Starts and departures

 

 

 

Starts and departures

The 9 schools that we have in our villages, together with the 6 nursery schools, are a beautiful reality. Not only for the number of students (now more than 2,400), but also because it is a reality shared with the village communities.

Every year, before the start of school, there is the General Assembly: a meeting of all the teachers, village leaders and parent representatives (APE: Association des Parents d'élèves). The meeting is an opportunity to launch the school year, but also to sign various "contracts": the contract between the village and the Mission, and the contracts between the village and the teachers.

This General Assembly was held on Saturday, September 16, here in Baoro, since then the teachers have been registering the students, and off we go!

On Sunday the 17th I celebrated Mass in the small village of Zoungbe, 40 km from Baoro, and then continued to Bangui, where I arrived in the afternoon.

The construction site has been moving forward, albeit with some difficulties, and soon we will begin to do the electrical and plumbing systems, also thank you to the Italian volunteers (other volunteers are also welcome!).

Today, September the 21st, we said goodbye to a brother, Fr. Michael, who will leave for Italy in the next few days, where he will remain for a few years to complete his studies. We arrived here in the community together, in 2020, but I have known him for a few years, because he was one of the young people from the Yolé Seminary (Bouar) of which I was the director...

Starts and departures

Bawi

September

 

 
 

September

The month of September is a month where life resumes, even here in Central Africa.

We are now in the last part of the rainy season (which will last until the beginning of November), and therefore towards the end of the agricultural season. A time of harvest and a relative abundance of food.

Schools will reopen in a few days. Schedules are ready, but the start of lessons is always very chaotic in most schools in the country.

For our schools, however, the beginning is very well organized, and so is the calendar.

We rushed to prepare everything: checking the material, moving around some of the 40 village school teachers, meetings and registrations.

The construction sites of the 3 schools we are expanding (Baoro, Kouisso Baguera and Bawi) are also progressing well.

On Sunday I celebrated Mass in Bawi, and for the rest of the week we worked hard on the construction sites and for the schools.

On Saturday, September 16th the village leaders, the parents' representatives and all the teachers will be here for a start-of-year meeting.

And so we start with the lessons.

 

Il cantiere della scuola "Les Martyrs" di Baoro
Le chantier de l'école "Les Martyrs" de Baoro

Bawi

 

Rain, mushrooms and more

 

 

 

Rain, mushrooms and more

We are still in the rainy season.  The months of August and September are generally the most abundant, at least here in Baoro.

Rain is a blessing. In fact in Sango, the national language, it is said "ngu-Nzapa", the water of God.

The people are very busy working in the fields, which will ensure food for the whole year.  Along with agricultural work, the land also offers other generous gifts, such as mushrooms.

On Sunday I celebrated Mass in Barka Bongo, a small village 40 km from Baoro.

On Tuesday I went down to Bangui, together with our carpenters, and with them we fastened the last 9 door frames. In our carpentry shop we have built the frames of 80 doors and 150 windows… Now all that remains is the manufacturing of the doors…

The work is moving along, and the buildings are starting to look somewhat complete.

Good work!

 

 

Barka Bongo

La biblioteca del nuovo convento
La bibliothèque du nouveau couvent

Il refettorio del nuovo convento
Le refectoire du nouveau couvent

 

 

 

Igwe, and schools to have extensions!

 

 

 

Igwe, and schools to have extensions!

Sunday morning pastoral work took me to Igwe, the smallest village in the sector (with only a dozen houses).

The road was long, and it took more than two hours to travel 60 km. The last 15 km were basically a path in the bush, between grasses, which were almost 2 meters high.

The community is small, but lively, and during Mass we celebrated the baptism of Victor and Giscard, two young children. The catechist, Robert, attended the catechist school in Bocaranga this year, but he also wants to be a part of the community in other ways. Among these, he built himself a sewing atelier: a straw hut, where he put the sewing machine he received (along with the training) in Bocaranga.

On the way back, the road took longer... this was because there was a problem and the engine heated up. The radiator was boiling, and I had to stop several times. But I managed to return to Baoro by the afternoon.

