In occasione del World Social Forum 2007 a Nairobi, anche la Famiglia Missionaria Comboniana si incontrerà, in uno scambio di esperienze di Pastorale Sociale che aiuti a delineare le sfide per il futuro.

Giovaniemissione 'spia' questa condivisione di vita, per farne tesoro e rilanciarla:
una sfida forte per i giovani che vogliono conoscere
la Missione più da vicino. 

I testi sono tratti dal forum dei comboniani-e sul sito www.comboni.org.
Alcuni di essi sono in inglese.

* fr. Alberto: Missione negli slums (eng)

* sr. Teresita: Justice and Peace work in Kenya (eng)

* Susan Coopersmith, laica missionaria in Kenya (eng)

* sr. AnnLucy, nel nord Sudan (eng)

* W Nairobi W! - cooperazione tra missionari e laici nella lobby ai governi (it)

* Giustizia per ridurre la povertà - sr. Rita dallo Zambia (it)

Insights about mission in the slums  

Slums, especially in Nairobi, are associated with poverty and neglect, a compelling sign of the impact of globalisation in Africa. Despite the fact that material poverty and insane living conditions are the most immediate striking feature of slum life, I have often heard confreres underscoring a more subtle and dreadful aspect of that poverty, namely what some of them used to call “anthropological poverty”.
This term I think refers to the loss of identity and of sense of direction experienced very often by slum dwellers. This is a phenomenon of cultural disintegration related, among other factors such as the forces of globalisation, to the state of uncertainty and violence.
Uncertainty is given by unsecured livelihoods (e.g. the issue of income generation, access to basic services and commodities, etc.) and the loss of clear reference points. In fact, cultural assumptions and value systems are being eroded in the urban way of life; moreover, people find themselves operating on the basis of totally different worldviews according to the situation, which generates a lot of internal conflicts. To make things worse, for people coming from the rural areas it is very difficult to live deep-rooted values in an alien environment. Different ways of relating and operating in the society come into collision, and the evidence of affluence and consumerism entices many people into the dream of the type of modernity promoted by globalisation.
Violence profoundly affects people’s perceptions and reactions. There is no sense of safety and people are traumatised, live in fear. This reality has far reaching implications both at personal and social/communitarian level, because identity, selfhood, and capacity to trust, to communicate and relate depend heavily on the sense of safety. The end result is social fragmentation, division, and conflicts around scarcity of resources, or ethnicity, or competing interests, and so forth. Everything ends up dividing people (cultures/sub-cultures, ethnicity, economic interests, politics, even religion!) and this is a thriving environment where lack of ethics encourages corruption at all levels.
Therefore, it is true - as CA’03 insist – that personal and social reconciliation are a priority today! In a missionary perspective, we wonder about the meaning of a personal and communitarian encounter with Christ in the slums!

The Regeneration of Africa through Africa
Insights accrued in the process of healing and reconciliation in the aftermath of the infamous Kariobangi massacre (March, 2002) point at a graceful possibility: the regeneration of Africa through Africa. This is not about a proposed approach, a technique or a new project that could be undertaken; rather it is about spirituality, about basic attitudes and choices in ministry.
When our apostolic community, in collaboration with various people, religious groups, organisations and so on, started accompanying the victims of the massacre, we did not know exactly what to do, or how to do it. By reflecting1 on our ministry and on the events, we have come to recognise a few aspects of the spirituality of reconciliation, which leads to the experience of “regeneration”.


1. Timing:
The basic dynamic of the process of reconciliation is an appeal to and dialogue within the conscience of the people concerned, and therefore it is important to discern the right timing. For example, in the aftermath of the massacre, consciences were so rocked that there was a sincere availability on the side of most of the religious groups to join together and give a united response in that volatile and tensed situation. Also, collaboration with the Government, with NGOs, and various other groups was facilitated by the fact that everyone, in that situation, felt like setting aside other agendas and interests. This entails that apart from paying attention to timing, we need also a certain degree of freedom. In fact, past experiences may prevent us from collaborating with and trusting each other. Here, instead, the assumption is that everyone has a conscience that once appealed can choose new ways of responding and new attitudes.

