A quiet time (almost)

A quiet time (almost)

The end of the schools also brings a little bit of calm. Just a bit and will last a bit, but as for now we are enjoying it.

Friday we ended the Maturity exam (BAC) for the students of our St. Augustine High School. The examination tests are all written, and now correcting the written results will take place in Bangui. And the anxiety for the judgment begins!

In these days I visit the rice fields of Bohoro, 7 km from Bozoum. In April we began to repair the earth dam and cleaning up the artificial lake that guarantees water during the dry season helping also in reaching 2 production cycles per year. The work is done, and now the lake is full of water, and the farmers are preparing the sowing for the new cycle of rice.

Saturday morning is the turn of the General Assembly of the members of the Bozoum Savings and Credit Bank. At this General Assembly the presentation of Budget and the various activities of the Bank is made. Basically is the only one outside of Capital.

On Monday morning I go to Bouar, and then to Baoro. Today the Bishops of Central Africa come back to their Dioceses after their meeting in Berberati. Baoro is on their way back home, and we welcome them with joy for lunch. Is with them also Cardinal Nzapalainga, and all the bishops of the Country. We share the joy of being together, sharing also the passion for the Church and for the people, but also the concerns for the Country. Peace is fragile, and completely missing in most of the territory. The pressures from abroad are numerous, and much of the local political class does not seem concerned for the common good, unfortunately!        Courage!

la diga della risaia
le bassin du Centre Rizicole

Maturità 2018
BAC 2018

Assemblea Generale della Caisse d'éèargne et Crédit de Bozoum

i Vescovi del Centrafrica con la comunità di Baoro

A new priest, Saint Anthony, and the end of the school year. 2

fra Christo, con i suoi genitori
le frère Christo, avec ses parents

A new priest, Saint Anthony, and the end of the school year. 2

Last Friday I leave Bozoum, in the morning, together with Fr. Davide and Federico. I go to Bouar for an important happening: on Saturday, June 16^th, a young Central African Carmelite, Brother Christo Nganamodei, becomes priest. He entered the Seminary in 2000, after a long journey finally arrives this great day. The Bishop of Bouar, Mgrs. Mirek Gucwa, is also excited: it is his first priestly ordination!

In Bouar I meet Fr. Saverio, our Provincial Superior, together with Fr. Pavel and Fr. Anastasio, who came just for this special occasion from Prague. Our young people and all the communities are present. The celebration takes place in the beautiful church of the convent of St. Elia. Our Seminary Students perform the liturgical songs. The church, during the Mass, is filled with a very large crowd of faithful following, inside and outside, with intense participation. After the invocation of the Holy Spirit, the Bishop asks Brother Christo if he intends to respect the priesthood commitments. Then Brother Christo lies down on the ground, and together we pray to God, asking for the intercession of the Saints. The Bishop then imposes his hands, followed by the concelebrating priests: it is an ancient gesture, which goes back to the Acts of the Apostles. And Brother Christ is now a priest!

In the afternoon I have to go back immediately to Bozoum. Sunday 17^th we celebrate the feast of St. Anthony, the saint patron of one of the 3 chapels which are in Bozoum.

On Sunday afternoon, the square of the Parish is filled with more than 1,200 kids who attend our schools, from kindergarten to elementary schools, without forgetting the children of the School of Literacy. It's a party! There are their parents, and all the classes are called on stage. This year we can also give a special prize to the 15 best students of each class: a small fruit plant! It is an initiative that we carry on every year. The gift of the plant is welcomed with great pride by children and parents: once home, they will plant it, and the tree that will grow will be the memory of a good job at school.

And the small plants will grow!

P.Anastasio con Mgr Mirek

Festa della cappella St.Antoine

leggendo la pagella
lecture du bulletin des notes

The end of the school year 1

The end of the school year 1

In Central Africa too, the month of June ends the school year.  

