Please excuse my silence!
Laziness apart. . . I have not
written anything because, for these two weeks, I have also been engaged in
various trips. . .
Last week I was at Bouar (250 km),
where we met with those in charge of Caritas in some of the parishes in this
region. Caritas was well described by Paul VI in these words: “the hands and
heart of the Church”. At times Caritas becomes confused with the many such like
organizations, because it is often directly involved in projects of great
importance and urgency. But Caritas is first of all the commitment of all
Christians to spread and give witness to the love that they have received from
God. For this, the parish dimension is important, with care, listening and hard
work, in meeting people in need.
This week however, I left on
Wednesday, around 1.30 in the afternoon, to go North. The roads are truly
abominable, particularly in this the rainy season. . . I arrived at Ngaoundaye,
205 km away, around 6.30 in the evening. . .
The reason for the trip was to meet
cooperatives, men and women who work together in various fields (agriculture,
commerce, soap making or other food processing work). I wished to explain to
them the value and importance of saving and credit.
Here at Bozoum we have a savings
bank, and we intend to open another 3 branches at Ngaoundaye, Ndim and Koui.
Thursday morning there was a meeting
at Ngaoundaye, then we set off for Ndim around 11 a.m. Here we met with the
lady Mayor, and others in charge, then set off around three in the afternoon
for Bocaranga.
Here I spent the night at the
Catholic Mission, and yesterday, Friday, we set off around 6.30 a.m. for Koui,
where we arrived at 8.00 a.m. – (one and a half hours to travel 40 km along the
road. . . and I assure you, there was no traffic!!!)
Here we met with the Sultan!!!! He
showed us the terrain he was willing to be used for the savings bank. Then, we
had a meeting with the women and men of Koui. This is an interesting area,
where once was a farm that produced milk, and a cheese factory that processed
around 2,000 litres of milk a day! It seems science fiction, yet we are
speaking of only 40 years ago. . .
At 11.00 in the morning we left for
Bocaranga, and then reached Bozoum, just in time for a beautiful downpour. . .
Along the road, I like to see the
schools, that timidly and slowly are reopening. . . more than a month late. . .
I stopped to visit one, consisting of three huts, one covered with a tarpaulin.
. . but the children were there, waiting for the teacher to begin lessons. . .
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