2. Accompanying the victims:
This is a core aspect of the ministry of reconciliation, both at personal and social levels, and experience has it that generally reconciliation starts from the victims. Two essential aspects of this ministry are:
- Listening and waiting2: an interfaith committee in Kariobangi conducted home visits, which later on developed into support group meetings and activities, and ended up in public testimonies. Learning to wait is very important in order to allow time for painful memories to surface and be narrated, for the deep wounds to heal, for reconciliation to well up in their souls. At the beginning the victim cannot articulate what the burden is and why it hurts so much. Listening is maybe the most important service needed at this stage because victims need to tell their story over and over again, so that slowly they can come to include the experience of suffering and violence in their existence without being overwhelmed.
- Prayer: we do believe in the healing power of prayer and in the case of the victims in Kariobangi we have found openness and desire to open up to God’s grace. Ritual community (and ecumenical) prayer has been very important in the healing process. In our experience in Kariobangi we realised that prayer meant raising to God the lament for what had happened and making space for the healing journey. Moreover, in that climate so polarised and tensed, under the threat of violence and acts of retaliation, the unity of the churches reassured the victims, made room for the sense of trust to be re-established and for an atmosphere of solidarity.
Prayer meant also a personal encounter with the Word; biblical narratives and icons played an important role in the reconstruction of the memory and sense of selfhood in the victims, also helping them contemplating God’s presence in their life.

3. Hospitality3:
A major challenge in the process of healing and reconciliation is the reconstruction of the sense of selfhood and trust. A hospitable environment is what we can contribute to create the conditions in which eventually healing and encounter with the risen Christ can take place. Attention to the person, service, and acknowledgement of what people carry along in the process and activities done together (basically themselves, their dignity as children of God) helped a lot in establishing an atmosphere of safety and in rebuilding the lost sense of trust. In this process people start retrieving their own humanity, formerly marred by the alienation they suffered.
However, what has probably been the best service we could give to the victims at that stage was the encounter with the indigenous, living peace traditions of their peoples. This, I believe, was the element that – together with the Word of God – catalysed the process of regeneration. Getting in touch with their roots, with the positive and precious foundations of their heritage, helped them to reconstruct their memory, their sense of identity and self-worth. As probably it never happened before, they happened to consciously feel at home… and feeling good! They got in touch with realities very deep in their heart, and in their own way they were integrating it with their Christian faith. They had become new creations (2Cor 5:17).
Some of these people happened to be utterly transformed. From victims they became survivors! African peace and reconciliation traditions have an enormous, still untapped potential both for healing and for social reconciliation. In fact, survivors were not only reconnected with their own true selves, but acquired also a sense of vocation, a sort of commitment to peace and social reconciliation.

4. Reconnection and commissioning:
This step comes as a grace from God, we cannot make it happen ourselves. It is the result of the regeneration of survivors and it is an invaluable asset to the process of social reconciliation. In Kariobangi, for example, it meant a reconnection with the sense of belonging to the local and national community, expressed in a commitment and contribution to the efforts towards reducing violence in the slums and to the process of review of the Constitution of Kenya. If you will, they came to the awareness of their call to the social mission.

A Journey of Personal Transformation
Accompanying the survivors, discovering with them the regenerating presence of the Risen Christ and the presence of the Spirit in their indigenous spirituality has transformed also my faith and missionary journey. Since the time of the novitiate I have always been fascinated by the realisation that for Comboni the face of Christ and the face of Africa were one. However, it is only now that I can say that besides “thinking” it… I can “see” it in very concrete terms! Likewise, my understanding of the spirit and the ministry of fraternity that characterises my vocation as a Comboni Missionary Brother is today much deeper because of what I have experienced through my ministry in Kariobangi. Mungu Yupo – God is there – is the unfailing faith of the poor, even within the most hopeless situations: they have evangelised me and enriched my faith journey with a communitarian perspective in encountering the Word of God.


