A "bridge" of hope!

"Ndongue Bodomo is a village 42 km away from the town of Bouar in the missionary district of Fatima.
In this village, every Tuesday, a weekly market attracts people from villages, 50 km away; the farmers can sell food, carried on their shoulders or on their motorbikes and buy commodities brought from the town of Bouar.
One kilometer before arriving at the village a “problem" crops up: to reach the village you have to cross a stream, Kpoko, by wading through it or walking on a narrow and shaky gangway. In the dry season you can easily cross the stream by wading through it. On the contrary, during the rainy season, the stream is in spate and it is dangerous to cross it. Previously there was a “fairly good" bridge, but little by little the rains destroyed it. Less than a year ago, in August, a mother, returning from the fields with his kids, could only helplessly look on one them fall into the stream in full spate and disappear among the waves
Unfortunately, other cases similar to this happened.
The people of the village had a gathering and asked me to help them build a solid bridge.
Given the potential dangers of the floods of the stream and the importance of the activities and commerce throughout this area I took this request seriously. I first called a meeting for all the villagers to see how to go about: the villagers decided to do their bit by supplying manpower, sand and stones. Then I approached an NGO operating in Bouar and they helped us to purchase part of the building material; the good will of many friends did the rest.
The completion of the project was foreseen for the month of January 2014, but the war and the unrest forced us to put it off and wait for "better times". 
But we have not given up: with a team of masons, carpenters and welders, we set to work: the bridge was built in three weeks.
The villagers are very happy: the people walking along the bridge carrying sacks of cassava, peanuts, sesame and beans stop to greet the workers and chat with them.
I like to think that this little work is also a small step forward in the reconstruction of this war-torn country. 
Given the importance of the village of Ndongue, to promote the vitality of the area we are planning other activities to improve the market and to continue our support to eighteen village schools that allow more than 2.300 children to receive primary education. 
It is a bridge to start over again, a "bridge" of hope!”

Fr Beniamino Gusmeroli scj