AFRICA/NIGER - The Easter cross carried by a people suffering from famine, lack of medicine, violence and insecurity

Dosso (Agenzia Fides) - "We, the Christians of Dosso, form a small, very small, minority community in a predominantly Islamized society. We are happy but also fragile in the face of the diversity and multiplicity of colors in our fellow human beings", says Father Rafael Marco Casamayor, religious of the Society of African Missions (SMA) at the end of the Easter celebrations in their mission in Dosso.
"We Christians spent a good part of Lent together with the Muslim month of fasting, Ramadan", explains the missionary. "These are things that unite us, that help us go beyond our existence and get closer to God, even if the projection is very different."
"We celebrated the Stations of the Cross on Lent Friday at sunset, when people finished their work. We gathered in the great space of the mission and we followed the path of Jesus' passion. It is the cross carried by my people who suffer from famine, lack of medicines, violence and insecurity," continued Father Rafael.
"I also think of the blind children of Gaya (see Fides, 18/1/2022) whom we carry in our arms and in Dosso, whom we hold by the hand, and the street children in Niamey. It is they who light our way, because with them we take up the cross that becomes love".
At the end of the Way of the Cross, the faithful collected donations for the needy and the proceeds of the collection were used to buy food and hygiene items to be distributed to the patients of the "La Madre y el Niño" hospital in Dosso. (RC/AP) (Agenzia Fides, 28/4/2022)

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