In recent months we have been able to open 3 construction sites for the expansion of 3 schools: in Bawi, in Kouisso Baguera and here in Baoro (école "Les martyrs africains). The works continue, and we hope to have all three ready for the start of the school year, which happens in the second half of next month.

Igwe

La strada
la route...

Kouisso Baguera

 

 

Light and colors, color and lights

 

 

 

 

Light and colors, color and lights

Almost a month ago we prepared the stained glass windows for the chapel of the new convent in Bangui, and today we were able to install them…

They are really beautiful. A little light can make colors shine. It's a bit like life!

But let's go in order!

All last week the friends of the NGO Siriri, OPS of Prague (Czech Republic), completed the training of elementary teachers in Bossemptele. There were more than 90 of them, and everything went very well. There was an interesting element: all the trainers were Central African teachers who worked with passion, enthusiasm and competence.

On Sunday I went to Samba Bougoulou to celebrate Mass.

On Tuesday I left for Bangui with the carpenters. We installed 20 door frames and 6 window frames. Above all, the work of the windows was completed.

Tomorrow morning, at 5, we will be leaving for Baoro.

 

 

La formazione degli insegnanti a Bossemptele
La formation des enseignants à Bossemptele

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trasporti...
En route

 

 

 

Le vetrate della cappellina del nuovo convento di Bangui
Les vitraux de la petite chapelle du nouveau couvent

 

Mid-August in Baoro

 

 

Mid-August in Baoro

Mid-August in Baoro

Mid-August… alternate!

 These past few days I have taken advantage of the August 15 celebration to go to the most distant villages: Bayanga Didi, Yoro and Sinaforo.

When I get to there, I sleep in Yoro or Bayanga Didi, where there is a room behind the church. A little sparse, but at least there is a roof, which is particularly useful in this rainy season!

I also had a little bit of adventure, and met lots of people! Thank God I didn't encounter the rebels, or any big animals (a few days ago a buffalo killed a woman in the fields!). I only had one issue, a hole in my tire on the way back, and the encounter with a magnificent flower, a Protea, an almost unique specimen in the sea of vegetation that accompanies this rainy season.

The streets are getting worse and worse: the water turns them into streams, with large puddles. It took almost 3 hours to get to Bayanga Didi, which is only 80km away.

I left on Saturday: which was a smart start. There were only a couple of cars on the road with me, and that's all the traffic!

I arrived in Bayanga Didi in the evening, and I set up the screening of the film. This time it was "The Ten Commandments", from 1956! We had almost the whole village attend!

On Sunday we celebrated Mass, and the church was full. Today they also bring the firstfruits of the crops, and I blessed these fruits of labour.

In the afternoon I moved to Yoro. Here too I screened the film. The night passed quietly, with a little rain. But at 7 it stopped raining, and I set off on foot for Sinaforo, a small village 7-8 km from Yoro. The road has now become a path, in the middle of the tall grass. I arrived in Sinaforo after about an hour's walk, and I meet the catechist and the village, and after the confessions I celebrated Mass in the chapel, made of earthen bricks, and with the roof of old metal sheets.

The sky is dark, but it's not raining, and after Mass I left for Yoro, where in the evening we watched the second part of the film.

Tuesday morning was the feast of the Assumption. I made a few confessions, and then I celebrated Mass, but there weren't as many people. Many people took advantage of the fact that it didn't rain to go to the fields for the first crops.

I returned to Baoro in the early afternoon, and on Wednesday I left for Bossemptele, 92km away, where the second teacher training, organized by Siriri, is taking place. There are more than 90 teachers here, most of whom come from Bozoum.

Happy mid-August!

 

Protea

Gli insegnanti in formazione a Baoro
Les enseignants en formation à Baoro

Bayanga Didi

 

Sinaforo

In cammino verso Sinaforo
En chemin vers Sinaforo

Formazione insegnanti a Bossemptele
Formation des enseignants à Bossemptele