Easter 2012

Colors, light, joy: this is the feast of Easter in Bozoum.
Saturday night, during the liturge of the night, we prayed and sang the Risen Christ. And a hundred children, youth and adults have received the Baptism.
This morning, Sunday of the Resurrection, a High Mass celebrated by Father Cyriac. And some fifteen new little children baptized.
A sea of Grace!

The Beauty of the world

Yesterday, Saturday and today Palm Sunday we had our youth pilgrimage (and some not so young anymore…)
We left yesterday morning around 8 am and we arrived  to betera around 11 under such a heat
It’s a nearby village around 20 km far from Bozoum.
Nearby there are the remains of Marsaka:the place in which the French missionary chose in 1927 (few years later they moved into Bozoum)
There were around 250 youths from Bozoum, pace was quite fast the walk went through Boyele first, where we had a short break then we started walking and praying with songs and rosary
We slowly got to Betara, and other Christians from that village greeted us and joined us
We arrived and settled (wich means a flat mat as a bed and a bucket as shower) and in the afternoon a moment to reflect on Joy presented by father Cyriaque.
After that …many confessions!

This morning, Palm Sunday, woke up, had breakfast and big Mass outdoor with palms and flowers.
After lunch, we run back (almost literally!2h30 for 20 km...) and finally back to Bozoum.

It’s a very beautiful period, we hope and pray that will help everybody to understand the beauty of our being Christians, as the Pope said today
"Hence he whom the crowd acclaims as the blessed one is also he in whom
the whole of humanity will be blessed. Thus, in the light of Christ,
humanity sees itself profoundly united and, as it were, enfolded within
the cloak of divine blessing, a blessing that permeates, sustains,
redeems and sanctifies all things. Here we find the first great message
that today's feast brings us: the invitation to adopt a proper outlook
upon all humanity, on the peoples who make up the world, on its
different cultures and civilizations. The look that the believer
receives from Christ is a look of blessing: a wise and loving look,
capable of grasping the world's beauty and having compassion on its
fragility. Shining through this look is God's own look upon those he
loves and upon Creation, the work of his hands."

Small Credit Unions grow

It has been few weeks without words… but we’re still here and we still keep on going in this end of the world!!!!

     

While we keep on the Length path, we get close to the chtistenings time! About hundred people, kids, girls and boys, youths and adults will receive this sacrament on Easter Eve.
It’s a path that reminds us of beauty and freshness of our Faith! 

Just about these days, Father Norberto and Father Marcello are in a village 50km far from Bozoum for a 3 days encounter about marriage sacrament, but we’ll talk more about these soon!

The work on credit unions keeps going on. Two branches (one in Koui and the one on Ndim) are ready, now a third one is in construction.
The one in Ndim…looks like a house from fairytales! We substituted plate roof with proper tiles made from some of the locals

 

In these days we’re also training new staff: a dozen youths are attending a course to give them knowledge about managing and increasing activities on 3 new hatches that we’re planning to open right after Easter.

Does it make any sense that a priest, a missionary, is taking care of Credit Unions? Why should he be also involved in such area?

Well, first of all, at least in Italy, from Monte dei Paschi di Siena to Casse di Risparmio from1800, many similar institutions were created from local parishes
Specifically created to give simple people (such as farmers, small artisan and workers) a chance to keep safe their small saving and to get some credit.

And they did this along few centuries, as they understood the importance of working, and the result of working as a benefit for people’s life.

Work, family, better life style are born from dignity of God’s children.

This is what we are trying to build, day after day, in everything we do. All of us!

During Lent, with a smile…

We just entered Lent …and I”like to share something nice with you…

"The missionary, the evangelist, must be a person of joy.

“Joy is the infallible sign of God’s presence,” claims Leon Bloy. When I became Archbishop of New York, a priest old me, “You better stop smiling when you walk the streets of Manhattan, or you’ll be arrested!”

