An unstable region. “Young people abandoned to themselves find a solution to their problems in Jihadism. Jihadism feeds on injustice, poverty and misery”.  The words of Father Arvedo Godina of the White Fathers who has spent over fifty years in The Sahel.

The Sahel is one of the most unstable regions in the continent of Africa. Armed Jihadist groups move through the territories of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso aggravating local tensions and undermining the foundation and cohesion of Sahelian societies. Illegal trafficking (drugs, arms, people) proliferate in an area where borders are porous and unguarded.  “Jihadism is nourished by injustice, poverty and misery. Thousands of unemployed young people look for hope in an extreme form of religiosity that leads them to take up arms against anyone who does not profess their faith”, says Father Arvedo Godina, an Italian member of the congregation of the White Fathers who has been in Mali for 53 years, outlining the set-up of the Islamic extremism that has inflamed the Sahelian countries for almost a decade.

The missionary continues: “Jihadism has emerged in recent years but the problem has its roots in history. Some of us priests and our bishop often ask ourselves where Mali is going, and what answers are being given to the people at large. We have before us a sad situation. Each year, in Mali, ten thousand boys and girls finish school. Of these, only one thousand succeed in finding a job immediately. The other nine thousand are left unemployed. They angrily enter one public competition after another, often knowing their chances are minimal. Many of them emigrate. Nobody can say their future looks bright”.
On 18 August last, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was overthrown in a coup organised by the armed forces. The military then formed a government together with exponents of civil society who wanted more efficacious economic policies and a zero-tolerance fight against corruption. “Politics cannot provide answers to the needs of the people – Father Arvedo continues – Corruption is widespread and is an obstacle to the social and economic growth of the nation”.
Besides all this, general criminality is becoming ever more powerful. Over the years, Mali has become a crossroads for international drug trafficking. Drugs (cocaine, tramadol, hashish) are sent from Latin America to the Atlantic coast of Mali and are then sent by the traffickers over desert roads, to Europe.

The United Nations estimates that the business amounts to around 26 million dollars per year and that it increases corruption, violence, despair, and drug addiction. “Up to a few years ago – the White Father emphasises – very few people connected to drugs were being arrested. Nowadays, they are as many as ten every day. Often they are small fry, young drug pushers who are caught with just a few grams of a substance. There is a widespread belief that the people at the top get away scot-free and that it is increasingly more difficult to catch them due to the immense riches they have accumulated”.
As well as arms and drug trafficking, there is also a huge business connected with immigration. For the local populations, the migration economy constitutes an important source of revenue and so for survival, in which many former Tuareg rebels are engaged. The North of Mali represents the main crossroads where the Sub-Saharan migratory streams meet as they flow towards Europe. The migration streams follow two main axes, that of Mali which leads to Gao, in Tuareg territory and then proceeding to Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, and that of Nigeria that crosses Mali and goes towards the region of Agadez and then to the central Mediterranean. Father Arvedo adds: “The traffickers have shown a remarkable degree of adaptation to the geopolitical situation of the Sahel region and North Africa, choosing whichever route suits the circumstances.

Training of Catechists
During all his mission years, Father Arvedo has always worked at the service of the diocese of Bamako, first as a curate in Kati parish and then as a professor and rector of the seminary of Koulikoro. Since 1992, he has worked at the formation centre called after Monsignor Pierre Leclerc, near the mission of Kati. Here he is providing a fundamental service to the local Church: the training of catechists who work in the parishes of Mali. The formation is complete, with spiritual, cultural and professional aspects (including lectures on agricultural techniques). “It is a demanding course – the missionary emphasises – lasting three years. Every year, future catechists stay at our centre for six months. Together with them, we live community life consisting of prayer, study, and work. The local Bambara language is the linguistic medium”.

Father Arvedo Godina with a group of catechists.

When they return to their communities, they become the right-hand man of the parish priests. It is they who visit the various villages scattered along the savannah. In turn, they engage in the professional, cultural and spiritual formation of the people. They celebrate the liturgy of the Word and take Holy Communion where necessary. “Besides being an undeniable help to the priests – Father Arvedo continues – these laypeople unquestionably become reference persons for the whole community as regards matters of work, justice, and peace. Being rooted in the local culture, they are attentive interpreters of the local values. In my opinion, they represent the future of the Catholic Church. I was really taken up by the debate within the Amazonia Synod on the role of the laity and the possibility of having married clergy. At the moment, the time is not ripe for this step but I believe that the Western Church will soon recognise an important role for married priests like those  already to be found in Oriental Churches (in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, etc.)”.

Acceptance and Tolerance
Father Arvedo also stresses the importance of relations with the Muslims who represent 95% of the population. “Among the Bambara – Father Arvedo explains – there is a saying: ‘The first hut to be built in a village is that of the kitchen and then that of the mosque’. This means that respect for people and dialogue with them comes first and then the differences in beliefs. The local culture is founded on this attitude of welcome and tolerance. I recently calculated that, in the community of Kati, as many as 49% of married couples are mixed with a Christian husband or wife and a Muslim spouse. This mixture gives rise to mutual acceptance. The real dialogue takes place in the families and therefore has deep roots”.

This mutual respect is, however, threatened by Islamic extremism. Father Arvedo, in his work as a chaplain in the prisons, came to know many militiamen: “Many young people with no hope threw themselves into the arms of the Jihadists. They are looking for something on which to vent their frustrations. They say they are fighting against the West and against Christians since they are the cause of their misery. I repeat: Jihadism can only be beaten by first defeating the widespread poverty. This applies especially in such a poverty-stricken region as the Sahel. In Mali, then, the eternal question of the Tuareg has to be faced. This population has always refused to submit to the central power of Bamako. They have led numerous revolts. At present, their rebellions are linked to those of the Jihadists.

