Hope is built with the politics of small steps
From the Ivory Coast, Fr. Stefano Camerlengo, Consolata missionary and former Superior General of the Institute, tells us about two experiences this week
The first is about the intensive catechesis, with adults preparing for the Baptism that will take place during Easter night
The second is the vaccination campaign in the villages farthest from the Consolata Health Center
(by Father Stefano Camerlengo)
For several years now, to benefit the people furthest away and with the most difficulties, we missionaries have been organizing a catechesis twice a year that we call intensive, since it lasts an entire week, from Monday evening to Saturday at noon.
The catechumens from the different villages arrive at the parish with two kilos of rice each and a small financial contribution of about 10 euros. Throughout the week they live together, pray together and study catechism together, while some Christians, already baptized make themselves available to prepare food for them.
It is a really important and engaging experience that makes us understand – even before words – how our community life should be as Christians, how we should build the Church-family.
Synodality, in fact, is not just a word for initiates, but must be the result of a discernment that involves each of us, so that everyone feels part of a journey, builders of a common story, protagonists of a path traced, lived and traveled together!
There is also another significant activity taking place in the diocese these days that I would like to report:
Our medical workers and nurses went to a village to vaccinate children. This is a sign of the attention and care for the little ones, to help them grow up well and organize a better future with them.
Our health center is located in a very peripheral area of an already remote and abandoned territory.
The inhabitants of Côte d’Ivoire themselves do not know exactly where our mission in Dianra is located, testifying that it is “far away,” in every sense of the word.
We taking into account our possibilities, try to prioritize these interventions that are yes challenging but “bring health to the people” rather than moving people to health centers. Therefore, several times a month, the nursing team and the doctor move inside to focus mainly on children and the elderly.
These two initiatives, which will continue throughout the week, confirm to us that hope is not a word to fill the books, but is a reality that is built drop by drop, in the everyday, with small, meaningful steps.