AFRICA/CAMEROON - “We are caring for our street children through the center founded by a missionary who was killed by one of those young people whom he had both helped and loved," Bishop of Maroua-Mokolo tells Fides

Maroua (Agenzia Fides) – "The Catholic Church is directly involved with the situation of the street children," Fides was told by Bishop Philippe Stevens, Bishop of Maroua-Mokolo, in northern Cameroon, near the border with Chad.
The Cameroonian city recently held a seminar on how Maroua has become a center for a vast network of human trafficking, especially using children. In the streets of the city, you easily run into these children: some are on the street corners, others are waiting to be recruited to work in homes or in camps. Others are about to cross the border to provide cheap labor in neighboring countries, from Gabon to Equatorial Guinea.
It is a situation that has not left the local Church indifferent, says Bishop Stevens: "Like the street children around the world, the street children of Maroua are also exposed to different hazards. Several years ago, we created a center in Maroua named “Belle Etoile,” which takes in children seeking a refuge from the streets, for a longer or shorter period of time, respecting their full freedom. Our first concern is primarily that they find their families and to every possible extent, we prepare the children to return to live with their family."
"One of my brothers in the order, Brother Yves Lescanne, of the “Petits Frères de l'Evangile de Charles de Foucauld,” set up this center in 1996 after having founded and supported for a long time the center in Yaounde, the “Foyer de l'Espérance.” He was assassinated in 2002 in Maroua, by one of those young people who had both helped and loved. We continue his work with his same spirit," concluded the Bishop. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 2/3/2010)