Br Alberto Parise mccj

_____________________________________________
1 - In this reflection we are highly indebted to the
Community Peace Museum and Heritage Foundation
(CPMHF) and to the work of R. Schreiter, in particular the two volumes:

2 - Reconciliation. Mission and Ministry in a Changing Social Order, Boston Theological Institute Series 3, Maryknoll – New York: Orbis Books 1992

The Ministry of Reconciliation. Spirituality & Strategies
Maryknoll – New York: Orbis Books 1999
R. Schreiter (1992), 72-73 (1999), 87-88

3 - R. Schreiter, The Ministry of Reconciliation, 87-92

 “I Came So That They May Have Life, Life To The Full” (Jn 10:10)
Susan Coopersmith, CLM

I am a Comboni Lay Missionary from the North American Province, working as Project Co-ordinator in charge of training and production at Kariobangi Women Promotion Project (K.W.P.P.) located within Holy Trinity Catholic Parish, Kariobangi. The operations of the Project are mandated to the Comboni Missionary Sisters. Annually the Project assists approximately 100 needy young women (ages 13 – 30) by offering them vocational training in dressmaking, hand loom weaving, machine knitting, tie and dye, and embroidery, and also support courses in Business Education, Literacy, and Character and Spiritual Formation. Students also participate and assist in preparation of daily prayer. Our student population comes from Nairobi’s Eastlands slums, Kariobangi, Kayole, Kasarani, Huruma, Ngomongo, Korogocho, Baba Dogo, and Dandora. Among the challenges our beneficiaries face are poverty, physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, exploitation, drug and alcohol addiction, single motherhood, and many others. The inspiration of the Project, to further the church mission by serving young women who are seen by the community as social outcasts, comes from Ephesians 4:12-13 with the sole purpose of building up the Body of Christ to full maturity into the image of Christ Himself. The main aims of K.W.P.P. are to help trainees to discover their dignity as children created in the image of God, to teach them technical skills in order to contribute to their long-term economic independence, to enable them to achieve family, social and economic stability as well as personal integrity, to cultivate their holistic development, and to provide them with the self-assurance needed to overcome situations of crises in their lives.
The Project had its beginnings in the late 1980s, therefore, many approaches already were well established when I arrived on the scene in May 2005. For example, criteria for intake, course curriculum, class scheduling, school rules and regulations, and staff hierarchy, were customary. The sister-in-charge at the time, however, acknowledged she was bogged down with the administrative duties required to manage the Project itself and to satisfy donor requirements, e.g., reports, therefore, she asked for my assessment of the teaching methodologies and assistance in improvements of the same. My observations, through participation in classroom activities and interviews with the instructors, were that many of the instructional staff felt at a loss in areas such as class organization, planning, and classroom management. With the help of the instructors and the social worker I organized a five day seminar in June 2005 covering topics including lesson planning, scheme of work, student motivation, and handling difficult classroom situations. Since that time, instructors have been required to submit a scheme of work at the beginning of each term and lesson plans weekly. During the course of the seminar it emerged that the instructional staff had very little communications amongst themselves. Therefore, we now hold monthly instructors’ meetings where all are welcome to air out their frustrations and seek advice from others.
In addition to working with the instructional staff, I have opportunities to meet with the students on various occasions. At times it is simply check on the balances of their fees but even these instances can open the door to discussions on the diverse life problems the young women encounter. For example, I may discover a student’s inability to pay fees is due to her rejection by her parent/guardian because of her refusal to submit to sexual advances. Or perhaps a student has been misled by a relative promising a luxurious lifestyle in the big city only to find herself sleeping on a mud floor in a windowless mabati roofed room and responsible for the relative’s daily chores. Other times I interview the students one on one, particularly before and after they participate in a one month industrial attachment period. This period of attachment is an innovation I introduced after a discussion with our Industrial Placement and Business Advisor when I learned that many of our graduates, after having been placed in jobs, stopped