after Bozoum, news from Bangassou: Catechists and various items

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Catechists and various items

Catechists and various items

Last Thursday, May 4th, we concluded the year of formation for the catechists here in Baoro. We had about 15 families, coming from all over the diocese, who have lived, worked, prayed and studied together during these past few months, and today they received the mandate from the Bishop.

The following day, Friday, I went down to Bangui to visit and meet with the construction site of the new convent. In the evening Jana and Ludmila from the NGO SIRIRI.OPS arrived from Prague to visit the many projects they support, and in particular the schools that work with the "Learning by playing" method.

Early Saturday morning I got up with them to go to Baoro, where we arrived by noon.

These days I accompanied Ludmila and Jana on visits to the various schools. The "Learning by playing" method was created by them, in collaboration with Central African teachers, and allows children to learn by reasoning, reflecting and collaborating. In the elementary grades there is also the great novelty of teaching in the mother tongue, Sango.

On Tuesday afternoon I accompanied one of the catechists who had completed a year of formation in Bocaranga. He and his wife and 6 children returned to the village, Igwe (60 km in the middle of the forest). The arrival in Igwe, after two and a half hours by car, was a feast for everyone!

On Wednesday morning we began a day of training on the water pumps for our students from the Mechanical School: this will allow them to be able to repair the manual pumps that are found in many villages in the country.

On Wednesday afternoon I left for Bozoum, to accompany Jana and Ludmila, who will stay there for the next few days. I also visited the community. It has been exactly 3 months since Fr. Norberto's car exploded as it drove over a mine.

Courage!