Diary

 

 

 

Diary

Here is the diary over these few last days.

Friday: the general meeting of the village schools

The opening of the village schools (9 elementary schools, 6 nursery schools, for more than 2,000 children) along with a large meeting of the General Assembly, which brought together the village leaders, the parents, and all the teachers. In this meeting we took stock of the situation, and we prepared the reopening of the schools for Monday 26 September.

Saturday: Bayanga Didi

It has now been a month since we placed the tabernacle with Jesus in the Eucharist in Bayanga Didi, and I promised that I would come at least once a month to celebrate Mass. So Saturday morning I left around 5.30am. It rained all night, and the road was horrible. However, I arrived in Bayanga Didi, 80 km away, around 8.30am.

The church was clean, and the presence of the Eucharist began to bear its first fruits. I confessed, celebrated Mass, and I visited some of the sick. As I went back to the chapel, I saw three children, and I discovered that they were twins, in good health, beautiful and lively!

I returned to Baoro in the evening and got ready for the following day.

Sunday: Barka Bongo, and Bangui

Like every Sunday, I go to a village to meet people and celebrate Mass. Today I'm in Barka Bongo, about 40km away.

After the celebration I left for Bangui, together with 2 carpenters, and other people (we were 7 in the car, with lots of supplies!). We travel in the rain, and arrived at the Carmel convent around 7 pm.

Sunday to Wednesday we stayed in Bangui.

On Monday morning we began the laying of the window frames of the new convent. I worked together with the 2 carpenters of Baoro (Patriot and Louis), with André, all doing the convent, and a couple of young Carmelite students. Between Monday and Tuesday morning we were able to fix 29 looms: all those that we can put in the already covered areas of the ground floor. Tuesday afternoon was dedicated to the site meeting with the contractor.

Reinforcements for the Mission arrived in Bangui: between Igor Joffin, French, and Father Juan Diaz Quintana from Bolivia. Friar Igor will be with us for a year, while Fr Juan should stay longer. Fr Juan heard about our mission in Bozoum through one of his parishioners in Oviedo, Spain, via my blog! Small world!

I left with them on Wednesday around 10:30am, and we arrived in Baoro in the evening. Today, Thursday 22 September, Fr Juan and Bro Igor left for Bozoum, where they will live and work in the coming months.

 

Tre gemelli
trois jumeaux

Riunione per l'inizio scuole dei villaggi
AG pour l'ouverture des Evoles villageoises

Barka Bongo

 

La posa dei telai delle finestre a Bangui
Pose de cadres des fenetres à Bangui

 

 

The moral sense of a society is measured by what it does for its children (D. Bonhoeffer)

 

 

 

 

 

The moral sense of a society is measured by what it does for its children (D. Bonhoeffer)

On Sunday 11 September I went to celebrate Mass in Dobere, a village 50 km from Baoro, on the road (which is a bit paved!) To Bangui.
There were many people, and even in the church there was an air of light heartedness as we resumed various activities. At the end of the month we will have a few days  for the catechists here in Baoro, and in a few weeks the catechism activities will start again.
My service with the Caritas of the diocese of Bouar also continues.
There are villages where the health situation is very dire. There are some small dispensaries, but they often don't have the necessary medicine. Many areas are difficult to reach, and many people lose their lives because they cannot receive necessary treatment. The most fragile people (the elderly, children and pregnant women) often risk dying from diseases that could be easily cured, especially if medicine was made available, or at least the possibility of going to a hospital.
To respond to this need, UNICEF has asked Caritas of Bouar to engage in a project for children up to 5 years of age (about 30,000), pregnant women and mothers (about 5,000), in the most remote villages of Bouar, Baboua, Abba, Niem and Baoro, where about 150,000 people live.
The project will provide for the supply of materials and medicine, training, visits and controls over a very large area.
On Tuesday, September 13th we met in Bouar, Caritas, UNICEF and doctors and agents of the Ministry of Health, to officially open the project.
In the afternoon I met with the staff of Caritas, who are hoping to improve the health situation.
Good work

Messa a Dobere
La Messe à Dobere

Tinteggiatura della chiesa di Baoro
Les nouveaux coleurs de la paroisse des Baoro

Inizio progetto Caritas - Unicef
Lancement du projet Caritas - Unicef

Criminals ...

 

 

 

Criminals ...

Last Sunday I celebrated Mass in Samba Bougoulou, a large village 40 km south of Baoro, on the Carnot road.

The people were many, but a little scared because the previous day, Saturday, some thieves killed a 14 year old boy along the road, and attacked and robbed a group of small traders. The situation had been quiet for a few months, but now these armed men have reappeared. Sometimes they pretend to be rebels, but more often they are thugs who steal where they can.

On Monday morning we opened the teacher training camp here in Baoro, thanks to the support (and presence) of the NGO SIRIRI from the Czech Republic.

Thameur, the lead trainer, along with Jana, the director of Siriri, and Easmol and Simplice (2 Central African teachers), helped the 51 teachers of our nursery and elementary schools to learn about the "Learning by playing" method. These will be done in Sango in the first years of school, along with the 5 principles: demonstration, practice, cooperation, reflection and evaluation.

On Wednesday afternoon the President of the National Assembly (and deputy of Baoro), came to greet the teachers, and was introduced to the project and really liked it. 

 

 

 

Samba Bougoulou

La Formazione degli insegnanti
La formation des enseignants

Il Presidente del Parlamento
Le Président de l'Assemblée Nationale

 

Formations and Bozoum

 

Formations and Bozoum

In the last few weeks before the opening of the schools, we are taking the opportunity to organize some training for teachers.

Saturday, August 27th arriving in Baoro we had Jana and Thameur. Jana is the head of the NGO SIRIRI in Prague, which has been working for Central Africa for years and Thameur is an excellent teacher.

We left with them the next day for Bozoum, because the NGO SIRIRI has organized 2 training sessions (one in Bozoum, and the other in Baoro) on the "Learning by playing" method. It is a very beautiful pedagogical system, which involves the involvement of teachers and children so that learning is beautiful, attractive and thus able to give more results. This method also includes initial teaching in the national language, Sango.

Training is provided by Thameur and some Central African teachers, who have received and put into practice the "Learning by playing" system in recent years.

Going to Bozoum is always a party! Finding so many faces, so many people, so much sympathy and affection is good for the heart!

I celebrated Mass at 6 o'clock on Sunday in the overcrowded chapel of St Jean. During the day I also managed to meet Caritas collaborators, to try to understand what to do to help the various agricultural cooperatives ...

I returned to Baoro in the afternoon, under the pouring rain.

Monday we were back on track, towards Bangui, where I arrived around 10:30, after the usual 400 km of rough roads. Work on the construction site of the new convent continues, and on Tuesday morning we assembled an area, which will be used to assemble the brick vaults, a novelty for Central Africa.

I returned to Baoro on Wednesday, just in time for the feast of Sr Celestine who celebrates 25 years of religious profession (and twenty in Baoro).

Orchidee di Bozoum

 

Formazione insegnanti
Formation des enseignants-formateurs

Bozoum

Thameur, Jana et Kenny

 

 

Cantiere di Bangui
Le chantier de Bangui

Sr Celestine