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Herbs & Plants. Entada abyssinica. A resourceful herbal medicine.

Monday, 1 April 2019 8:00

It is used as medicine, source of fibre, and wood. But also in the treatment of numerous diseases and disorders.

It is a low-branching deciduous shrub with a flat, spreading crown and usually grows up to about 10 metres in height. The stem-bark is grey to reddish, the leaves alternate, bipinnate with apex, round to slightly obtuse and slightly mucronate, appressed, pubescent above and below. Or sometimes they are glabrous above, but rarely entirely so; petiole glandular. In florescence it has creamy white or fading yellowish, sweet scented flowers. The fruit is a large, flat legume and the seeds oval and flat. The pod splits between each seed and leaves the pod rim forming a wing-like structure which is important for the seeds dispersal process. The name Entada is derived from an East Indian vernacular name while its botanical Latin name Abyssinica means ‘from Abyssinia (Ethiopia)’. Entada abyssinica (Fabaceae Family) is widely distributed all over tropical Africa including Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and from Sierra Leone to Ethiopia.

The tree is harvested from the wild for local use as medicine, a source of fibre, and wood. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental plant in homesteads. It is traditionally used for the treatment of bronchitis, coughs, diarrhoea, fever, and to alleviate arthritic pains. It has also been used in the treatment of numerous diseases and disorders. A decoction of the bark is taken for treatment of coughs, colds, syphilis, chronic bronchial engorgement, rheumatic pains, and abdominal pain. In addition, the decoction is also used in some communities for the treatment and management of peptic ulcers. The stem bark is also used to treat mouth wounds and malaria. However, sometimes the bark infusion is used as an abortifacient.
The leaves are febrifuge and tonic. They are used to make a tonic tea and for wound healing. The leaf decoction is used for treatment of fever and malaria. Babies are bathed with the leaf decoction to remove skin rashes. The decoction is also administered to expectant mothers as a treatment for morning sickness and bathing with the leaf decoction is known to relieve backache.

An infusion of crushed roots is good for treatment and management of bronchial problems. In some communities, the roots decoction/infusion is administered as an antidote against various toxic agents. The root decoction is also used as a remedy for fever. The powdered root bark can be mixed with petroleum jelly and applied as a massage for swelling. The crushed fresh roots decoction is administered to treat gonorrhoea.
The roasted pulverized seeds can be inhaled to relieve frequent sneezing and can also be used to treat cataracts and diseases of the eye. The raw fruit induces vomiting and is used as an antidote for snake venom.

Apart from its medicinal potential, Entada abyssinica’s ashes from the wood is rich in potash and is suitable for soap making. A fibre obtained from the inner bark is used for making bands and ropes. The soft wood is used for small carpentry and also provides a good source of wood fuel. Furthermore, the tree is often used around homesteads as ornamentals. It also has the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil.The phytochemical screening of Entada. abyssinica indicates the presence of alkaloid, flavonoids, saponin, terpenoids, and kolavic acid derivatives. The leaves contain rotenone and tannins. In fact, the presence of these bioactive phytochemicals in Entada Abyssinica may explain their reported pharmacological properties including antibacterial, anti-trypanocidal, anti-fungal, and
anti-inflammatory activities.

Richard Komakech

DR Congo. Mons. Muyengo Mulombe : “ We are the defenders of the people”.

Monday, 1 April 2019 8:00

The role of the bishops in the recent socio-political events in the country. The Church as ‘guarantor of unity’. The future: the full evangelisation of the Christian communities. We talked with Mons. Sébastien-Joseph Muyengo Mulombe, Bishop of Uvira in South Kivu.

At the end of his second mandate, president Joseph Kabila refuses to give up power and creates a serious social crisis in the country. Civil society and members of the opposition parties turn to the Catholic Church for mediation and an end to the impasse. “We made ourselves available. We also acted as guarantors of the San Silvestro Agreement (2016) between government and opposition so elections could be held”, Mons. Sébastien-Joseph Muyengo Mulombe, Bishop of Uvira in the south of Kivu informs us.

The Agreement was not properly implemented and Kabila said it was impossible to organise the elections before the end of 2017 and they were postponed until 30 December 2018. This created much unease among Congolese, especially the Catholics who held a series of demonstrations in the streets and public prayers which were repressed with bloodshed. It was absolutely necessary that Kablia should not run for election. In fact, he was not among the candidates. The elections were held on 30 December 2018 and were won by Félix Tshisekedi, a candidate of the coalition for change with 38,57% of the votes. In second place was Martin Fayulu (34,83%).
The Church had agreed to guarantee free and fair elections and had 40,000 observers in the field. According to what they observed, Fayulu won with 62% of the votes. Mons. Muyengo Mulombe comments: “In our opinion, the polls chose Martin Fayulu, who had been chosen by the bulk of the opposition to oppose Kabila, obtaining votes throughout the country”.However, the Church eventually accepted the results. The Bishop of Uvira says: “None of us want the country to plunge into violence again. It seemed to us that, after all, the people were happy just to see Kabila out of power… No doubt, Fayulu had a different view of things and, with him as president, things would certainly change. The DR Congo is rich in minerals. Fayulu would surely re-negotiate the trade agreements with the multi-national that exploit these enormous riches and put a stop to people from neighbouring countries invading the Congo at will and stealing what they want. Tshisekedi has guaranteed a peaceful transfer of power”.

One important element during these years is the fact that the people have come to view the Catholic Church, to which 40% of the 83 million Congolese belong, as being always close to them in their struggles.
“The people still see each of our Bishops as a defensor civitatis (defender of the people), and the people know that we defend the whole of the country and that we never tire in promoting reconciliation.
The strength of us Bishops lies in our unity, even if there are some who let themselves be distracted and, perhaps … compensated”.

