Heroin trafficking in Africa is growing in intensity due to the development of the ‘southern route’ that crosses the continent. This alternative route has become more popular because it is open almost all year round due to the lack of controls on the sea. In recent years, the heroin trade in Africa has peaked due…
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The Bororo culture is one of movement. There are different sorts of movement. First of all there is the perol, ‘the great movement’, mostly for political or environmental reasons. It is a real migration and happens only in exceptional cases. For example, the great perol that brought part of the Wodaabe into the territory of…
Read moreSome African countries are on their way to becoming the main avocado exporters of the future due to the particularly favourable environmental conditions of the continent. The crop may take the place of coffee and create more jobs. The avocado is certainly one of the food products more in demand in the West in recent…
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Like Moses, Cardinal Monsengwo, who died in France 11 July last aged 81, fought for most of his life to lead his flock to the promised land of democracy but did not see it himself. Most of those who knew him consider Mgr. Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya who just passed away in a hospital near Paris,…
Read moreShort of water and housing, with spreading criminality and a pandemic that seems difficult to bring to a halt, Nairobi is in search of a ray of light. With its lively underground scene fed by a young, dynamic society and a futuristic smart city plan, the Kenyan capital is trying to quench its thirst for…
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The Gerewol is the festival of bodily beauty. The young Bororo, after spending ascetic months in the savannah, paint their faces with the most extravagant designs to accentuate their extended lines. On a pre-selected plain, the various groups set up camp with small huts made of branches and mats. The enclosure for the livestock is…
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The cult of physical beauty is most important. The rules of aesthetics are followed by the entire group. Gently but firmly, the mothers try to shape the physiognomy of the new-born child in the hope of affecting the collective appearance of the group. From birth, the head of the child is delicately squeezed between the…
Read moreGiraffe, in the Sindebele and Zulu languages, is Ndlulamiti, meaning literally ‘higher than the trees’, is one of the most iconic animals of the African continent. The tallest animal in the world, it can reach a height of six metres. The characteristics of this mild herbivore have enabled it to survive by blending in with…
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The Bororo belong to the large ethnic family of the Peul, better known as the Fulani, Fulbe, Poular, Fula, and Fellata. The origins of the Peul are still a mystery though there is no shortage of theories, some rather imaginative, in this regard. One theory, for example, says they came from Mesopotamia, having crossed the…
Read moreAfter ten years of the declaration of independence, South Sudan continue to suffer the drama of civil war. Reconciliation between various ethnic groups has become an important task for the churches in South Sudan. The commitment of Comboni Missionaries among the Nuer ethnic group. The Comboni Missionaries were invited in 1998 by the Bishop of…
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Just over a century after he died as a martyr, Blessed Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), who brought the Gospel to Islamic lands and lived among the Tuareg people in the Algerian desert, will be proclaimed a saint later this year. Charles called himself a “missionary monk” and came to establish his hermitage in the desert…
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With a new Apostolic Letter Antiquum Ministerium (Ancient Ministry), Pope Francis establishes the lay ministry of catechist. In Africa catechists have been the cornerstone of the church. We present three stories of the catechists in South Sudan, where they have been important actors in the work of evangelisation. The beginning of the Catholic Church in…
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“We want to create a federation of international journalistic organisations that collaborate in this effort, starting from the global South,” says Filipino journalist and 2022…
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Once upon a time, there was a leopard. He had a huge walnut tree that was full of nuts. Stingy as he was, however, he forbade…
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Three young Comboni missionaries from three continents share their vocation stories and missionary experiences. Fr Victor Cunanan Parungao from the Philippines reflects on 15 years of…
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