How nice.2

 

 

 

Bayanga Didi

 

How nice.2

The work of completing the final pieces of the chapels have continued during the past few days.

Saturday afternoon I left for Bayanga Didi. Along the way I stopped in the village of Samba Bougoulou, where they have a small church dedicated to Mary Mother of the Church.

Here we have chosen to depict Pentecost: Mary is with the Apostles, at the moment when the Holy Spirit descends. On one side is the Tower of Babel, which represents the confusion of tongues and the division of humanity, and on the other side is the crowd of Jerusalem, who listened to the Apostles speaking "each in their own language".

I arrived in Yoro around 4 pm, where we had a meeting with the catechists of the area, to prepare a great conference: a great meeting of the Christians of the villages in the sector, who will have a beautiful experience of faith from April 7th to 10th, which will include catechesis and prayer.

Around 6 pm I arrived in Bayanga Didi, despite a fallen tree that forced us to clear our way through with the ax that I always carry in the car with me.

The chapel here is dedicated to Mary Mother of Mercy.  The depiction we chose for this chapel was the Wedding at Cana: Mary realizes that the wine has run out, and that the feast is in danger of being ruined.  She asks Jesus to do something and initially he was reluctant but in the end he transforms the water into wine, thus working his first miracle.

Sunday morning I celebrated Mass here, and I chose the gospel of the miracle at Cana, to explain the painting and, above all, the meaning of Mary, Mother of Mercy.

Samba Bougoulou

 

How wonderful!

 

Yoro

How wonderful!

In the various villages with Christian communities, they also have a small church. It usually begins with a shed with a few wooden poles and a thatched roof, it then grows to be a more solid church, with concrete and sheet metal.

The celebrations are very lively and participatory, but the chapels are often very simple and bare. This is why we try to adorn them with drawings and paintings: that somehow illustrate to whom the chapel is dedicated, as well as brightening the environment and helping those who pray.

These past few days I visited the most distant villages.  I left on Friday afternoon with 3 artisans/artists. They are the ones who will be decorating the chapels of Yoro, Bayanga Didi and Samba Bougoulou.

Once in Yoro, after a couple of hours by car, the artisans immediately got to work, until late at night, and worked all day Saturday. The chapel of Yoro is dedicated to the Holy Family. There are two paintings: one is Joseph embracing Jesus, with the Virgin Mary behind, and the other is the Flight into Egypt.

On Sunday, we celebrated the Eucharist and the baptism of 12 babies, where I explained the paintings. Now it will be more beautiful and easier to pray in this church.

On Saturday morning I went to celebrate Mass in the small village of Sinaforo, and in the afternoon I went to Bayanga Didi to prepare the artists' work.

There are, in these villages, many children. Unfortunately the schools aren't in session nor are the students learning to the best of their abilities: in Bayanga Didi they haven't started yet, while in Yoro I asked about thirty children to read what I had written on the altar, and there was no one able to do it!

In Bayanga Didi, however, I found a nice surprise: while I was saying goodbye, first one, then other children began to recite a poem (learned at the newly opened Kindergarten) by heart. Theme of the poem: "Aurelio's machine"!

On Tuesday morning I left for Bangui to visit the construction site of the new convent. The works are moving along slowly.

The road to Bangui (the main artery on which 95% of the goods pass) is very damaged, particularly between here and Yaloke. On my return I found some work in progress, financed by the World Bank. The hope is there, but we are sorry to see that the work being done is not the best: after having plugged some holes with earth, they cover them with gravel and sprinkle a veil of tar ...

They are well-funded jobs, and the lack of controls makes them almost useless: within a few months the passage of trucks and the rainy season will ruin much of the work.

Sinaforo

Pittore all'opera
L'artiste au travail

Battesimi a Yoro
Les baptèmes à Yoro

Yoro, la Santa Famiglia
Yoro: la Sainte Famille

Lavori al nuovo convento di Bangui
Travaux du nouveau couvent de Bangui

Lavori in corso
Travaux routiers

Departures, visits, etc.

 

 

 

Departures, visits, etc.
Last Friday I accompanied my sister Marisa, her husband Flavio and Paolo to the airport.

Marisa and Flavio have been with me for 2 months, and together we shared life in the Mission, with its joys and difficulties. Paolo has been with us the last 3 weeks, and with him and the others we have been able to experience the Bozoum Fair.

Departure is always a difficult moment, even for those who have been doing it for a lifetime, like a missionary. But it is a necessary step, and friendship and sharing help with the distance and kilometers we are apart.

Saturday morning I returned here to Baoro, and in the afternoon I went again to Bouar, to visit the Agricultural Fair there. Started in 2010 by Caritas, it is now continuing thanks to a women's association and the help of an Italian organization, Jiango Be Africa.

On Sunday I went to celebrate Mass in Samba Bougoulou, 38 km from Baoro. I realized that there were few people, and a lot of fear. I found out that the military in the nearby village forced the population to stay back and build a house for them. Not only that: on the first day, the military beat a dozen young people!

After Mass, I went to visit the beaten young people, and listen to their story. As I left, I passed by the military, and I tried to make them understand that they cannot afford to treat the people like this. Will they have understood?

Over the past few days we did some home repairs, and started some construction on the home that burned down a few weeks ago.  The house belonged to Ata (the grandmother), Abigaellle and Patrick. Ata takes care takes care of the two of them, and their two older brothers, after the death of their parents.

Over the past few days I received some money from "Cuneo Volley", the men's volleyball team (who are playing the final of the Italian Cup Friday evening). It is one of the rare cases where Caritas Bouar is actually a sponsor (and a sponsor on the contrary ... in the sense that every year Cuneo Volley donates money for the construction of houses for the poor).

And yesterday I accompanied them, with the mason, to see how to rebuild it.

Thank you!

Bangui

Fieda di Bouar
Foire de Bouar

Vittime delle violenze dei militari a Samba Bougoulou
Les victimes des violences des militaires

Abigaelle, Patrick e la nonna