Prints in the Ground

345 06.2019 Great elephants, little pygmies, precious diamonds and the love of the missionaries. Newsletter from the Carmel in Bangui ometime during the Creation – was too late to put everything back in shall we say around the fifth or the sack again. In fact the monkeys, sixth day? – God was passing swinging through the lianas, were by Sthe intersection of the 2nd Parallel now already playing with the sack North and the 16th Meridian East. I from which they had just emerged. know of course that at that time the God smiled in amusement and global reference points had not yet decided that the monkeys had turned been quite so closely defined. And out really well. He called what he had the Good Lord certainly didn’t need created the “Forest” and decided that them to guide Him over the earth, he would need someone to take care which He had just created. But it’s of all that beauty. So then he created just to help you understand precisely the pygmies, one of the most gentle where He was at the time. For it was and peaceable peoples on earth. God here, whether through tiredness gave them the keys to the forest and from all the work of the previous left that place, somewhat reluctantly, few days or simply because He didn’t in order to start devoting himself to as yet have seven billion people the problems of mankind, who soon to worry about, that He decided after that had built their first cities. to stop and rest a while, and fell All those wonderful things, just asleep. However, He hadn’t noticed around 500 km away from where that there was a hole in the bottom I was living, surely deserved a of the sack of His immagination, personal visit. And so we decided from which there issued rivers and that a little trip to this part where waterfalls, mighty trees, precious God had rested awhile so many stones and creatures of every shape centuries before, might be the ideal and colour. And when He awoke, it spot for us also take a little break 1 Communicationes 345/06.2019 and relax a while, after the stresses Latin American sisters, Sister and strains of the first term of the Melanie, Sister Alba Maria and sister academic year. Margarita, and the teacher at the First stop on our long journey was primary school. The pygmies, as Bambio, close to the Lobaye river, my brother missionaries explained one of our favourite stopping off to me, are the true inhabitants of points in the region. No sooner Central Africa. It is here that they had we arrived than the family of were truly placed by the good Lord, Brother Régis, in addition to putting whereas the other inhabitants of their whole house at our disposal, the country are in fact members of had offered us excellent locally the Bantu peoples, who arrived in produced coffee. The sun hadn’t yet Central Africa as a result of a series set, and so we took the opportunity of migrations. The parish and the to have a good dip in the river. The village in Belemboké came next morning, before continuing into being at the same time in 1973, our journey, we celebrated Mass in on the initiative of Padre Lambert, the village church. But of course in a brave French missionary. He had Bambio it is impossible to celebrate noticed that the pygmies very often Mass except in a solemn manner, lived in subjection to overlords and all the people turn up in large belonging to other ethnic groups, numbers. Priests are rarely seen almost like slaves. In creating a here, so you can imagine what parish for the pygmies alone, this it’s like if you arrive with a whole priest at the same time in fact convent full of Brothers. The enabled the birth of a pygmies-only ‘continental breakfast’ provided in village, as all around the church Bambio, needless to say, included they began to build their typical manioc and fresh game, hunted the little huts of woven branches, day before. covered in leaves, in the shape of In the afternoon we arrived in an igloo. And with all new respect Belemboké, a mission station to those who, somewhat hastily, serving only the pygmies on the maintain that evangelization was edge of the great forest. The only one of the causes of the extinction non-pygmies present in the village of indigenous cultures, in reality this were two African priests, Padre priest gave the pygmies, along with Anselm and Padre Serge, three the Gospels, their true liberty and Communicationes 345/06.2019 2 dignity, preserving both their culture the furthest southwest extremity and their traditions. And as one of the Central African Republic, of the most interesting aspects of wedged between Cameroon and pygmy culture, in a context in which Congo Brazzaville. The objective polygamy was widely practised, he of our excursion was to locate a found that they observed a rigorous colony of elephants and observe monogamy which married extremely them from close up. We travelled well – and it is well worth pointing on foot through a stretch of dense this out – with the Christian view of forest. Our guide, assisted by a marriage. Needless to say, though, pygmy at the head of our group, the initiative of Padre Lambert did gave us some instructions as to not altogether please those who had how to behave if we should come thereby lost their free labour force, face to face with an elephant or a and he received a number of threats. gorilla. As for the hippopotamus, But the man who intervened and he had no particular instructions to came to his defence was Bokassa, give us, but simply told us that it is the ‘famous’ ruler of what was better not to come face to face with then known as the Central African them at all. In the end he asked us Empire. He declared that if anyone to remain silent to avoid attracting did any harm to this priest, it would the attention of the animals. And my be as though they had done the same confreres and I immersed ourselves thing to the Emperor himself. From in a silence still stricter than we then on these little lords of the forest are required to observe in the were able to continue living happily monastery, in the evenings, after the and in peace, though of course they prayer of Compline. A few metres knew nothing of the umpteenth, and further on, while crossing barefoot dubious, peace accord for Central over a small stream, we saw huge Africa that had just been signed in footprints in the ground. Our guide Khartoum. was not kidding us – the elephants After spending the night among had indeed passed through here the huts of the pygmies, we set out shortly before us. After almost for Bayanga, where we planned to an hour’s walking, we climbed visit the Dzanga-Sangha National up onto a viewing platform built Park. This park lies deep in the specially for the purpose of watching forest of the Congo River basin, in these most magnificent of God’s 3 Communicationes 345/06.2019 creatures, which were accustomed in large trees and inhabited by to come here to a watercourse monkeys, which was once the site of around midday to drink. It was an the town prison. In order to reach impressive spectacle, far exceeding the ancient mission station, founded our expectations. There were around in 1939 and situated on the other a hundred elephants there. But side of the river, we had to drive our according to our guide, within this vehicle onto a barge, bobbing on one area of forest they have counted the river. We arrived almost as the around 4000 elephants altogether. sun was setting and were welcomed An amazing heritage that makes this by Sister Ines, an elderly Spanish little and uncontaminated corner of nun who had prepared us a meal of nature somewhere almost unique antelope and shrimps for dinner. in the world, and one that certainly Next morning, walking through the held our attention for several hours. town, we were astonished by the In the afternoon we headed back sheer number of ‘bureaux d’achat’ north. Once again we crossed selling gold and diamonds on every through the tropical forest. To street corner. For in fact we were in describe it as luxuriant would hardly one of the many zones in Central do it justice. Our route followed a Africa where the ground beneath us little trail of red earth, that seemed is particularly rich in these precious to timidly ask permission of the minerals. And it is a painful thing, majestic trees and shrubs, with their both to me and to my confreres, great leaves, which towered above to ask ourselves the frustrating us with lofty pride like plumed question as to why this country, sentinels, as though offended by our which literally sleeps on gold and very presence. Finally we arrived in diamonds, should be condemned to Nola, where we spent the night. Nola live in such extreme poverty while is a picturesque small town, situated others alone are able to profit from at the confluence of the Kadeï and its riches. Mamberé rivers which together At midday we arrived in Berberati, form the source of the great Sangha one of the largest cities in Central River, the undisputed kingdom Africa. We were invited to lunch by of vast numbers of hippopotami.

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