Speaking of his diocese of Uvira with its 1.5 million inhabitants, of whom 30% are Catholics, he says : “I am the fifth Bishop of the diocese and at the moment we have about fifty secular and ten religious priests. There is a good number of Sisters. The diocese is divided into 18 parishes and has 32 missionary centres. I am sorry to say I have not yet managed to visit all parts of the diocese. There are still all too many militia groups that create insecurity in the territory. However, I am fortunate to have excellent pastoral agents who are my right hand and to whom I shall be eternally grateful”.
Speaking of priorities, he says: “First of all the defence of life. In 2017, with all the war crimes and the plundering of our natural resources, together with the five other bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Kivu, I signed the message, ‘Our Cry for the Absolute Respect for Human Life’, taking the part of the people. We provided proof and exact figures regarding the victims. Here in Kivu the violence still goes on. Together with all the pastoral agents, I am carrying out a plan of evangelisation according to the tradition outlined by my predecessors. At the same time, I never tire of fighting against the evils which, in my view, prevent people from living a truly Christian life.

Three of these are: fetishism, which generates fear, causes divisions in families and communities and prevents real sharing; the abuse of alcohol, an endemic plague that destroys the population; lastly, that terrible weapon of war which is the abuse of women. For years, the violation of women has been the ‘prize’ claimed by all militiamen and soldiers. We are destroying ourselves. We bishops must be the first to raise our voices against this calamity. I was very struck by the honesty of Pope Francis in condemning the fifteen evils of the Roman Curia and by the twelve criteria given for the reform of pastoral work with Christocentrism, sobriety and synodality as a method. In my opinion, these criteria apply also to the Congolese Christian communities and our dioceses. Here, too, we have people who think they are eternal, who seek only to accumulate riches; there is still too much hatred, suspicion and fear of others, that deep-rooted evil which is love of self. Our communities are growing in numbers but are not very strong in the faith. We still have much work to do because we have been baptised but not evangelised”. (E.B.)

Our Planet. What we can do.

Monday, 1 April 2019 8:00

Human society, of which we are all a part, is facing an environmental catastrophe unprecedented in history. The planet is in dire condition and ecosystems that keep all species of plant, animal and insects in harmonious co-existence ensuring the survival of all are moving quickly toward collapse.

This is due to the non-stop man-made industrialization driven by coal-fired power plants, billions of vehicles, destruction of the forests, clearing of the land and chemical farming to feed millions of cows. All these contribute to global warming, climate change and environmental degradation. This in turn is increasing the rate of extinction of the many species of insects that help to pollinate the fruits and plants we rely on for food. We are exterminating ourselves.

The insects are food for hundreds of birds, reptiles and mammals. If the insects, grubs and worms disappear, so do the birds and many more beautiful creatures and eventually plant life itself will deteriorate beyond recovery. The entire ecosystem relies on insects to keep it going and we are entering another age of mass extinction this time, the fastest in the history of the planet- and its man-made.

The world’s insects are threatened with rapid extinction and this will introduce a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems,” says an important scientific report which is the first scientific review of the threat to hundreds of thousands of species of insects and the crops that rely on them. The study found that more that 40 percent of the world’s insects are in serious decline and a third of them are endangered. The entire mass of the world’s insects is falling at a rate of 2.5 percent per year which means they could be all gone within a century. This is a shocking discovery. That would be hundreds of millions of years of exquisite evolution wiped out in a hundred years.

The magnificent hovering four-winged dragonfly would be no more flirting over our streams and ponds. Insects are heading for total extinction eight times faster than that of the reptiles and mammals and birds. They too are in grave danger of extinction. The Black West African Rhino is gone forever, never to roam the African plains again.

Soon you will be lucky to see bats and birds. The bird song in the morning is rare indeed and there are fewer swallows and swifts flying around. They depend on insects to live. In a period of 35 years as much as 98 percent of ground insects in Puerto Rico have already vanished. Wildlife is disappearing too. In England, the butterfly population has fallen by 58 percent on farmland in a nine-year period. We may have heard of the massive decline in the honeybee population. There were 6 million honeybee colonies in the United States in 1947 but by 2017, more than half were wiped out.

The modern methods of commercial farming are largely responsible although climate change is also a contributing factor. The cutting of forests, destroying hedgerows, leaving open flat fields sprayed with ever more toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers are responsible.

The chemicals are blown by the wind across the lands even into protected forest areas as the German people discovered. There was a massive loss of insects in the protected forests.
As many as 75 percent loss of the insect population was recorded that shocked researchers and sparked government research into the dangers of pesticides in the environment.

The worst of all kind of insect killers are neonicotinoids and fipronil. They are at the roots of the problem. “When you consider 80 percent of biomass of insects has disappeared in 25-30 years, it is a big concern,” the scientist said. The industrial scale of sprayed poisons is the problem. These deadly chemicals enter the food chain and humans ingest them and they accumulate in the fatty tissue. One day they reach critical mass and trigger cancer tumours and other diseases.

This form of farming is driven by corporate farming and the market demand to provide cheap food for an over consuming and exploding population. The massive consumption of beef, pigs and chicken produced on an industrial scale is causing the ever-present climate change. The rising temperatures are killing the insects that can’t adapt. The methane gas produced by the billions of farm animals and the melting of the Siberian permafrost is mixing with CO2 and forming a blanket around the globe cooking us at one time and freezing us at another. There is an ever increasing rising of annual temperatures around the world that is harming crops, contributing to the melting ice cap, raising the level of oceans and inundating estuaries and coastal areas. Islands in the South Pacific are disappearing.

The only answer is to change our lifestyles and use our power as consumers, shoppers, and customers to demand organic food that is pesticide- and chemical-free and buy it only. The farmers will adapt and supply to meet demand. Then we can go one better and demand plastic-free seafood. The oceans are filling up with micro-plastic that is being swallowed by the fish in every ocean and sea.
Humans are consuming the fish with the micro-plastic pellets and its harmful effects are still unknown. We can also eat less meat and more organic vegetables and fruit.

There is more we can do. Support and vote for political candidates committed to an environmentally-clean world. Unless we take seriously this ongoing deadly decline in the insect species, our entire ecosystem will be damaged forever. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. With the bees and butterflies gone, we will be left with the flies and cockroaches. That will be a miserable and dangerous world.
Fr. Shay Cullen

Senegal. The Great House of African Art.

Monday, 1 April 2019 8:00

The Museum of African Civilisation was founded in Dakar: it contains African art from its origins to the present day. The dream of Léopold Sédar Senghor.