Back in Central Africa, Saturday morning I leave direction North with Father Davide Sollami (Head Administrator in Arenzano for our Mission) and Federico Materazzi (a guy from Tuscany visiting our missions). After a stop in Baoro, we continue towards Bouar, and after quick visit to the confreres of St. Elie and Yolé, we leave towards Bozoum, where we arrive around 6.30 pm after driving for a distance of about 600 km.

Sunday morning, after the Masses, they call me to pray for a sick person, in the neighborhood near the Mission. Walking towards the sick person house, I meet wo nice little twins, Luisella and Teresa: they were born during the 2013 war, when their mother was refugee at the Mission. They are fine and have grown up well! On Sunday afternoon there is the celebration of the Arc en Ciel (Rainbow) Center for Orphans: over 200 children go wild in dances and performances. In the next months they will be back with their families, who will also help with the work of the fields, which during the rainy season ensure the bulk of the food for the whole year.

On Tuesday begins the conclusion of the school year for the boys and girls of the Middle and High School of our St. Augustine’s school. The first act is the Council of Professors, in which we evaluate each student, also deciding promotions and failures... Thursday afternoon we deliver the report cards. For the boys and girls of St. Augustine’s it is an important moment. The long months of study, efforts and joys, they meet finally the crowning with the votes and the decisions of the teachers. For the best among them, thanks to some friends, we can offer scholarships. With these, the chosen students can come to school for free. This year another initiative started: the "pink" scholarships. The girls who rank in the top 6 of the class they too receive a scholarship, which covers the enrollment fees for the next year. It's a way to encourage girls to work and get involved.

For our girls, life is much harder (family jobs, responsibilities, etc.), and we try to help them getting the most out of school.

danza
danse

Luiselle et Thérèse, née en 2013 pendant la guerre...

le borse di studio "rosa"
les bourses d'étude pour les meilleures élèves

Dar es Salaam

la cattedrale di Dar es Salaam

Dar es Salaam

After a few days since returning to Bozoum, I am on the road again. June 3^rd, I celebrated the Sunday Masses in the parish, and so I could meet "my" people. Returning to Bozoum also means enjoying again the beautiful liturgical celebrations, full of songs, dances, careful listening and intense participation.

At the end of the morning I leave, direction Bangui. The road (400 km) worsens continuously, and now it takes about 7 hours to get there.

Monday morning I take the flight for Tanzania: 3 hours flight to Nairobi. Here I need to change the aircraft landing around 9.00 pm in Dar es Salaam, the capital. I’m welcomed by the Indian sisters of the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel, the first female Congregation founded in India in 1800 by S. Cyriacos Chavara and the Italian Father Leopoldo Beccaro, a Discalced Carmelite, founder, later, of our Arenzano convent. We have been collaborating with the Indian sisters in Central Africa since 1991, and my visit is an act of gratitude for their presence in our Yolé Seminary, in the Dispensary and in Schools.

I am here because on Thursday, June 7^th, three young girls (from Tanzania and Kenya) having finished the novitiate are celebrating their first religious profession: they promise God to live in chastity, poverty and obedience. At 8.00 am we meet in the chapel of the community, where the families of these three girls entrust them to God. All three of them are dressed as brides! At 9.30 am begins the celebration of the Mass in a nearby parish: there are about twenty priests, families and many sisters of the Congregation, coming from all the houses of the African countries where they work (Sudan, Central Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, and Malawi). After the homily, the three novices issue their Profession in the hands of the Mother General. Then they receive the new religious habit, as a sign of their new life as consecrated persons. The liturgy lasts about three hours, with songs and dances, all in Swahili, the language that unites many East African countries. The lunch follows, simple and well prepared.

In the evening I am invited to the party, in which all the communities of the Congregation bring some simple gifts, performing   dances and sketches. It is really enriching to see how women from different countries (India and Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, Tanzania), of different ages and formations, can live their consecration joyfully. Swahili alternates with English and Malayalam (the language of Kerala-India), but the joy that shines on these faces is unique, shining like the joy coming from the Risen One.