Father Luigi Savoldelli sm, sent this news, at the end of last year, from District's Laudato Si Project in Cameroon:
Dear friends of the poor, I hope you are all well. Here in Cameroon the rainy season is ending, thank God this year has been more lenient than in previous years and has not done much damage. The work, in accordance with Pope Francis' Encyclical Laudato Si, continues well, young people and families participate with commitment and enthusiasm; now we are working to build a third chicken coop of 9 x 20 meters and for the canalization of the water in order to be able to bring it to all points of the project (houses, farms, plantations ...). The work we are doing now is illustrated very well by an article published this month in the magazine of the Cuore Amico association of Brescia, which I attached together with the photos of the project. I hope to each of you that this New Year can truly be a period of prayer and grace, a period to strengthen our relationship with God. I thank you for your closeness, which I always feel with such affection. I assure you of my daily prayers. A fraternal embrace father Luigi Savoldelli
Thus, between 2017 and 2018 an organic garden was also created in the Nkoloman II field on an area of about half a hectare previously marshy. 'The reclamation - says Father Luigi - was carried out with local labor and rudimentary tools such as wheelbarrows and buckets, pulling the weeds by hand. After this effort - he says proudly - we now have a beautiful garden with vegetables of all kinds: basil, salads, radishes, beans as well as legumes typical of this land such as zum, fulom, watalit, macabo, and a corn field'. 'The products we grow - he continues - are intended for the sustenance of local communities and families who work with us; the surplus is sold to the market by the families themselves and the proceeds remain with them'.
But in an equatorial climate, also characterized by periods of drought, it would not have been possible to keep crops alive without a constant availability of water. And even more important was to ensure drinking water for families in the heart of the forest, an area that lacked it. Hence the idea of digging a well, also built 'thanks to the generosity of many Italian benefactors', says the missionary who adds: 'Next to the well, 13 meters deep, we have built a tower of 11 meters and a tank of 5 thousand liters to enhance and complete the drinking water supply system '.
Also, chickens, fish, pigs and rabbits. In the last period, two chicken coops have been added to agricultural crops - one to have fresh eggs every day for family feeding and for sale at the market, the second to raise broilers - and three ponds have been dug for the fish farming. For some months, the missionary continues, 'we have started pig farming and at the moment we have 25; for this it is essential to build an adequate pigsty '. Finally, rabbit breeding has also started a few weeks ago. 'Thanks to the involvement and financial support of many Italian friends, we were able to build a rabbit hutch'. And finally, there is 'a room for the formation of young people'. In short, a road that started uphill, but faced with passion, courage and determination, and which is bearing many fruits.
It is possible to support Father Savoldelli's project through the ' Cuore Amico - Fraternità Onlus ' association by making donations by bank transfer to: 'Cuore Amico - Fraternità Onlus' association. The donations made are deductible and / or deductible from the tax return.
Click on the source link to help support this project.