Over four-fifths of the artistic patrimony of the continent, the experts say, is to be found in Western museums, art galleries and private collections. It is the result of a veritable plundering on a vast scale, carried out during the colonial era by the European occupiers, with the complicity of the prejudice that Africans were unable to take care of the masterpieces that survive up to the present day. In some cases, political instability and war would say those who hold this view are right. If we consider, for example, the damage inflicted by the Jihadists in 2013 on the precious manuscripts of the Timbuktu library in Mali.

Fortunately, the wind of change is blowing in Africa. In 2017, in Cape Town, the Zeitz Mocaa museum of contemporary African art was opened, art that has already become the object of study of artists and researchers. What was needed was some sort of Louvre or British Museum, or an institution created for the ambitious purpose of preserving African art in its totality, from the dawn of civilisation to the present day. The authorities in Senegal sought to fill this lacuna and, last December, they opened the Museum of Black Civilisations (MCN), the result of an ambitious pan-African project. It is the realisation of the dream of the President of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor – also the father, together with the Martinique citizen Aimé Césaire, of the concept of Negritude – to build a museum to house the artistic expressions of the black people of the world.
Senghor launched the idea in 1966, on the occasion of the first festival of Black Art and it took fifty-two years to realise it.

Situated in the area of the port, close to the terminus of the ferries going to Gorée, the island that bears the memory of the Atlantic slave trade, the new infrastructure is conspicuous for its rounded shape that evokes the dwellings of the Casamance, a region in the south of Senegal. In the entrance hall, an enormous baobab-shaped sculpture by the Haitian Eduard Duval-Carrié, welcomes visitors. The museum space comprises a total of 14,000 square metres, on four floors, including an auditorium with 150 seats; it has room for up to 18,000 pieces and is, at present, the largest museum in Africa.
The exposition is a voyage in time and space, leading from the cranium of Toumai, a hominid of about seven million years ago, discovered in Chad, to the present, with works by contemporary artists like the Mali Abdoulaye Konaté and passing through centuries of history, including also the African diaspora in the Americas. Ritual masks, sculptures and statues, not only from Senegal but also from various other African countries, tell of the effort to construct a narrative that is both unified and daring. Its purpose is the displaying of the black continent, by finally giving voice to its inhabitants and its heroes like El Hajj Omar Tall, the Senegalese Islamic fighter, whose sword was one of the most admired objects during the inauguration of the museum, being, as it was a symbol of anti-colonial resistance.

The building itself was a gift from the government of China which paid the costs of over 30 million Euro, executing the project through the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, and overseeing the works lasting seven years. Anyone visiting the MCN should not be surprised, therefore, to find the descriptions of the museum objects in French and Chinese. For the Asian giant, the cost of the museum was very little when compared with the 110 billion Euro it spent in Africa in the last decade, which promises an increasingly influential Chinese role in the administration of the resources and economies of many African countries.The Museum of Black Art is not only a proud celebration of the creativity of African man in the history of the world; this monumental structure also represents a long-awaited opportunity to demand the restoration of the African artistic patrimony dispersed throughout the world. The purpose is to silence those who defended the conservation of African art in the West due to the lack of a suitable structure in Africa. “It is a false problem, – declared Ibrahima Thioub rector of the Sheikh Anta-Diop University of Dakar – the answer to the problem has already been given by the Africans who produced these works and conserved them for centuries in perfect condition without museums”.
The first person to make a move was the French president Emmanuel Macron who, in 2017 declared in a speech given in Ouagadougou his desire to start a programme of temporary or permanent restitution of African works of art in France to their original countries. To do this, he appointed two experts, Frenchman Bénédicte Savoy and Senegalese Felwine Sarr, to draft a report, published last November, on the question. “We cannot enjoy works of art that we like in a museum while ignoring their hidden history of violent acquisition”, Savoy stated in an interview on French television.

The opinion of Sarr and Savoy is that objects taken away in a military context before 1899 (the date of the first Ajax convention on conflict law), those taken by scientific expeditions or handed over by colonial administrators and those illegally purchased after 1960, should be restored. Works legally purchased are to be excluded, with the free and documented consent of both parties, as well as those bought by museums while observing international law. French museums have around 90,000 African works of art and what will actually be done is a matter for speculation. Macron has declared his wish to hand over 26 objects to Benin where they will be placed in four new museums. Besides Senegal, other countries may also reclaim objects of art taken illegally. This applies not only to France: the African patrimony is preserved also in Berlin, Vienna, London and in Belgium. In the meantime, the MCN is willing to house eventual works restored to African countries without adequate museums to receive them.

Maria Tatsos

Spider’s Web.

Monday, 1 April 2019 8:00

The animals were lonely. They stood in the forest talking to one another, wondering how they could each get a wife to keep them company and to cook their food for them.

When Hare joined the group, he was soon able to tell them what to do. “I have heard that there are plenty of wives up in the sky, beyond the clouds, he said. “But how shall we get there?” they asked. “I will spin a strong web and fasten it on to a cloud -, said Spider -, and then you will be able to climb up it, and find wives.”
So Spider began to spin, and very soon he was lost to sight high above them all with only the ladder of silver thread to show them the way he had gone. Presently Hare declared that all was ready and, leading the way, he began to climb up into the sky followed by all the other animals.

How the silken thread trembled as the elephant, the buffalo, the lion, and the monkey climbed higher and higher, while Hare turned back from time to time, urging them onwards. At last they reached the country above the clouds and began to bargain for wives with the people there, Hare had been quite right when he said there were plenty of wives to be had, and soon most of the animals had chosen a wife and paid the agreed dowry.

Not so Hare. He chose his wife and made some excuse to her mother so that he did not pay the price immediately. Then he crept round the back of his future mother-in-law’s hut, to see what he could find to eat. There was a large pile of beniseed, and Hare made a most satisfying meal of it while everyone else was busy talking about their new wives. Even Hare was surprised a little later, to see how small the beniseed heap had become, and felt somewhat apprehensive as to what the owner would say when she found out.
Of course, he soon thought of a way to get himself out of trouble, and taking a handful of beniseed he ambled across to where the animals were still busy talking and rubbed some seeds on to Spider, pretending to brush off some dust.