reporting to work after only a short period of time. It seemed despite our efforts to instil a work ethic in the students within the framework of Character Formation and Business Education classes, something was missing. That something, I believe, was experience on the ground. It is one thing to report daily to the Project, where one knows she will be treated with respect and dignity, where her child will be taken care of by a capable employee, where she and her child will have morning chai and bread, and yet another to be one among many in a factory setting where perhaps the manager is impatient and/or intolerant of any infractions. In my person to person interviews with the students before they left for attachment, many expressed fear and an unwillingness to take the risk to go into the field. With encouragement, and an occasional visit from the social worker and their instructors, each attachee successfully completed her month’s commitment. I think their own comments on returning best express the success of this pilot project. “I used to be afraid to face the world but now I know I can do it.” “I used to feel I was nothing but now I know I am someone.” “I never thought I could have a job but now I know I will.” “I am now prepared to see what God has in store for me.”
The statements above are some of the signs of the Kingdom I can see in my apostolate. In my work, I do not specifically announce Jesus Christ as Saviour through my words. Of course there are times, when encouraging students and staff alike, that I will use the Gospel to make a point. But more often, my work of evangelization is carried out by showing love, concern, caring, and lending a listening ear. As a lay missionary, my apostolate is not restricted to the particular Project I serve. I am not a preacher or pastoral agent as such. Being lay person I have the responsibility to inculturate the Gospel into the concrete realities of life by bringing the values of the Kingdom – peace, justice, truth, forgiveness, and service – out into the community where I live. When I shop in the marketplace, when I stop to greet the drunkards and the glue sniffers others kick aside, when I pray with my jumuiya, when I grant forgiveness rather than seek revenge on the thief who has just stolen my shoes, it is my hope that others will see the Kingdom of God is near.
As for the methodologies I have tried to put in place at the Project, I am compelled by semi-annual reporting to reflect and evaluate. My discoveries are sometimes we succeed, other times we fall short of our expectations. We learn through our mistakes, many of them simply misconceptions of how a particular concept is going to work in an African context. The same is true for “methodologies” of living with the people of Kariobangi although my methods of evaluation differ, i.e., during my period of daily reflection I take time to review my actions and seek God’s forgiveness and guidance in those areas where I see I have fallen short or utterly failed.
As a “Women Promotion Project” I feel we are a bit behind in the context of global movements. Although in Africa, the promotion of women and their rights remains an essential component in advancement, in much of the world, specifically the North, “gender mainstreaming” is the current theme. Organizations are looking not only to the effects development undertakings have on one particular gender but on the society as a whole. Empowerment of a specific group can have unintended side effects, possibly negative, on other groups and this lesson we can draw from the notion of mainstreaming.
I refer to the impact our Project, by empowering women, may have on their familial relations, both negative and positive. For example, an empowered woman in the environs of Kariobangi may meet with some pressures from a problematic husband. On the positive side, many of these young women will now be able to afford school fees to educate both the boy and girl child.
My hopes as a participant of the World Social Forum are that I will meet with persons whose work is in line with my own, those who are working with young, needy women, those who are working in vocational training, those who are working with the marginalized and the excluded. I hope to gain knowledge of methods to speak out more
boldly for those in need and how to teach those with whom I live and work to speak for themselves and for their due human dignity as God’s unique and beloved African creations. This is where I see the charism of Comboni contributing to the richness of the experiences presented at the World Social Forum and in particular the African Social Forum. In the same way that Comboni was motivated by his passion for Africa, it is my wish that during the period of the World Social Forum Comboni’s motto “Save Africa with Africa” will encourage Africans to work to save themselves.