The Great North has become their base and that of their allies among the Islamist militants. It is a land of conflict that even the intervention of French troops succeeded in bringing under the control of the state authorities”. While visiting the prisoners, Father Godina tries to approach and to help militiamen. “I talk to them and try to keep their spirits up. I get medicine for them when they need it. I explain Christianity to them and help them to understand it and to dialogue – he concludes – I have become a close friend to some of them. Some of them, however, refuse to dialogue and take a radical stance. They read and re-read the Koran and draw from it its most extreme teachings. This means that, when they leave prison, they will be ready to return to the field of battle”.

(M.L.)

A Sunday with Father Anthony Assebiah, Parish Priest of Beyin in Kengen, Southern Ghana. 

As soon as we reached the pier, we boarded an old rowing boat. Rowing powerfully and confidently, Stephen, the young catechist, brought us to the Island of Nzulezo in Lake Tandane. The voyage lasted almost an hour.  As we approached the island, we began to see the painted houses on stilts. These houses are made of branches of raffia palms. Nzulezo reminds us of a less elaborate version of Venice, in Italy.
Nzulezo takes its name from a local language, Nzema, which means ‘water surface’. There are more than 500 people living on Nzulezo where all the daily business, from preparing meals to taking the children to school, is carried out on the water.
According to legend, the first inhabitants of Nzulezo migrated from Mali in the XV century, after a war with the Mande of Western Africa, fought over their fertile land and its gold. The legend says that the Nzulezo ancestors were led by their god who appeared in the form of a snail in Lake Tandane. The spirit told them to build their houses on stilts above the water for safety.

Father Anthony Assebiah, Parish Priest of Beyin in Kengen, Southern Ghana. ( photo: Fritz Stark)

Having disembarked, we stopped a while to talk with Agyei, one of the inhabitants who noticed us and told us: “Each family on Nzulezo has its own street and the street takes its name from the head of the family. Every family member has a canoe: one for the father, one for the mother and one for the children. This is not surprising since it is the only means of transport here”.
Nzulezo is also noted for its rare species of turtles, monkeys and crocodiles. The village on the water is also known for its locally-produced gin called Akpeteshi, that attracts people from all over the world who want to taste gin made from raffia. In passing, the catechist greets Thema who is preparing ground nuts for the midday meal. Behind her we can see the smoke of the fire on which she will soon cook cassava puree. Since wooden platforms are not fireproof, women use traditional clay ovens to cook, such as those on the mainland.

Nzulezo village (CC BY 2.5 it/Chiappi Nicola)

In the distance we can see a boatload of tourists. “Tourism began here twenty years ago – Stephen informs us – ever since Nzulezo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO”.
Tourism has brought some benefits for the inhabitants of the island while televisions, radios and smartphones bear eloquent testimony to their increasing prosperity. As Sedinam said, “ Tourists have also brought us a lot of rubbish”, and it is difficult for the 500 inhabitants to put up any resistance. Floating under the platforms of the simple huts are the many plastic bottles and bags left by visitors.
“The once-perfect symbiosis of man and nature, the impressive flora and fauna of the surrounding humid regions and the fragile ecosystem are in danger”, Father Anthony objects.
Now we have arrived at the ancient church of Christ the King. Today is a special day for the community as thirty children will receive their First Holy Communion. The waiting people greet the priest and us as well with broad smiles and much curiosity. The little church is full and the children are excited and dressed in festive clothes. A choir of young people accompanies the liturgy. The two hours of the Mass seem to end all too soon. Then the priest greets each of the faithful and stays a while to speak with some of the leaders of the community.

But now it is time to go. Father Anthony asks Stephen to take the boat back to Beyin where other duties await him. On the return trip we pass close to a village where some people originally from Nzulezo have settled where they can make a better living from agriculture than fishing.  Father Anthony points out the house of a well-known healer Mame Nwiah, who is 81 years old. Father Anthony often works with her as they both believe in the power of prayer. “Mame Nwiah knows her limits and knows when she can help and when people need to go to hospital”, the priest tells us. The diseases that Father Anthony and Mame Nwiah are able to treat successfully are mostly spiritual. Father Anthony spends a lot of time praying with people. He blesses them and lays his hands on them. “As priests, one of our most important duties is to give people hope and pray for their good health”, Father Anthony says.  He continues: “I do not see myself as a miraculous healer but I truly believe in the power of prayer”. He is convinced that faith and prayer increase the body’s ability to help itself, and he also adds: “I do not trust only in the power of curative prayer. My deeper aim is to build a hospital next to the parish. With medical consultations and nurses on hand, one day we will be able to help many more people”. He also points out that the nearest hospital is 90 Km away in Sekondi-Takorad.

The Parish of Mary in Kengen has 22 chapels, each one led by a catechist. Father Anthony strongly emphasises the importance of the catechist as a leader of the community life of the people. Together with Father Anthony, there is also Father John Kofi Allu, 32. As we introduce ourselves, the phone rings. Father Kofi tells us how the phone is always ringing as there is always a catechist or someone in need of help, especially in this time of the Coronavirus. “Everyone is afraid of everyone else – says Father Anthony. The Corona  pandemic has changed the life of our communities. People don’t go outside. All parish activities have been suspended. While observing proper procedures, we decided to visit our communities and pray in their homes. We visit our parishioners and pray for them and for their sick. As priests, we are often their only contact with the outside world. Many people believe God protects the priest from infection”. At the end of February, Ghana counted 75,850 cases of infection and 540 deaths.
As we were about to say our goodbyes, the phone rang again. A catechist wants a priest to go to one of the chapels to anoint a sick person. It is a journey of two hours but Father Anthony does not delay, even for a moment, and is soon on another errand of mercy.

Franz Jussen/Kontinente