Sisters and
brothers
A few of you have been worried about
my silence in relation to the blog. There has not been any problem in
particular, but only the fact that on Thursday, the day I normally write the
texts for this blog, I was travelling to Bangui.
In Bangui, among other things, I was
able to greet the outgoing-Secretary of the Nunciature, Father David Charters,
who worked for four years in Bangui; he was leaving a few days later in order
to begin a new service to the Church working alongside the Permanent Observer
of the Holy See (Vatican) at the United Nations in New York.
I went to Bangui for a very important
event, which I was impatiently awaiting for: on Friday afternoon, my sister
Marisa arrived with her husband Flavio. They had been here in 2008, and they
are back now, sharing with me the affection of my family and of many people who
love Bozoum and Central Africa. Suzanne, the mother of Hyppolite (the young man
from Bozoum who is in Italy because of health problems), had travelled with
them. She had just spent almost a month in Italy (Savona) with her son, together
with all those who welcomed her and her son: Emanuela, Fiorenzo, Daniela and
Alessandra.
On Saturday morning we left Bangui for
Bozoum. The roads are getting worse by the day. In the asphalted area
(asphalted only in theory, because half of the 300 kilometers results in a gymkhana
between one hole and another) there are five toll stations. The toll isn’t to
be believed that the drivers pay for the maintenance of the road, which to be
honest has never been asphalted. Construction work is planned on the section
that leads from Bossemptele to Bozoum (87 kilometers). The works began with
great pomp, with the presence of the Prime Minister. After ten days the company
chosen for the job has levelled only 200 meters of road. The only excavator this
company has is already damaged, and there is nothing left to do but wait,
continuing to jump from one hole to another.
In these days we are getting ready
for the start of the new school year. Marisa and Flavio are kept busy. I have enlisted
them to help with the printing of some books for our high school. On Tuesday
afternoon a young man came in to talk to me. He is one of the leaders of the
antibalaka (the armed militia that has attacked the rebels of the Seleka since
2013 and the Muslims too): he has been in prison for seven months in Bangui,
and he has returned to Bozoum. He wants to change his life. He has gone back to
his work in the fields, returning home again to his wife and children. May I
ask to pray for this man?
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| good-bye don David |
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| 2 camion e 1 ruspa per riparare 90 km di strada... 2 camions et 1 niveleuese pour reparer 90 km de route |
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| strada o fiume? route ou rivière? |
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| le fondamenta della chiesa di Bozoum les fondations de l'église de Bozoum |
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| Preparazione dei libri di scuola préparation des manules d'école |
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