TAKING THE COURAGE TO BUILD AGAIN

The context of my experience is the Northern Sudan province among the Sudanese of Arab origin and the Southerners. The Sudanese of Arab origin are mainly Muslims while those of the southern origin are mainly Christians. War has rocked these neighborhoods since Sudan got its independence from the British fifty years ago. These are a people that have sought for peace all through their life. The last civil war ended almost two years ago. They have seen peace come and go. Now this peace is here again with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The papers signed have it very well put and defined. It seeks peaceful co-existence that does not promote violence. It seeks to make people feel at home in their country without feeling segregated.
Even though the CPA has it clearly stated about what this peace should look like, the opinion of the ordinary people and simple people seem to differ. It looks like for an ordinary Arab, peace has the meaning that there will be no violence as long as the Christian Southerner submits to the central rule and does not complain about how things are running. For the ordinary Southern and Christian instead, peace means lack of violence and oppression against them, equal treatment between the Arab and the Southerner, equal development in the South as in the North. It means the sharing of resources as they are produced in the country.
The reality we see even after the signing of the CPA is that the implementation does not seem to be as effective because there is still some militia formation that keeps violence going on. Assassination of some SPLA leaders has been evident. So far the demarcation of borders has not been carried out as the CPA foresaw it. Socially speaking, the Southerners still struggle to go back to their origins in the south and if this were to happen effectively it would promote a stronger unity among the southerners and consequently promote a quick and easier separation between the North and the South. Progress is taking a slow pace in the south, initially because there is lack of personnel to take up the new jobs. The newly introduced education syllabus in English started to take shape but not without struggles because many teachers can not teach in English. The learned people continue to move either to Khartoum or abroad hence this brain drain continues to affect the Southern development negatively. Due to low wages there are many ghost workers in many offices hence accountability is endangered.
On the other hand, people have grown in hope with the signing of the peace because it has opened up certain horizons. Many southern exiles have returned, while many states have formed their own constitutions. Above all this, there is an autonomous government in the south; Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS). The unity of the South is presently in the making, while borders to Kenya, Uganda and Congo have opened up. There is hope to introduce a new currency for January 2007. The foreigners who could not move freely without permission can now do so. The new syllabus in education, all in the English language, indicates a new flow in the mind of the nation quite different from the Arab-Islamized one.
The human beneficiaries of my apostolate are the young people (youth). Inserted in a secondary school, I see clearly that what lies ahead for these young people holds great hope and great challenge. It a hopeful time in the sense that if the youth grab the opportunities that have come as a result of the CPA, they will affect greatly their future and that of the society. As an educator, I see a lot of hope in the changing the flow in the mind of the young with the new syllabus which is more geared to education unlike the other one that is more Arab-Islamized. This will help get out of the Arab domination. The biggest challenge is that they have lived through times of discouragement and fear of self-expression hence their sense of self-confidence to face the up-coming opportunities will have to be invoked by every wise evangelizer and charismatic leadership which is not easily to be found.
Hence my experience seeks to address this challenge. I see the call to invoke this self-confidence in the young people so that they can see what hope there is and how much they can do if only they took up their rightful responsibility. The young people in general have seen a lot disillusionment and lack of commitment by the adults hence they do not have much reason to be as serious in the task they undertake. Consequences are seen late coming or even postponing the studies in school.

SOCIAL APOSTOLATE.
Thinking through my approach, I find myself teaching with an aim geared towards the future. I see myself confronted with the responsibility to help the youth think about the future of the New Sudan. I aim at raising the self-confidence of the young people seeking to empower them so that they can feel that they can make a difference. They feel suppressed under oppressive structures hence I feel that I have an aim to persuade them to work hard enough so that they may become the voice of change, the agents that will change the old mentality, to make a better future. Hence I feel the call to be a voice of encouragement, a cheerleader who calls them to go on without shying away from the challenges. I feel the call to invite them to pray so that they sense the nearness of our God in their efforts and hopes.
My main activity is that of an educator. In my teaching I am seeking ways to promote and uphold the self-esteem of the young people. I am therefore not just a teacher instilling knowledge but one who helps them discover their gifts and talents. The overall motive is to prepare leaders who will make a better Sudan from a religious and a civil perspective.

