Central Africa-Italy

 

Central Africa-Italy

Coronavirus continues to spread, even in Central Africa. To date there are 4,200 cases, with 52 deaths.

As a Church and as Caritas we are working hard to try to limit the damage. The past few days we received some medical material from Prague (thanks Siriri.org), along with a thousand masks (thanks Paolo!).

The days have been very busy! On Sunday we celebrated the baptism of 15 young children.

On Monday I went to Bouar and then to Baoro. From there I left Tuesday at 4.30 in the morning for Bangui, where I spent the day in meetings and visiting with various people.

The roads are always an adventure, like the truck stuck on the Kounde bridge, 38 km from Bozoum, or the overloaded cars we met along the way.  A challenge to the laws of physics and mechanics (as well as those of the highway traffic laws!).

On Wednesday I left for Italy, where I arrived on Thursday morning, with stops in Paris and Nice. These have been the first flights that have left from Central Africa, with a many precautions.

Now I am in quarantine, like all people who arrive in Italy from abroad.

Thank you to God and the confreres, I am here in Bocca di Magra, a small paradise, overlooking the sea.

After my quarantine I will participate in the Provincial Chapter, and on August 11 I plan to return to Central Africa, for the opening of the schools, which we plan to start on September 1.

Paris

Bocca di Magra

Deferred Pentecost

Deferred Pentecost

We got to experience the Pentecost feast twice, here in Bozoum. In addition to the "regular" dates, about fifty boys, girls, young people and adults received the sacrament of Confirmation last Saturday.

It is the sacrament of Christian maturity, which confirms the gift of the Holy Spirit received in Baptism and makes the Christian a living witness of Christ.

Saturday morning the bishop from Bouar arrived, and in the afternoon, at 4pm, we celebrated Mass, where the Confirmation ceremony took place. The Bishop was still with us on Sunday morning, for the 8.30 Mass.

On Tuesday morning I left by car for Bouar, where at 10 am a small United Nations plane took me to Bangui. Here I had some meetings, and on Wednesday morning I left for Bouar with the young Cameroonian students of our Carmel community.

The car had some problems. After pushing it several times to restart it, 10 km from the end, it decided to say enough! The confreres from Bouar came to help us, and we were able to restart it, and to arrive at our destination around 16.30.

Today, Thursday, I had the intention of going to Bocaranga. Everything was quiet last night, but from 4.30 this morning there was fighting, so I had to give up and return to Bozoum.

In the area there are the rebels of the 3R group, who have abandoned the Karthoum agreements, and who do not want to leave the area. They live by exploiting people, in particular the Peuls breeders.

I had intended to go to Bocaranga to follow the distribution of buckets and handwashing materials and other protective measures for Covid19. Thanks to CRS, one of the Caritas of the USA, we are distributing 1,500 devices for hand washing, to place them in common spaces (markets, offices, schools, chapels, etc.).

In Bozoum, we have distributed these past days.

The virus continues to advance: there are now 3,823 cases today, with 47 deaths. What is worrisome is that the percentage of positive tests are very high: over 14.6% of the people tested are positive.

Courage!