He was only just in time as the next moment a woman came stamping up to the group of animals, shouting angrily: “Who has been stealing my beniseed? It’s always the same. When you folk come up from the earth something always gets stolen. Now, who did it this time?” Of course, all the animals protested and said they were innocent, which indeed they were. Then the cunning Hare stood up and went towards his mother-in-law, putting on a kind, patient voice and saying: “There is only one way of finding out who stole your beniseed. Let us search every animal and look for signs of seeds or leaves which are bound to have clung to the fur of the thief.”

The woman agreed and together she and Hare began to search the animals, none of whom objected since they knew they had stolen nothing. Suddenly Hare gave a cry. Oh nor he exclaimed: “Not you, Spider! How could you have done such a thing?” “What are you talking about?” asked Spider, as the other animals crowded round him, and the woman seized him to have a closer look.

“Yes -, she said angrily – . You have some beniseed clinging to your body. You must be the thief! Don’t try to deny it.” The other animals were angry too, telling Spider what a stupid thing he had done to steal from Hare’s mother-in-law, and they would not listen when he swore he had done no such thing.
At last he managed to get away from them all, and calling out in disgust: “I got you up here, but you can get yourselves down again”. He began his descent to earth, rolling up his web as he went.

Now the animals were in a fix, for their ladder had gone, and it was a very long way down to earth. They shouted to Spider and begged him to come back and spin another web for them, but he would not answer and at last they lost sight of him among the far-distant trees of the earth. “Now what shall we do?” they asked one another, for they had no desire to stay in the clouds for the rest of their lives. “I’m going to jump”, said the monkey, suiting the action to the words, and with a mighty leap he dropped like a stone towards the earth.

“So am I”, exclaimed the antelope, and he gave a bound after the monkey, and was followed by a number of other animals, all encouraged by Hare. “That’s right! That’s splendid!”, he kept saying, as animal after animal jumped from the clouds.
But he did not tell them that they were jumping to their deaths, and as each one hit the ground he was killed outright.

All except Hare, of course. He stood back and waited beside the elephant, telling that large and cumbersome creature to wait until last in case he fell on one of his smaller brothers. Eventually, when all the animals had gone, Hare told the elephant it was
safe for him to jump too.

“I’ll come with you”, said Hare, leaping on to the elephant’s head and clinging tightly as they sped through the air. The poor elephant landed with such a crash that he was killed at once, but his huge body saved Hare from striking the ground and he was not injured at all. So the cunning animal ran off into the bush to look for Spider and to try to make friends with him again, simply because he hoped for Spider’s help at some other time.
But since that day nobody has ever been able to climb up into the sky, and those who have heard this story have no wish to try.
Folktale from Zambia

The Today Moment Of Don Sturzo.

Friday, 1 March 2019 8:00

“I have nothing, I own nothing, I do not want anything, I have fought all my life for a complete but responsible political liberty. To the loss of economic freedom, towards which we are moving ahead in Italy, it will follow an actual loss of political freedom, even if the elective forms of an apparent Parliament will remain.
This Parliament day by day will follow its abdication in the face of bureaucracy, the trade unions and the economic entities, which will form the structure of the new state more or less Bolshevist. May God dispel my prophecy” (Don Luigi Sturzo, October 4, 1951)

Why after 100 years the moment of this a Christian, a priest, a secular politician for Italy should be alive today and tomorrow? We refer to Don Luigi Sturzo. This, his moment is not casual, but expresses the growing need for strong references, for teachers in an age of great loss, of great “noises”, of great and justified and unjustified fears, of the
absence of thought.

Studying the great characters makes us discover sometimes true masters, not only of the past, but for the present and for the future. Don Luigi Sturzo was and still is a teacher of political ethics for anyone who wants to “serve politics and not use politics” as he used to say. Sturzo was a philosopher, sociologist, profound economist, public administrator, in short, one of the most important politicians of the Italian twentieth century. Nevertheless Sturzo remained always and above all a priest – intense, total priest dedicated to Jesus Christ and to the rigorous fidelity to the Church, even when this made him suffer.

Luigi Sturzo (26 November 1871 – 8 August 1959) was, actually, an Italian Roman Catholic priest. He was known in his lifetime as a “clerical socialist” and is considered one of the fathers of the Christian democratic platform. From 1919 on promoted the Partito Popolare Italiano. He was forced into exile in 1924 with the rise of Italian fascism. In exile in London (and later New York) he published over 400 articles critical of fascism and later of the post-war Christian Democrats.

In 1951, he founded the Luigi Sturzo Institute and in his Sicilian town, Caltagirone, he organized the Catholics in wide-ranging cultural and political projects: rural and banking cooperatives, schools, newspapers. He wanted his fellow citizens to understand that the city was not private property of the notables, but to be a common good, an actor of development, the pillar of civil life. From his initiatives he emerged as a national leader. Even today, after 100 years from the Appello ai Liberi e Forti (A call to the Free and Strong – January 18, 1919) his teaching is carried out in many local areas throughout Italy.

Sturzo’s inspiration for his social and political commitment was the encyclical Rerum Novarum, which dated back to 1891. The Rerum Novarum explains with great clarity that first of all comes the person, the freedom of the person, the dignity of the person, and that to preserve this there are intermediate societies, which do not derive from the State, because they are the primordial cells of society: the family, the Municipality, and from there society gradually rises with the principle of subsidiarity towards the “state organism”. For him, the City was not just an administrative organ; but a political cell, a community to which the municipal services are at the service; this community, the Municipality, does not derive from the state, but has its original strength, its autonomy, its sphere of freedom and energy that must be liberated.

In Caltagirone he was “pro Sindaco” (because as a priest he could not be a mayor), that in fact means pro-Mayor from 1905 to 1920, and offered his extraordinary commitment to the service of his city. Sturzo felt the need to build a network of contacts and thought, because he was also a great realist and knew that by staying alone you are defeated, you do not go anywhere. Therefore he built a network of “complicity” with other young priests of his age, and not only with them, going further out of the Catholic circles he had contacts with the socialists.

Looking at don Sturzo we can understand what pope Paul VI, stated: Politics are, or should be, the greatest form of Christian love, and of course, we can add, the greatest form of authentic advocacy.