INSPIRATIONS AND CHALLENGES
There many signs of the Kingdom that I see in this neighborhood. Most evident of these is unity and communion among the people as well as a great sense of hospitality. It is very clear that no one is left alone when whenever there is a misfortune such as death or disease. Whenever such misfortune happens, people feel united with the one who has lost a loved one or the one who is sick. People gather in big numbers in that house so that they can express their solidarity. Here there is no question of saying that one will go after the job or after school. The latter two become secondary and the priority is the one suffering. For them death and disease are reality bigger than job or school.
The aspect of union with others and hospitality is very felt among the people. This starts right from family set up whereby; it is easy for family members to move from one house to another freely even if they are not close relatives. In this way it’s possible to find that a house if full of relatives close and distant, sharing all the resources together. The value of welcoming is also extended even to strangers. If someone gets stranded anywhere, they will not suffer want, those who live close by take care of them according to their needs.
I myself feel part of the people. In this context, I see a great possibility to arrive where people are and to start my apostolate from here. In the context where I am I feel that the most important job is that of preparing leaders who can lead their people. Here in the school, I see the need to sensitize the students of how important their role for the future will be. With the building of the New Sudan, the present youth stand as instrumental in making a big difference in the future. In the field of education, there is a new syllabus in English, and the current teachers do not seem to be very ready to handle it since they have no preparation. It is in English, which is still a foreign language to many of them, so they might not be able to learn it and use it as a media for teaching. This is where the present generation of the young people need to be called upon so as to rise up to meet this occasion. I feel that my role is going to be that of a cheer leader calling them to take themselves more seriously, so that they can help influence the mind of the young children and consequently eliminate the mentality of war and conflict.
At the present moment most of the pastoral agents and civil organizations are working towards the building of the New Sudan. This means that there are many people working towards the same goal and therefore I see the aspect of collaboration very possible. Those willing to work in the field of education are my closest collaborators. Not only in this neighborhood but in Sudan as a whole there is high possibility of a positive form of collaboration.
As far as globalization is concerned, there is such an inspiration that can be drawn from the people that I am working with. If globalization could be understood from their sense of communion and unity among the peoples then, this is the kind that would make sense. So is economy, whereby people here share their resources with others even though it is so little. If the economy of the world were to be shared according to the needs of the people no one will be lacking in anything. If the world at large would listen to voice of the suffering and needy everyone will be taken care of with no differences such as; First World, Second World, or even Third World.
As a conclusion, I think that my involvement in the WSF will help me be in solidarity with people seeking common good for the peoples. I look forward to being enriched by other people who might have found some solutions to what they struggle with. I see the charism of Comboni coming alive again with all these people coming to seek collaboration in order to be the voice of the voiceless. I see from here an effort to connect the worlds that seem to be far apart in mentality and struggles. I see an effort to bring the two hemispheres to listen to one another.

Sr. AnnLucy Njoroge Cms
North Sudan Province

WNairobiW!
Comboniani e laici per un’esperienza interprovinciale di lobbying sui governi

di P. Dario Bossi -  e-mail: padredario@gmail.com

1. IL CONTESTO

In Italia, dal 2000, la chiesa e la società civile lottano contro il Debito Estero. Pochi, finora, i risultati conseguiti. Anche i movimenti sociali e gli stessi missionari su questi temi si sono abbastanza raffreddati.
In Africa il debito estero ha raggiunto ormai i 379 $ a persona. Inoltre l’Africa vanta il tasso di urbanizzazione più alto al mondo (4,58% annuo); il 72% dei cittadini africani vive in baraccopoli.
Per questo, dal 2004, la campagna “WNairobiW!” (WNW) si propone di collegare la conversione del debito del Kenya con il diritto alla casa e lo sviluppo di nuove politiche abitative pubbliche.
La campagna è nata in seguito ad una violenta minaccia di sfratto per 300.000 baraccati di vari slum di Nairobi. E’ stata lanciata dal Kutoka Parish Network (rete di parrocchie di Nairobi tra cui st. John a Korogocho) ed è stata raccolta in Italia dalla Commissione Giustizia e Pace dei comboniani, insieme ad alcuni gruppi laici (principalmente International Alliance of Inhabitants e Tam Tam per Korogocho) e con l’appoggio di una missionaria comboniana.
Mesi di lotta hanno garantito la sospensione (purtroppo non la revoca) degli sfratti.
Da più di due anni, ora, continua un coordinamento significativo tra le due province comboniane, con un interessante coinvolgimento dei laici.


2. APOSTOLATO SOCIALE

Approccio di fondo:
allargare costantemente la ‘base sociale’ che conosce e appoggia la campagna (a livello istituzionale e non, sia in Italia che in Kenya); l’obiettivo è quello di fare pressione da più parti sui governi e vigilare, dopo ogni conquista formalmente ottenuta, sull’effettiva esecuzione degli impegni assunti.
Perché questo funzioni, dobbiamo mantenere un dialogo costante tra i membri del coordinamento nelle due province: far interagire in modo coordinato le azioni e le scelte in Italia e in Kenya.
Nella campagna partecipano attivamente giovani laici formatisi tramite i nostri percorsi di promozione vocazionale. Una di loro farà parte della stessa Commissione Giustizia e Pace dei comboniani in Italia. Abbiamo molto bisogno di queste collaborazioni con laici competenti, ciascuno nel suo settore, per non improvvisare la nostra azione. Il missionario raccoglie le persone, coordina l’azione, la collega a tutte le realtà con cui è in contatto e la verifica secondo le dinamiche del Regno di Dio. Ma il lavoro competente e le intuizioni che ne derivano devono venire dai laici!


