As a vicar and director of the Catholic Radio Notre Dame, I live at the Saint Paul cathedral. It is one of Bangui’s churches which has often served as a displacement site for people fleeing conflict.
Usually, those coming here to save their lives, stay during the day and then return home. But on 5 December 2013, when there were gunshots and grenades all over the city, nobody left at night. More than 17,000 people sought refuge at the church during the following days, having only the clothes on their back. Among them, there were children, elderly and pregnant women. I particularly remember a woman, who had tripped while running to the site and fell on her belly. She gave birth prematurely in the middle of the night and we were searching anxiously for a nurse to take care of the baby.
The story, though, that touched me the most is the case of a young man, Innocent, who lived at PK13, in the northern part of Bangui. When the Seleka and the Anti-Balaka started to fight in that zone, he took his 71-year-old mother by the hand to bring her to safety. But while they were fleeing, a grenade exploded nearby, hurt his eyes and he could only see very little. Thus, it was the old woman who had to take him by the hand and run towards us.
As soon as they arrived, we did our best to help Innocent. But the next day he lost his eyesight completely. It was sad to see a young man with a promising future becoming visually impaired just like that. Now, he cannot take care of his mother anymore and he has no means to survive. So, the roles have reversed. It is the mother who goes around asking for food for her son. In order to help this family, we kept them with us. We gave them a room at the back of the church and share with them the little that we have.
Jesus’ testimony was taken by Aikaterini Kitidi/UNHCR/2014. Read more stories on stories.unhcr.org.
Photo: UNHCR/A. Kitidi/2014. Jesus Martial Demele with the 34-year-old Innocent and his 71-year-old mother, Suzanne.
Share your refugee story on Twitter to @diplocourier, #WorldRefugeeDay.
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Central African Republic: Jesus’ Story
June 17, 2014
As a vicar and director of the Catholic Radio Notre Dame, I live at the Saint Paul cathedral. It is one of Bangui’s churches which has often served as a displacement site for people fleeing conflict.
Usually, those coming here to save their lives, stay during the day and then return home. But on 5 December 2013, when there were gunshots and grenades all over the city, nobody left at night. More than 17,000 people sought refuge at the church during the following days, having only the clothes on their back. Among them, there were children, elderly and pregnant women. I particularly remember a woman, who had tripped while running to the site and fell on her belly. She gave birth prematurely in the middle of the night and we were searching anxiously for a nurse to take care of the baby.
The story, though, that touched me the most is the case of a young man, Innocent, who lived at PK13, in the northern part of Bangui. When the Seleka and the Anti-Balaka started to fight in that zone, he took his 71-year-old mother by the hand to bring her to safety. But while they were fleeing, a grenade exploded nearby, hurt his eyes and he could only see very little. Thus, it was the old woman who had to take him by the hand and run towards us.
As soon as they arrived, we did our best to help Innocent. But the next day he lost his eyesight completely. It was sad to see a young man with a promising future becoming visually impaired just like that. Now, he cannot take care of his mother anymore and he has no means to survive. So, the roles have reversed. It is the mother who goes around asking for food for her son. In order to help this family, we kept them with us. We gave them a room at the back of the church and share with them the little that we have.
Jesus’ testimony was taken by Aikaterini Kitidi/UNHCR/2014. Read more stories on stories.unhcr.org.
Photo: UNHCR/A. Kitidi/2014. Jesus Martial Demele with the 34-year-old Innocent and his 71-year-old mother, Suzanne.
Share your refugee story on Twitter to @diplocourier, #WorldRefugeeDay.
