Laugh, think and hope
The year has just started, and the daily rush continues, thank God!
Sunday the 2nd, here in Central Africa, we celebrate the feast of the
Epiphany. I'm going to Bawi, a
village 36 km away on the paved road towards Bossemptele. Here I will
celebrate Mass, and we have the joy of baptizing a newborn.
In Baoro, as in other centers of
Central Africa, there is the PLATEFORME DES CONFESSIONS RELIGIEUSES, which
gathers Protestants, Catholics and Muslims. It is a group that began in 2012,
and who continue to work for peace and reconciliation, and to avoid tensions
and struggles between communities of different faiths.
During these days we organized an important event. Starting Wednesday there
were "I perroquets de Bangui" (The Parrots of Bangui): a group of
very good comedians (they participated in August 2021, in the World Theater
Festival of Monaco - FR- placing 2nd).
Wednesday we also had 30 boys and girls, Protestants, Muslims and
Catholics, together for 3 days of formation. After the training, they too,
together with the Perroquets, will do 3 shows in the city, to give people a
moment of serenity, but also of reflection.
Thursday morning, just before 6am, I left for Bozoum. At the 35 km mark , there
is a bridge, over 40 meters long, which was very dangerous. Together, we
Carmelites and the community of merchants and transporters of Bozoum, we were
able to remake the wooden plank and repair it.
In Bozoum, in addition to the community, I met Caritas staff, merchants and
agricultural cooperatives, to organize the Bozoum Agricultural Fair. A unique
event in the country, it represents for hundreds of cooperatives the
opportunity to exhibit and sell agricultural products. We are trying to
organize it, because the situation in the country is still very critical (some
of the cooperatives will not be able to come, because they are threatened by
the rebels, or because there are some roads with mines…).
We can hope!
PS: thanks go out to all the amazing translators, who help me translate the blog into various languages every week: Natasha for English, Regina for German, Fr Juan for Spanish, Sister Nazarè for the Portuguese and Ludmila and Terezie for the Czech. Thank you with all my heart!
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| Fiori di caffé Fleurs de café |
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| Bawi |
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| Formazione al teatro Formation pour le théatre |
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| Ponte di Kounde Le pont de Kounde |
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