tonga

Tonga

Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...

. A fourth mission was subsequently established in Yoynyang. Thse missions were originally managed by the Italian Verona

Verona

Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

Fathers, a Catholic Missionary Order established by Daniel Comboni

Daniel Comboni

Daniel Comboni was a Roman Catholic missionary and Saint.-Early life:He was born at Limone sul Garda, Brescia, Italy, into a family of cultivators employed by one of the rich local proprietors...

. The mission was subsequently taken over the Mill Hill

Mill Hill

Mill Hill is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a suburb situated 9 miles north west of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until it was absorbed by London...

 fathers immediately prior to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The mission station was fairly typical of such missions, including a school, health center and church. The station was abandoned by the church in the early 1980s because of the second Sudanese civil war

Second Sudanese Civil War

The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....

, and is only now being re-developed, because of the current peace process.