Taizé has been welcoming refugees from Sudan for the past two years, and the Prior of the community, brother Alois, has just spent a week in Juba and Rumbek, South Sudan, and a week in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, to better understand the situation of these two countries, to meet people active on the ground and to pray among people who are some of the most afflicted of our time.
He and another brother of the community visited the various churches, observed their work of teaching, of solidarity, of caring for the sick and the excluded, and they had many contacts with the deeply deprived population. Among other things, they visited a camp for displaced persons operating under the protection of the UN, including many children lost and never recovered by their parents in the course of violent events in the country.
Brother Alois in Juba, South Sudan, in a camp for displaced persons
Through this visit, Brother Alois also wished to express gratitude to so many people who are engaged on the ground: humanitarian workers, Church personnel and diplomats, serving local communities and the development of education, agriculture, infrastructure, and services, or the promotion of culture. Upon his return he said: “I was particularly impressed by the situation of women and children. Mothers, often very young, bear a large part of the suffering caused by the violence. Many have fled in an emergency. They remain resolved to serve life. Children from an early age must undertake an important part of everyday chores but they aspire to attend school. The courage and the hope of mothers and children is an exceptional testimony.”
The prior of Taizé will draw from this visit to Africa some concrete proposals that he will publish at the 40th European youth meeting hosted by Taizé in Basel from 28 December to 1 January next.