John Paul Pezzi, mccj
VIVAT International NGO,
with consultative special status at UN

Peru. The Courage To Change.

Friday, 1 March 2019 8:00

The Church must accompany the indigenous peoples defending their culture. The importance of a change in the structure of the Church to respond to the real needs of the natives. We talk about it with Father Miguel Ángel, an Augustinian who has been living in Iquitos for 24 years and over the last twenty has shared his experience with the indigenous Kukama people in the Marañón river valley.

Can we speak about integral ecology when we speak about Amazon?

The theme of integral ecology is the result of the encyclical on the environment Laudato Si which is the contribution of the Catholic Church to the conference that took place in Paris (COP21). The encyclical is an important document, which is related to the Western way of looking at the world that separates nature from culture. This dichotomy has led to the ecological crisis that we are suffering.

The separation between nature and culture does not exist in the culture of the indigenous peoples. For example, when a child belonging to an indigenous community gets sick, a shaman puts the arcana (spirit) of the monkey inside the child so that he does not get sick again. Natives believe that there can also be the spirit of a monkey inside the body of a person, and this spirit protects them. This shows that indigenous people do not make any distinction between nature and culture, while we the Westerners do. So what is applicable to the Westerners may not be applicable in the same way to natives. Therefore, integral ecology being a very important issue, we believe that the Synod should tackle it, taking into consideration also indigenous peoples’ culture.

When they speak about changes in culture, natives seem to prefer to use the term ‘transformation’ instead of the term ‘loss’. What’s your opinion about this?

Westerners usually talk about loss of culture, while indigenous people generally use the term ‘transformation’. For example, Castillan is widely used by the Kukama people by now, however the frequent use of Castillan is not considered by these natives as a loss of their indigenous language but rather as a transformation of communication, as an acquisition to be able to speak and to live in a region where Castillan has become the main language.

The Amazonian Castilian is not the Castilian spoken in other regions of the world where Spanish is spoken. Amazonian Castillan is permeated by the linguistic structures of the indigenous languages, in this case of the Tupi Guaraní language of the Kukama, who try to incorporate elements that arrive from outside into their culture in a way that allows them to save their identity as indigenous people.

What is multi-ontology?

Let’s say that the current Amazonian anthropology has made a substantial change, what they call the ‘ontological turn’, this has happened not only in the Amazon region but also in other areas of the world. The ontological turn has to do with reality, the way we approach it. Philippe Descola distinguishes four models of ontology, he talks about animism, analogism, totemism and naturalism. Animism is the most common model in the Amazon, while in the West it’s naturalism. Animism is the religious belief that objects, places and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence, while naturalism is a philosophical position adopted by the naturalists, whose approach to philosophy is purely from the scientific point of view.

Naturalists believe that nature alone represents the entire reality. For naturalists, nature is everything and nothing exists superior to nature. So they separate nature from God and allow no space for supernaturalism and spiritualism. What happens here in the vast Amazon region is that even people, mainly those living in the cities, who consider themselves as naturalists and are therefore close to the Western vision, occasionally seek help from the animistic model. For example, not long ago, a couple, the husband is a sociologist and his wife a biologist, came to our parish to ask us to bless their house because they said that their six-year-old daughter saw spirits. They looked for a priest (a shaman in the animistic model) to bless their house in order to ward off evil spirits.

What can the Church do with reference to this issue?

First of all the Church should protect indigenous peoples’ culture. Then priests should use Christian tools to meet natives’ needs. For instance, if indigenous people ask a priest to bless their house with holy water in order to ward off evil spirits, I think priests should use holy water to chase away natives’ fears. I think it is important that the Church protect and respect the indigenous culture, in this way the Church can play an active and helpful role in the life of indigenous communities.

The Christian animators are the Amazonian face of the Church. How could the Church accompany them, and improve its relationship with these precious collaborators?

I believe that we must change the structure of the Church. Catholic priests are in charge of huge parishes and have to serve many indigenous people, they cannot do it all by themselves. The help that people like Ribelino and Pepe who taught me so many things, about the Kukama people was a blessing for me. The collaboration with the Christian animators is very important: it can help us, the priests who arrive in the Amazon region, to better serve the natives; at the same time the knowledge and experience of Christian animators can be formative for the Church.

How do indigenous peoples see the Church in your opinion?

This is a complex question, because there is not a general point of view, each person can have a different opinion. There are people who are closer to the Church and who generally agree with what the Church does and says, some others do not agree and still some others are indifferent.

I think that the Church in the Amazon region should not have complexes and should offer what it can offer, and accompany the indigenous peoples in their everyday life. The Church also should listen to criticisms in order to reconsider things, because sometimes some things should change in order to better serve natives.

What do you expect from this Synod?

I expect many things. One of these is more connection within the Church. The Amazon region is immense, and there is little communication between the different parishes. I hope integration and communication will improve. I hope that a different ecclesial structure can be implemented in order to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus among indigenous communities by understanding and respecting their typical cultures. I also hope that Catholic Christianity can become something in which natives can recognise themselves, and I hope that the Church can have indigenous leaders in the coming decades.

Jonathan Hurtado

Madagascar. The DJ Sets The Tone.

Friday, 1 March 2019 8:00

The new President’s first decisions tilt towards authoritarianism, which is matter of concern owing to the poor governance of his earlier period in government.

On the last 20 January, 44 year old former DJ, Andry Rajoelina, was sworn into office before the High Constitutional Court, after he won 55.66% of the vote at the second round of the Presidential election, on the 19 December 2018 against 69 year old former President, Marc Ravalomana. Yet, the voter turnout was only 48.09%.