Attività realizzate
(focus principale su quelle in Italia; in Kenya molte altre attività a livello politico e di coscientizzazione):

• pressione immediata dopo la minaccia di sfratto: tramite meccanismi organizzati e diffusi dal coordinamento della campagna, in poco tempo più di 10.000 e-mail da varie parti del mondo giungono al governo del Kenya, al sindaco di Nairobi, alla Commissione Europea, alla Banca Europea degli Investimenti, a UN-Habitat per denunciare gli sgomberi forzosi privi di alternative per gli abitanti.
Grazie a questa iniziativa, che si somma alla mobilitazione locale, le demolizioni e gli sfratti forzati si interrompono. E’ una prima vittoria: la pressione internazionale è fortemente considerata da parte del Kenya.
• pressione politica successiva con i governi in Italia e Kenya per la conversione del debito estero in politiche pubbliche per l’accesso alla casa (si dialoga con il ministero degli esteri e delle finanze in Italia, con quello delle finanze e della terra-ambiente in Kenya, oltre che con l’ambasciatore e, ultimamente, con il ministro dell’ambiente italiano).
• coinvolgimento della popolazione e degli enti locali: sono state realizzate 150.000 cartoline da spedire al Ministro del Tesoro italiano. Viene coinvolta l’Unione delle Province Italiane, la Rete dei Comuni Solidali, vari enti ed istituzioni (Regione Emilia Romagna, Provincia di Venezia, Comune di Roma, Napoli, Padova, Frosinone, Empoli, ecc).
• coinvolgimento della chiesa italiana: il rapporto con la chiesa italiana è stato su due livelli:
- lobbying sulla Conferenza Episcopale perchè prenda posizione in appoggio a WNW: le cartoline sono state spedite anche al presidente della CEI, in continuità con l’impegno del Giubileo;
- collaborazione: abbiamo coinvolto la Fondazione Giustizia e Solidarietà – emanazione della CEI nel 2000 per l’amministrazione dei fondi raccolti nella campagna contro il debito.
Naturalmente, nel territorio molte adesioni a WNW vengono proprio dagli ambienti parrocchiali e dei gruppi missionari, con cui la collaborazione è buona.
La campagna WNW, assunta dalla provincia comboniani tramite la sua equipe GPIC, è stata fatta conoscere anche alla Conferenza degli Istituti Missionari Italiani; in particolare, collabora in modo attivo con i Missionari della Consolata, presenti tanto a Nairobi come in Italia.
• animazione nel territorio: stanno circolando in Italia da due anni una mostra fotografica, libri e DVD sulla campagna. Sono stati pubblicati numerosi articoli su vari quotidiani e settimanali importanti, su oltre 10.000 pagine web, tra cui i principali siti del movimento altermondialista, del volontariato e delle Chiese, sono state realizzate decine di trasmissioni radio e interviste televisive. La mostra fotografica ha raggiunto circa 100 località italiane, coinvolgendo decine e decine di migliaia di persone. Anche l’ultima edizione della Carovana della Pace (2004) ha presentato le proposte di WNW, sia nel suo cammino per l’Italia che nel libro recentemente pubblicato.
• contatti all’estero: WNW era presente al Forum Mondiale Urbano (Barcellona), al Forum Sociale delle Americhe (Ecuador), al Forum Sociale Europeo (Londra), al Forum Sociale Mondiale (Porto Alegre), alla Campagna italiana Sdebitarsi, in Germania (esposizione della mostra in collaborazione con la DSP)