A man dying of AIDS at the Gift of Peace Hospice, administered by the Missionaries of Charity in Cardinal Donald Wuerl’s Archdiocese of Washington, asked for baptism. When the priest asked for an expression of faith, the dying man whispered, “All I know is that I’m unhappy, and these sisters are very happy, even when I curse them and spit on them. Yesterday I finally asked them why they were so happy. They replied ‘Jesus.’ I want this Jesus so I can finally be happy. A genuine act of faith, right?

The New Evangelization is accomplished with a smile, not a frown.

The missio ad gentes is all about a yes to everything decent, good, true, beautiful and noble in the human person.

The Church is about a yes!, not a no!

( Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan's speech to Pope and cardinals on New Evangelization)
 


 

Bouar's Far Trade Fair 2012

After the Bozoum Farm Trade Fair couldn't come without a following one in Bouar!

Father Benjamino, Italian from Valtellina and Jacob Sanze, Centralafrican from Bouar are taking care of the co-ops and are responsible for trainings and follow ups for more that 110 GROUPEMENTS (small co-ops) in the area.

Additionally there’s an international ONG called Mercycorps that works alongside the co-ops and together we organized the Bouar Farm Trade Fair. Finally, after some years we begin to see some results.

Saturday and Sunday 18th and 19th, we hold the event. This year more than 115 groupements attended the fair, even if we had some rain showers on Friday and Saturday night, it was still crowded.

And moreover sales! Last year’s sale turnover was around 25000 euros, this year we were stunned by results: more than 60000 euros!

In this country, where year income is less than 200 euro…it’s not bad at all!

Also what matters more than the economical aspect is the overall satisfaction of the people, happy and proud of their work in the fields!

The same pride that Jesus conveys when he talks of the Sower or of the It is like a grain of mustard …

PUTTING AND END TO A LIFE

In these days we have been through something really distressing: a young woman from our school passed away on Friday the 10th of February!

Lilas was 18 years old. She was one of the first to enroll in our Secondary school back in 2007.

You can see her in the picture above, wearing a white top with red flowers. On that day, last June, she celebrated her graduation to BC (something like our Middle school diploma, it’s a difficult exam between Secondary School and last 3 years of College).

Lilas was born in the small village of Beboura (Paoua), she was an orphan and she had moved into Bossemptele in order to study.

As she was getting good grades, she also got in our  Secondary school, the school we recently  built, which we have extensively spoken about. Lilas became a good student of First year. She was as beautiful as her age dancing as light as a butterfly….

Her life stopped, after a malpracticed attempt for abortion, during which 2 apprentice doctors caused her several ruptures in the uterus and intestine. The surgeon tried to intervene with another 5 hours surgery, however she went into irreversible coma and  the 10th of February her heart stopped….

Friday morning, at 5 am on my way to church, I heard screaming and crying. I asked around what was going on and they told me Lilas was dead! I cried!

Of course we organized her funeral and all the other stuff. The church was filled to the brim! All the students from our school, other youths and adults came over to pay their respect

I wonder how is it possible to have a funeral of a young woman of 18 ? We want to be in church to celebrate, not for mourning….

Let us pray for this seed, which suffered so much for its mistake, furthermore for the stupidity of the people who took advantage of it and for those who caused this terrible damage in the abortion surgery…let’s pray to bear fruit of coherence and careful consideration on Life, Love and Body

The agricultural fair Bozoum, again!

 Few more images of the Fair of Bozoum 2012.
Above the stand of an association of women who presented various products made with rice flour,
Below the stand of the Savings Bank Bozoum.

 Part of sector of farmers: pigs ...

 
Here stand the center of the Orphans and Women Promotion Centre of the Mission.

This is the stand of a cooperative of rice on the ticket is written, that the change through the practice of Intensive Rice cultivation in Madagascar (a new technique that allows to produce over 11 tons of rice per hectare).

And finally VEGETABLE GARDEN: not beautiful?

And finally VEGETABLE GARDEN: not beautiful?