For the first time since independence from France in 1960, the inauguration took place in the presence of former heads of state Didier Ratsiraka and Hery Rajaonarimampianina. In itself, this was an achievement because until the Constitutional Court’s decision to validate Rajoelina’s victory on the 8 January 2019 by dismissing his accusations of fraud, Ravalomanana was refusing to concede defeat to his rival. Yet, the loser didn’t get diplomatic support since foreign observers including those from the African and European Unions, did not find major irregularities during the ballot. Eventually, Ravalomanana congratulated the winner on the 9 January, saying that “the time for reconciliation, love and solidarity has come”. Ravalomanana’s statement came as a relief since in recent days, violent clashes between hundreds of his supporters and the police occurred during protest demonstrations in the capital Antananarivo.The recent history of the country has been indeed shaped by the rivalry between both men despite the fact they share many things in common. Both belong to the central highlands Merina ethnic group and both are ambitious self-made men. Former President Marc Ravalomanana, who ruled the country from 2002 to 2009 boasted from the fourth largest Malagasy fortunes in 2018 according to Forbes magazine which estimated the annual revenues of its dairy products and agro-food Tiko corporation at U.S. $ 150 million. In the past he had been accused to use its political influence against business competitors. One of his targets was Rajoelina who was running an advertisement company, whom he prevented to display posters and to set up a shopping mall in Antananarivo.

Marc Ravalimanana, former President of Madagascar.

Such rivalry largely contributed to the campaign led against him by Rajoelina who was elected mayor of Antananarivo in 2009 at the age of 33 to force Ravalomanana to resign on that same year, after a wave of protests and a general strike. Ravalomanana had no choice but to hand over the power to the military which in turn offered it to Rajoelina who became head of a transitional authority which ruled the country until 2014. Such military support was not entirely surprising: Rajoelina was the son of an army colonel and was therefore considered by the army establishment as a strong ally who could serve their interests. In his recent book on the Malagasy Army, “La société militaire à Madagascar , Karthala publishers, Paris, 2018”, French political scientist Olivier Vallée, reminds that when Rajoelina burst into the Presidential Palace and took power, he was escorted by armed soldiers. And the first government he did set up in March 2009, included 13 officers.
The new President, a former DJ, who was crowned best manager of the year by the Banque nationale d’investissement (BNI) in 2003, was also at the helm of a business empire including the Viva TV channel. His publicity skills probably contributed to his victory at the 2018 election, at the end of a campaign marked by distributions of T-shirts and fireworks. Yet, Rajoelina’s victory which looked as the third round of a boxing fight between both tycoons, is a paradox. Indeed, hi spresidential record between 2009 and 2014 has been largely disastrous. The GDP growth rate collapsed, while the proportion of citizens below the poverty rate reached 92% in 2013. The country which ranked 85^th in Transparency International’s corruption perception index in 2008, dropped to the 133th rank in 2014, at the end of Rajoelina’s first presidency and further down to the 150^th rank in 2018.

Madagascar is one of the last countries in the world, which is still hit by plague outbreaks, while the scourge has been eradicated almost everywhere else since at least 50 years. It boasts from fertile soils and the country is also endowed with substantial mineral resources including nickel, cobalt, gold and precious stones. But the problem according to Vallée is the bad governance by a small elite of 10,000 people, associating the military and politicians in a number of criminal activities. Accordingly, some military chiefs and local politicians are intrinsically involved in the rosewood traffic in the North-East of the country. And with the pretext of fighting the “Dahalo” zebus rustlers of Southern Madagascar, the armed forces have carried out military operations with heavy weapons and helicopters which caused hundreds of victims in the Amboasary region, reminds the French analyst.
Despite this poor record, in the end, a large share of the public opinion accepted the results of the last election. “We want peace and order” explains the lady manager of a printshop, reflecting the widespread opinion, including among many Ravalomanana supporters that the Malagasy are tired of insecurity and of the riot and repression cycle. But the price for this acceptance of the situation could be high.

On one hand, Rajoelina’s government goals include better governance, social welfare, security, zero tolerance for corruption and an increase of the access to electricity. His program also includes a more intensive exploitation of the country’s minerals and the transformation of the Toamasina, and Mahajanga coastal provinces into a Malagasy version of the French Riviera.
On the other hand, critics stress that Rajoelina is heavily dependent from a controversial businessman who financed his campaign and faces investigations for corruption, embezzlement of public funds, laundering and tax evasion by the French justice. This businessman, Mamy Ravatomanga, who is described by Forbes magazine as one of Madagascar’s largest fortunes, owns interests in the press, hotel, tourism, health and import-export sectors. He is suspected of having purchased real estate properties in France with funds which were embezzled from the Malagasy electricity company Jirama in which board he has been sitting until 2014.

According to the French justice, Ravatomanga is also suspected of involvement in the smuggling of environmentally sensitive rosewood to China through a complex network of offshore companies.
Rajoelina’s governance promises also to be quite authoritarian. On the last 5 February, the Malagasy parliament authorised him to rule by Presidential Decrees until the election of a new National Assembly on the next 27 May. Besides, Rajoelina is planning to abolish the Senate, under the pretext that it represents an excessive burden for the national budget and that this money would be better used to finance universities. But the opposition does not see things that way. It considers that the suppression of the Senate would break the balance of powers.

François Misser

Strengthening Youth In The Amazon Region.

Friday, 1 March 2019 8:00

The rural youth of the Amazon region would like to remain in their communities but they are aware that they must migrate to the cities.

Their aspirations, including education, employment and health-care, cannot be met where they currently live. Added to these are the expectations of their families and communities. Yet even in the obligatory migration to the big cities, they still hope to return to their communities and contribute to their development.

The youth themselves foresee that this will take time. It is in this context that a collective of partners is implementing a bold project: Caring for our Common Home which aims to raise ecological awareness and provide intercultural, bilingual education in the educational
centres of Fe y Alegría.

The partners include the Jesuit Service for the Pan-Amazon (SJPAM), Fe y Alegría of Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil, and the Xavier Network. Together, the collective aims to strengthen the local, land-based identity of the students, teachers and communities by way of a pan-Amazon perspective. There are 26 Fe y Alegría educational centres involved, directly benefiting 11,664 students and 697 teachers, as they adapt the educational goals of the schools to the particular challenges of each centre.

In preparation for this initiative, a mapping exercise of the schools was undertaken to identify the characteristics, concerns and alternatives for action of the educational centres located in the Amazon biome. The map was drawn along lines pertinent to the project: intercultural and bilingual education, and the care and defence of nature. Currently, work is being done in gathering knowledge, elaborating a formation program, producing pedagogical materials, accompanying and training teachers, recording the uses of the indigenous and Spanish languages, sensitizing and enabling teachers and group leaders, and undertaking actions of communal significance.

