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It's been five years since Sister Judith Costa first made the plight of an African nation her own.

Now she is even more steadfast in her efforts to ease the suffering of children in places served by her religious community, the Sisters of St. Dorothy.

As director of Project Forgotten Child, which she helped launch to support mission work in Angola, Sister Judith has now brought the project into greater public awareness through a new Web site.

By connecting to www.projectforgottenchild.org, visitors will learn how the religious order has improved the lives of countless youth with the help of Sister Judith's drive. The funds that have resulted have helped to provide homes, food, education and health care to countless youngsters orphaned by civil war.

"It's been a work of love," Sister Judith said in a recent interview at LaSalette Shrine's retreat center, where the idea was born for Project Forgotten Child. She was helping to run a retreat there in the spring of 2001 when she spoke publicly about her long-ago wish to minister in Africa. It was a desire that connected with a woman in attendance who had long held the same dream. They joined forces and started the effort they called Project Forgotten Child to raise money for orphanages, schools and clinics run by the Sisters of St. Dorothy in Angola.

Since then, about $120,000 has been raised and sent there for a variety of needs.

"I feel very consoled about what began at LaSalette," Sister Judith said. "How kind and generous people have been."

The first $15,000 was used to buy farmland so crops could be grown to feed the 85 children at one of the orphanages. Other donations paid for classroom furniture and teaching materials, a generator for a health center that had no electricity, and a pickup truck to transport goods from the farm or to drive the older children to a high school.

Some of the funds helped the sisters set up and run clinics that were badly needed, especially for youngsters who are most vulnerable to disease.

Two young men who are studying toward the priesthood also were sponsored by the project and now work with the poor. One of them was recently ordained a deacon, and the other has made his first vows with the Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette.

Contributions are often as little as $5, $10 or $20, and often come from people who are quite poor themselves. Sister Judith frequently gets cash given to her with notes, like the one from a group of factory workers who said they gave up their coffee breaks and donated the money they would have spent.

Sister Judith, who lives in Taunton and conducts a grief education program at the LaSalette retreat center, periodically speaks at parishes, and people generously make donations as a result. They sometimes respond with tears to the stories she tells of life in Angola, and readily empty their wallets into collection baskets to help people whose lives have been ravaged by years of war.

Her religious order arrived there in 1934 and has been working since then to fulfil the community's goal of evangelizing through education, especially to the youth and the poorest in various parts of the world.

Their work is described on the new Web site that Sister Judith said took a couple of years to set up because of the difficulty in getting accurate information from a country where communication systems are still poor. Besides compiling the information, she also took a Web design course, and had the help of her computer teacher in setting up the site. Visitors to the site can find out how they can become sponsors, but there is no option for making a donation online by using a credit card.

Sister Judith said she prefers to get donations by mail because credit card companies keep a percentage of contributions as their fee.

"We ask for donations by mail so the total goes to the children," Sister Judith said. "We hope people will write a check, and send it to us."

Sister Judith is available to make presentations to any parishes or groups that are interested. She can be reached by e-mail at jcjc@sistersofsaintdorothy.org. Anyone who wants to send a donation can make a check payable to "Project Forgotten Child" and mail it to: Project Forgotten Child, Villa Fatima Convent, 90 County St., Taunton, MA 02780-3502.

GLORIA LaBOUNTY can be reached at 508-236-0333 or at glabounty@thesunchronicle.com.