3. ISPIRAZIONI E SFIDE

Segni del Regno:
• i comboniani si incontrano in un progetto interprovinciale di Giustizia e Pace: superiamo la logica (diabolica) dell’azione isolata e facciamo una sana e faticosa esperienza di rete d’azione socio-ecclesiale (cf. la fragile relazione tra le prime comunità cristiane sparse nel Mediterraneo)
• la politica è costretta a fare i conti con i diritti della gente emarginata e con le richieste della gente coscientizzata (cf. il rapporto tra Gesù e i potenti dell’epoca)
• a Nairobi sono stati sospesi gli sfratti nelle zone minacciate a marzo 2004; in Italia la gente ha riconosciuto alcuni piccoli successi della campagna ed ha avuto prova che è possibile un dialogo serrato con le istituzioni. Questi segni di speranza rafforzano la lotta quando l’obiettivo è ancora lontano (cf. i segni che Gesù riporta a Giovanni in carcere: ai poveri è annunciata una buona notizia)
• in Italia molte persone sono venute a conoscenza della Vita negli slum e hanno toccato con mano l’apartheid economico. Per molti, questa coscientizzazione si è tradotta in impegno e scelte quotidiane.



Valutazione della metodologia e delle collaborazioni:
WNW ha sviluppato bene il suo ruolo di lobbying sui governi, sfruttando le alleanze con movimenti che hanno la sua stessa ispirazione, ma più esperienza. Sta usando bene tutti i mezzi di comunicazione e pressione; gli strumenti più sfruttati sono stati internet e gli incontri personali della delegazione con i politici e i responsabili. Questo ha permesso di far apparire la campagna più grande di quello che, forse, realmente è: attualmente il coordinamento è composto da circa dieci persone, ma ha creato movimento e pressione in modo molto amplificato.
Varie sono le difficoltà: in ambito comboniano, scarso coinvolgimento di altri missionari-e; fatica nel comunicare (probabilmente anche per limiti nostri) e quindi impressione che si tratti comunque dell’iniziativa di un piccolo gruppo.
Fatica nel comunicare anche nel coordinamento stesso e coordinare iniziative a distanza (la comunicazione virtuale porta spesso a fraintendimenti o impoverisce il confronto).
In Italia, difficile dare continuità ai molti contatti creati con la società civile: notiamo una grande sensibilità su questi temi, ma anche una certa discontinuità nel seguirli. Noi stessi referenti della campagna non abbiamo avuto la cura di coltivare molto il follow-up con chi dava un primo appoggio alla campagna.


Nel contesto dei movimenti globali, WNW cammina controcorrente, dato che molti (a ragione) insistono sull’illegittimità del debito e sul rifiuto di pagarlo.
Ragionare sulla conversione del debito, vincolata a politiche pubbliche partecipate, vuol impedire forme di corruzione nella gestione dei soldi. Ma richiede un forte contatto con la base sociale, proprio per evitare che ogni forma di politica si limiti all’aristocrazia dei potenti di turno.
Qui sta l’intuizione, la potenzialità ma anche il rischio di WNW: è indispensabile rafforzare sempre più la base sociale di ogni azione politica.


4. CONCLUSIONE

Intendo partecipare al WSF per rafforzare la rete delle ‘conoscenze operative’ (in Italia la chiamiamo condivisione delle ‘buone pratiche’): scambiare esperienze con associazioni, organizzazioni e anche gruppi religiosi impegnati per la Giustizia, la Pace e l’Integrità del Creato.
Come missionari abbiamo bisogno di collaborare sempre più con laici competenti, come si diceva all’inizio, farci consigliare, lavorare in equipe e tessere reti a livello internazionale.
Inoltre, incontri come quelli del WSF e dei comboniani-e impegnati in pastorale sociale possono far maturare collaborazioni in rete che non isolino la nostra pastorale solo a livello provinciale.

Elementi del carisma di Comboni che possono contribuire al WSF:
- passione per la comunicazione (Comboni per primo aveva chiaro che il suo Piano e le sue intuizioni dovevano essere conosciute a più livelli possibile, per conquistare alleanze e procedere insieme)
- ‘opera cattolica’ (in conseguenza del primo punto: condividere i propri obiettivi e rendersi disponibili alla collaborazione con tutte le forze dedite all’Africa)
- salvare l’Africa con l’Africa (intuizione profetica ancor oggi)
- liberazione degli schiavi (da attualizzare)
- profonda relazione con Dio alla base di tutto il suo impegno (pur essendo il WSF un evento ‘laico’, è indispensabile il nostro apporto spirituale; il ruolo dei missionari è dare ragione della nostra speranza, che non viene solo dai risultati che riusciamo a conseguire)