To improve the quality of education of the students, teacher training is essential. Also fundamental for student learning is a close relationship between family and school. Furthermore, a close relationship between the school and the rest of the community encourages new perspectives on the development and enrichment of the culture of the youth.
The students, especially the indigenous students, show interest in both the care and defence of nature as well as in the history and customs of their ancestors. They feel proud to be indigenous.

Their hopeful dreams are pillars that fortify Vivir Bien, a concept understood as the harmonious co-existence between human beings and Mother Earth. These dreams also foster the growth of knowledge and skill for the construction of a just and equal society. Endowed with marvelous cultural and spiritual wealth, thanks to the diversity of peoples who have adapted to the conditions in which they live, the Amazon region opens a new horizon for youth, so long as the education system bases itself on the values and knowledge of their own culture.

Eufronio T. Vaca
Coordinator of the Pan-Amazon Jesuit Initiative

The New ‘Doctrine Of National Security’.

Friday, 1 March 2019 8:00

The cancellation of the effective reforms imposed during the decade in which the social-democrat government was in power, gave rise to serious public protests culminating in an armed revolt in 1960 that was led by a conspicuous group of military people who remained faithful to Arbenz. It was joined by workers, union groups, and students and also professionals besides the poor classes and Maya peasants scattered throughout the rural villages.

The revolt was put down in blood by the army but many of the leaders succeeded in escaping abroad where they nourished growing resentment against the government and increasing radicalisation that led to the formation of armed revolutionary groups, inspired by the Cuban experience. In 1968, the American ambassador was the victim of assassination and this was followed by another escalation of terror by both factions until, following the coming to power as president of the Republic, in July 1970, of General Carlos Manuel Arana Osorio, the repression was systematically inflicted on thousands of Indian peasants accused of supporting the guerrillas or of sympathising with them. This was but the prologue to an even more bloody wave of violence in the years that followed.

General Efraín Ríos Montt (centre) announcing his military coup.

In the late eighties, the violence intensified, culminating in the extermination of the Maya community by the army led by the dictator Efrain Rios Montt. On that occasion, the government used a new strategy supported by the new ‘doctrine of national security’ which, besides legitimising the indiscriminate violence by the state against anyone seeking social justice, did no longer engage in selective repression but the direct repression of the masses, implementing a truly systematic plan to eliminate entire Maya communities. This genocide took place before the indifferent eyes of the entire international community, genocide that no one, not even civil or Church movements, could stop; genocide that spared neither women, children nor the elderly. The aim of preventing the spread of communism and a possible Soviet-style government on the borders of the USA was, in fact, considered more important than respect for human rights. Consequently, to guarantee national security by means of the appropriate doctrine, anyone who took an opposing stand was subject to elimination.
All forms of opposition were seen as cultivation grounds of the ‘enemy within’ and even the work of many priests for the defence of the weakest was considered subversive.

Despite the large amount of aid given by Washington to the government army, both in terms of weapons and of finance, and the anti-insurrection units specially trained by the US ‘Green Berets’, many localities of the urban centres were controlled by groups of guerrillas. Guatemala had become a country broken in two by dividing lines that changed according to the outcome of clashes between government troops and the rebels. Efrain Rios Montt was replaced in August 1983 by Oscar Mejia Victores, former minister of defence. Faced with the strongly critical situation that had been created, the new President appointed by the men in uniform should have known that it was necessary to restore civil and political rights so that the country could return to a minimum of normality. It was only with a return to constitutional legality and, therefore, only with the support of parties and civil authorities that it would be possible to defuse the deep social tensions and stem the activities of the extreme left.
So it was that, after fifteen years under a military regime, in July 1984 proper elections were held which were won by the Christian Democrat party with a relative majority.
It took more than ten years for the army to stop the death squads from attacking the indigenous communities and the guerrillas, in turn, decided to cease hostilities and sign a peace agreement.

Father Stanley Francis Rother was murdered in July 1981.

In 1996, under pressure from the international community and the work of the UN, the parties to the conflict met in Oslo to agree upon a cessation of hostilities. At the same time, a Commission for Historical Clarification (CEH) was set up with the mandate to reconstruct the unfolding of events during those years and to promote reconciliation on the basis of historical truth. The enquiry ended in 1999 with an official report presented by the same Commission from which an even more terrifying account emerged. The Commission also showed that the killings, that included 626 episodes of the massacre of harmless civilians by government forces, were caused only marginally by military action against guerrillas, classifying the vast majority of the cases, such as that against the Maya population, as crimes against humanity.
The signatory of the peace agreement was President Alvaro Arzù Irigoien, elected in 1995 with a centre-right government with very little room for manoeuvre due to restrictions caused by the extreme right, expression of the military leaders who had been the leaders in those atrocities. However, in 1999, with the victory of the Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) which put Alfonso Portillo Cabrera in power, the situation again became complicated because the new president, abandoning all the promises made during the election campaign, immediately saw to it that the leaders of the army and the police were officials involved in the repression unleashed in the past against the guerrillas and the Indian communities. This action only served to reopen the wounds of the civil war at a time when the country was coming to terms with a devastating economic crisis. A large proportion of the population was living under the poverty level, making do with means of subsistence and various forms of traditional barter.

Besides, there were in the country those who were growing rich through the drugs trade and the trafficking of children legalised by the government through a series of agreements between poor, local families and families in the USA who paid cash to adopt children. The climate was rendered even more explosive by the bands of paramilitaries who had formerly fought against guerrilla forces and now claimed some financial recompense for their past services.
The insecurity that was again being generated and miserable living conditions forced many to cross the borders of the country and migrate towards Mexico and the United States where more than a million Guatemalans legally settled, even if thousands of them were, from time to time, repatriated by the US authorities.(F.R.)

Guatemala. A country, Under Threat.

Friday, 1 March 2019 8:00

The country has always been at the centre of tensions and troubles, provoking a sequence of dictatorships, foreign interventions, military coups and civil wars.

