Hajja Salesjana

Photo by Ninno Jack jr - Unsplash.com a place where tens of thousands of people have settled and found a new life. Crossing through Rwanda, I arrived at the Congo border in the region of Goma. It’s a beautiful land, wonderful and rich in nature — which is the very reason it’s coveted in such a way that weapons “speak.” Sadly, due to armed conflicts, in that region there are more than a million displaced people who have had to leave their homes and their land. We, the Salesians also had to leave our presence of Sha-Shah because it was occupied militarily. These million displaced persons have come to Goma. In one of its neighborhoods, Gangi, there’s the Salesian presence named “Don Bosco.” My joy was immense when I saw the good that’s being done there. Hundreds of boys and girls have their home there. Several dozen teenagers have been brought off the streets and are living in Don Bosco’s house. Right there is the home for eighty-two babies — even newborns — and small children who have lost their parents or have been “abandoned” because the adults have no way to take care of their own children due to the war. There, in that other Valdocco, one of the many Valdoccos in the world, a community of three nuns from El Salvador, together with a group of ladies, takes care of those babies and little ones. All of them are supported by the Salesian house with the help that comes, thanks to the generosity of benefactors and of Providence. When I visited them, the sisters had dressed everyone for the party, even the babies sleeping in their cribs. How can we not feel our hearts full of joy in the face of this reality of goodness, despite the pain that abandonment and war bring? But my heart was stricken when I met several hundred people who came to greet me during my visit. They’re among the 32,000 displaced people who have left their homes and land because of bombs and have come seeking refuge. They have found it on the playing fields and grounds of the Don Bosco house in Gangi. They have nothing. They live on a few square meters of land under tarps or cloth. This is their reality. Together we look for ways to find food every day. But, do you know what impressed me the most? When I was with these hundreds of people, who aremostly elderly or mothers with children (most men haven’t ben able to come because of the armed conflict), they hadn’t lost their dignity, their joy or their smile . I was amazed even while my heart grieved in the face of so much suffering and poverty, even though we’re doing our bit in the name of the Lord. I felt even greater joy yesterday when I heard a life testimony that made me think of adolescents and young people in our places, and of the very many parents who perhaps read my messages and feel that their children are unmotivated, or bored with life, or hardly have passion for anything. Among the guests these days at 27 Lulju-Settembru 2024 hajja