A small red light

 

Giocare
Jouer...

 A small red light

A few years ago a Capuchin missionary had an old Renault R4 car. One day, he saw a strange red light on his dashboard. It bothered him so he covered it with duct tape. It was the oil warning light ... and after a few kilometers the car stopped, the engine overheating ...

I've been thinking about this story these days. And I'll explain why.

From Friday 19th August to Sunday 21st I went to visit the most distant villages: Sinaforo, Yoro and Bayanga Didi.

I left early, and in just under 2 and a half hours I arrived in Yoro, 75 km from Baoro. At about 8.30 am I left on foot for Sinaforo: the road, already impractical in the dry season and now, in the middle of the rainy season, it can only be covered on foot. I travelled the 7 km in just over an hour, and here I met the Christians and the catechist (who had a foot infection). We celebrated Mass, and I returned to Yoro in the early afternoon.

Both in Sinaforo and in Yoro there was much anticipation for a small, yet big event: the installation of the tabernacle in Bayanga Didi. We have been preparing this for over a  year now. The chapel, without the tabernacle, is beautiful, but something was missing: the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. In the afternoon I went to Bayanga Didi to prepare everything.

Saturday morning I did confessions for 3 hours, and then we began the celebration of Mass, during which 5 small children received the sacrament of Baptism.

At the end of the Mass I placed the hosts in the tabernacle, and I connected the small red light, which will remain lit day and night, a silent witness of the Presence of Jesus in this distant village.

I try to explain the meaning of the tabernacle to the Christians: I said that the chapel is like a granary (GOGORO, in Sango, the national language). The granary is always a granary, both when it is empty and when it is full of the fruits of the work of the earth. But if it is full, the barn takes on enormous importance. Thus the chapel: even if there is no tabernacle, one can celebrate and pray. But with the Presence of the Eucharist, the chapel takes on another meaning and another importance.

On Sunday I celebrated Mass in Yoro, and afterwards I met the catechist and the community councilors. They shared with me their dreams for the church and for the village: a well, a house for the catechist, and a nursery school ...

We will see!

Bayanga Didi

 

Sinaforo

A piedi, da Sinaforo a Yoro
En marchant, de Sinaforo à Yoro

Battesimi a Bayanga Didi
Baptemes à Bayanga Didi

Yoro

Riunione della Cassa di Risparmio di Bozoum
Réunion de la Caisse d'épargne de Bozoum

 

 

The building site of Independence

 

Baoro

 

The building site of Independence

On August 13, 1960, Central Africa became independent from France. These were years of great hope, great struggles and great dreams: a historic moment for millions of people.

Central Africa is now 62 years old. Few, yet many.

Few, because it is a young country.

Many, because when we look back at the initial dreams for a prosperous country, dreams are what many have remained.  The first president, Barthélémy Boganda, had dreamed of a country founded on the slogan "Unité, Dignité, Travail" (Unity, dignity, work), and had chosen 5 verbs to be conjugated in all possible and imaginable ways: "Loger, éduquer, vêtir, soigner, nourrir "(giving a home, educating, clothed, caring and nourishing).

There is still a long way to go, but it has becoming increasingly urgent to respond to the essential needs of the 4/5 million inhabitants.

On Friday, the eve of Independence Day, the authorities invited themselves to our parish (and to the churches and mosques of the city) for a moment of prayer.

Saturday was a more festive day, even if the big holiday is actually December 1st (the anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic).

I am practically healed, and so I resumed work.

On Sunday I was in Bawi to celebrate Mass. On Monday morning I left for Bouar. Some of the students from our Bangui School of Agriculture travelled with me and have been here and in Bouar for 2 weeks of a practical internship.  This is one of the (many) hopes of the country.

In Bangui, work on the new convent continues. On Tuesday, they made the casting of the second part of the slab between the ground floor and the first floor.

Tuesday afternoon was time to say goodbye. Archbishop Santiago de Wit Guzmàn, the Apostolic Nuncio, has ended his mission in the upcoming days. He is the Pope's ambassador to Central Africa, and his role is also (or above all) to represent the unity of the universal Church in the Church that is in this country.

We have known each other for years, because he had been in Central Africa between 1998 and 2001, as secretary of the Nunciature.  He invited me, along with a dozen friends, to the ceremony in which the President of the Republic will officially greet him and give him an honor.

So at 3 pm, we found ourselves in the Palais de la Renaissance (the Presidency), where the simple but heartfelt ceremony took place. The Church, in Central Africa, plays a precious role, for all the inhabitants, with the proclamation of the Word of God, which takes concrete form in hundreds of schools, hospitals, dispensaries, chapels and churches, even in the most distant places.

Alunni della Scuola Agricola e una delle nostre oche
Les élèves de l'école d'Agriculture et une des nos oies

 

 

 

 

Bangui

Il Presidente della Rep.Centrafricana
Le président de la Rép.Centrafricaine

Cantiere del nuovo convento di Bangui
Le chantier du nouveau couvent de Bangui

 

A little calm without choice!

 

Strade e incidenti
Routes et accidents

A little calm without choice! 

The construction of the new Bangui convent kept me busy until Friday. Before the construction company doing the work (Leprevost) of the floor between the ground floor and the first floor, we needed to lay down the plastic sheaths for the electrical wires (for the lamps and switches). 

Saturday morning I left at the usual time (5am). The trip ran normally. But the state of the road, especially with the heavy rains, continued to worsen, and I met numerous overturned trucks.

I arrived in Baoro shortly after 11, but in the early afternoon I left for Balembe, 50 km away, where I had planned the celebration of Mass for some time. It was a small village where the Christian community prays in a thatched chapel. Since it is August 6, the feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus, where before going to Jerusalem, the place where he will be condemned, and incur the Passion and death, Jesus wants his closest friends (Peter, James and John) to be able to see his Glory. So here too, today, in Balembe, we see His Glory! 

Sunday morning I left for Zoungbe, another small village, 40 km away. Today some children entered the various stages of the journey of the catechumenate. The catechist's son also received his First Communion.

I immediately returned to Baoro, also because I didn’t feel very well. Between fatigue, malaria and various viruses, I have been forced to slow down for a few days. 

Wednesday 10 August finally arrived the day of the driving school exams. The pupils of our Mechanics school take these exams very seriously (both theory and practice) and overcome them without too much difficulty.

Messa a Zoungbe
Messe à Zoungbe

Esame di scuola guida
Les examens pour le permis de conduire