Part of this situation is due to Guatemala’s geographical position in the area of Central America which, together with Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, acts as a hinge between the Southern Cone and the United States. The area is of strategic importance, being at the centre of the great disputes relevant to the American continent since the XVI century and the start of its colonisation by the major European powers (especially Spain), attracted by the obvious presence of natural and mineral resources. The region bears the burden of the proximity and interests of the largest world power – the United States – and those of the various local oligarchies. This has helped to transform such countries into instruments of control and dominion by external actors.

Since the end of the eighteen hundreds and the early nineteen hundreds, the greatest and most decisive battles were fought for the conquest of strategic, economic and financial spaces. The United States, in particular, with its strong interventions in local political life, works to exclude the European powers due to the presence of conspicuous investments concentrated in the production and export of tropical agricultural products, especially bananas. The amount and importance of such capital was so great that it placed serious limits on national sovereignty. This gave rise to the expression ‘Banana Republic’.
This happened during the time of the UFCO (United Fruit Company), better known as ‘The Green Octopus’, which, due to its actions and its reckless business dealings, had created a powerful economic empire in the entire region of Central and Caribbean America.

It was a sort of ‘state within a state’, which had policing powers in its own territories and control of strategic sectors like existing rail networks in the host country, of the ports, the merchant navy, the most important banks, telephone systems and radio transmitters, as well as the public contracts sector. As regards the latter, special attention was given to the railroad sector and the construction of railway lines that often functioned as trailblazers to penetrate Central American and Caribbean territories and to obtain new plantations. Given, finally, that the balance sheets of that company or others like it, were greater than those of the countries where they operated, it is easy to understand the amount of pressure and conditioning that the governments of the area were forced to accept. The plan of action of such companies was the result of a strategy that was planned and created by the government of Washington – known to this day as ‘Dollar Diplomacy’ – intended to develop an intense policy of promotion and expansion of its financial influence in the Caribbean Basin and Central America by means of considerable government support to US businessmen.
However, ‘Dollar Diplomacy’ was never seen as an alternative to the use of the most brutal pressure or brute force itself. But economic and repressive strategies worked hand in hand and overlapped.

Such operations were disguised as the US civilising and charitable plan, aimed, at least officially, at restoring equilibrium to local finances. This vision grew out of all proportion during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson who, with blind and unlimited faith in the democratic and constitutional mechanisms of the US system, had such an ethical and paternalistic view of the Latin American governments that it led him to the use of force and sending in the marines to confront governments that were unconstitutional according to Washington parameters.
During the Cold War, too, those territories were the theatre of confrontation between the USA and USSR through political/military support to some political establishments, complex intelligence activities, destabilisation and/or the de-legitimisation of certain governments and, at times, direct military action. The USA, following the Monroe Doctrine (‘America for the Americans’) and the so-called ‘Roosevelt Corollary’, claimed the right/duty to intervene in internal questions in Central and South American countries for reasons of national security. The USSR, on the contrary, tried to establish its outposts on the doorstep of the USA and so reduce US influence: Cuba, Grenada, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Salvador have, in this respect, been examples of the so-called ‘periphery strategy’ of the two superpowers. (F.R.)

Southern Africa: Peoples Once Again Dispossessed of Their Lands.

Friday, 1 March 2019 8:00

The Namibian government recently repealed a 2015 law that required at least 20% of company management to be in the hands of Namibians in order to prevent foreign ownership of mining resources – such as diamonds and uranium -.

According to the Ministry of Mines, it is a matter of “encouraging foreign investors concerned by this restrictive law”! A similar explanation is given in Zimbabwe, where the new president Emmerson Mnangagwa annulled a law introduced by Robert Mugabe that stipulated that for any foreign investment, 51% of company ownership must be in the hands of Zimbabweans. This was particularly true for diamonds and platinum.

Namibia, a territory as big as one and a half times the size of France, has 2.2 million inhabitants, about 5% are white people of South African and German origin who control a large part of the economy. But, as everywhere in Africa, a new fact must be added: there are 2% Chinese, more numerous than the former colonial masters-German, and major exporters, among others, of uranium. It is not surprising that the new colonial masters-Chinese, as well as foreign multinationals, had some influence in changing the law protecting Namibians. Chinese and multinational corporations are suspicious of corruption.

The mining sector employs 17,000 people and accounts for 12% of GDP. But since 2016, Namibia has been in recession, which may also explain the change in the mining law. This law is part of a more general framework called the New Equitable Economic Empowerment Framework (NEEEF) which copies the South African Broad-Based Black Economy Empowerment (BBBEE) system which is based on a fixed but voluntary quota of 26% of black South African participation in companies, especially in mining.

The Namibian NEEEF could be questioned, because all this is reportedly scaring away investors….. It is not only the mining sector that is at stake, but also agriculture, especially Cattle farming, the meat which Namibia has an outlet in Europe, and even in Switzerland for game. Namibian President Hage Geingob recently said that the dispossession of white farmers must move quickly, but that there was no question of doing so without compensation, citing the collapse of the economy under Mugabe in Zimbabwe. It’s the same thing in South Africa. The current plan is to sell the farms to the government on a voluntary basis.

By the end of 2015, only 27% of farmers had sold their farms (the target is 43%). However, as in Zimbabwe, it was not the poor who acquired them, but the functionaries and faithful servants of the State. They often make it their second home with a white steward! The areas are immense and require many skills that the black majority does not yet have. Last October in Windhoek a conference was held that was supposed to talk about land reform, but curiously there were few participants.

Those who had been dispossessed at the beginning of the 20th century by the German settlers, the Nama and Herero, did not come to claim compensation from Germany (which has already paid millions of ma1-ks for the whole country).
They realized that they too had taken the lands of Namibia’s first inhabitants, the Sanou Bochiman, during the great migrations to the south of southern Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries.

There is also a perception that statements about land dispossession without compensation are propaganda before the elections in Namibia and South Africa. Thus, the dreams of blacks during the liberation wars in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa, formulated at the time in Marxist language and supported by Russia, East Germany and even China, were once again disappointed. The poorest blacks remain dispossessed of their lands by the vultures of a neoliberal capitalist system that leaves them out. Sad evolution. Africa is still in a bad position! It is not well defended by African executives themselves.

Christine von Garnier
Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN)
Switzerland

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