Ivory Coast - Duékoué, the Salesian refuge that saved 30,000 lives

18 May 2016

(ANS - Duékoué) - In recent weeks the Salesians have announced several times that they will not leave Aleppo, one of the epicentres of the conflict in Syria, but will stay to try to help families who remain in the city. It is not the first time the Salesians have made a gesture of this kind.  In 2011 the Salesian mission of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus in Duékoué in the Ivory Coast saved the lives of 30,000 people, who took refuge in its grounds of just 2.5 hectares during the civil war. The documentary filmmaker Raul de la Fuente observed the life of the missionaries in Duékoué and was able to tell the heroic story of some Salesians who changed the lives of thousands of people in the documentary "30,000".

During the advance of rebel troops on Duékoué, murder, rape, mutilations and acts of humiliation were everyday occurrences. Only the Salesian premises were spared. The Salesian Fr Carlos Berro says: "People respected the nature of the Parish Church and therefore did not enter to commit acts of barbarity." So the mission became a place of pilgrimage for about 30,000 people, who saw in it their salvation.

When the war was over the work of the Salesians did not end. "In Africa it seems the rain will wash it all away. At first glance people may not realize that there was recent armed conflict here, but when you stop to talk to people you find the dramas and see that it is still very present," says de la Fuente.

The Salesian commitment continues now "trying to heal the wounds, listening, asking for compensation for victims, working to reach some kind of social reconciliation, providing training for young people, including those who became aggressors, so that they can earn a living". Mr de la Fuente claims to be in a privileged position "because I can present the work of these missionaries". Due to their work, many people are still alive. And, as Fr. Berro says in the documentary, "this was something to celebrate".

InfoANS

ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication, the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007.

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