after Bozoum, news from Bangassou: The Great Bozoum Fair

The Great Bozoum Fair

With this entry, the Bozoum Agricultural and Pastoral Fair has arrived, year after year, this being year 18.

The Fair is a unique event in the country: there is nothing like it in all of Central Africa. It is a space for the viewing and sale of agricultural products, in which the cooperatives of the region participate. The furthest away come from Ngaundaye, Ndim and Bocaranga: regions where this much violence. Here we want to help them come, at all costs.

Up util Monday the 23rd we were unsure whether or not to proceed with the faie, due to the presence of rebels in the area. There was also the issue that all the roads leading to Bozoum were damaged or cut off. From Bocaranga it would normally be 125 km, but now you have to go through Bouar, which totals 270km! This has had a huge impact on the cost of transporting goods, which has practically tripled in 3 years!

The diocesan Caritas created the fair in 2004, and continues to do so, with the help of the "Missionary Friendship" foundation of the Carmelites of Arenzano. This year the Belgian cooperation (Enabel) has also given us a helping hand. This has made it possible to transport, set up the stands and set everything up.

For Bozoum these are days of great celebration and fruitful economic exchanges. The turnover this year is approximately 70 million cfa employees (about 105,000 euros). It is a considerable figure, in a country where the per capita product is around 400 euros per year!

On Wednesday afternoon I left Baoro for Bozoum, together with the Caritas team. On site were the other volunteers: a well-organized team used to doing this job.

Thursday morning we put some lights on the stands, to have light during the night. In the evening the cooperatives began to arrive. The 3 trucks from Bocaranga, Ndim and Ngaundaye will arrive in the night and the following days, because they got stuck in the mud 12km from Bozoum!

Friday morning, January 27, everything will be ready. The last year students of our St. Augustin high school are pristine in their uniforms, and during the 3 days of the fair they will be quite helpful, both in welcoming the cooperatives as well as collecting data and helping with sales.

At 9am the team from the Ministry of Agriculture arrived; the Cabinet Director, and other directors (who will follow the entire Fair with pleasure and attention). It began with a few short speeches, and with the parade of cooperatives, which proudly presented some of their products.

After the ceremony we visited all the stands, and at the end the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture met with the authorities and some representatives of the cooperatives and the population, for a couple of hours to listen to the issues and hopes of Bozoum and the region.

The stands are a melody of colors and smiles: the work of so many months found here within beauty of the products, the joy of exhibiting (and showing the positive aspect of agriculture) and the satisfaction of selling so many products in a short time.

In the afternoon we began visiting the vegetable gardens in the city.

Here we found two great and beautiful surprises: the number of gardens has doubled this year (reaching over 5 hectares), and among the 39 gardens, 5 belong to young students from the local middle and high schools. A indicator that the work of the gardens is seen as a possibility of growth and development.

Saturday morning the Fair resumed, and we once again visited other gardens: we didn't want to leave anyone disappointed: while in front of gardens that look like paintings, with lots of vegetables whose green stands out between the red of the earth and the direct sun we are energized with the fruits of everyone's labor.

On Saturday afternoon I put the scores together: we had two competitions, one for exhibitors and another for vegetable gardens. There will be prizes for the best in each category.

Sunday morning I celebrated Mass at 6.15, and then the Fair resumed. In the afternoon we concluded with a small award ceremony for the best exhibitors, the most beautiful vegetable gardens, but also for the 5 boys and girls who created their own vegetable garden.

It was all very simple, but there was a lot of joy, and a lot of pride in the faces of the awarded young men and women. Not surprisingly, the title of the Fair is "Orgueil paysan". Farmer's pride!