Laying the foundations for peace
In a city torn apart by war and natural disaster, a parish is trying to lay the foundations for peace by building a sports ground. Parish priest Fr EVANS CHAMA M.Afr invites us into his community.

Missionary of African Father Evans Chama (inset) has started a large building project at his parish in the DRC. Parishioners of Notre Dame d’Afrique parish must break through volcanic rock to level the ground for their new sports ground which will be dedicated to promoting peace in the area.
For those who follow international news, the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) needs no introduction. It has been a battleground for a couple of decades.
However, the youth of our parish, Notre Dame d’Afrique (Our Lady of Africa), are determined to give Goma a new image.
Goma is the capital of North-Kivu province, in the east of the DRC. Since 1994 people have lived in the horrors of wars and today many nurse wounded memories of all kinds.
There are many women and girls who were raped, some of whom have contracted HIV or given birth. Thus they live with a constant reminder of the violence and the humiliation they have suffered. Several women have been abandoned by their husbands, together with the children born in the act of violation.
And how do you deal with the boys who were conscripted as child soldiers and have become used to killing? Apart from the trauma they suffered themselves, they are also a threat to the population for they have learnt to earn their living by using force. As a result they are ready to shoot at anyone who resists them. Our township continues to record deaths of this kind.
These are but a couple of examples of the open wounds in this post-war period. But this is only one side of the story; there is another side.
Although the security situation still leaves a lot to be desired, I appreciate that we nevertheless are enjoying a significant level of calm which was unimaginable just some months ago.
If only this peace would last so that people can reconstruct their lives! It is not enough just to wish for peace, we must be ready to soil our hands to build and consolidate it.
At our parish of Notre Dame d’Afrique, we are particularly concerned, among other things, about accompanying children and the youth in their healing process by creating a friendly space where they can relax, play and do physical exercises. Not only is play important for human development, but it is also remedial.
But where will these children and young people of our township find a space to play?
Imagine this! In our parish, which is located in a densely populated township called Katoy, we have nine parish schools: three secondary schools and six primary schools. And this doesn’t count the cluster of poor private schools around.
These nine schools have only a small space for the youth and children who frequent them to play.
That is why we have offered a little piece of land close to the parish church for development into a sports ground. This creates new challenges.
In a different area, it would suffice simply to slash the grass, uproot a few trees, draw lines, fix posts — and, voilà, you have a ground ready for play. This is not the case with Goma.
Besides the wars and insecurity, there are also eruptions of the still- active volcano Mount Nyiragongo. The last eruption took place in 2002 (the video at bit.ly/1jwMfGd gives you an idea) which has left the entire town of Goma with a carpet of rough, black volcanic rocks. You have to watch your feet with every single step you take on the street. Even the piece of land we are developing into the playground is nothing but a mound of volcanic rock.
Our project involves making a mini-football ground, two volleyball courts, a basketball court and a space for gymnastics. The work involves breaking the mound of rock, which we do by hand, spreading the broken stones to fill up the valleys, transporting soil from no less than 20km in the outskirts of Goma in order to cover the rocks, and cementing the basketball and volleyball courts.
This project is estimated to cost about R570000. With the contributions from the youth, schools, parishioners and help from well-wishers, we have raised about a third of that. We still have a long way to go.
Whenever my confrere from the Missionaries of Africa comes to the worksite, he tells me: “Evans, this is a crazy person’s project.” He is right. Certainly, you must be crazy to take on such a project, given the magnitude of work, the difficulty and the limited means.
Indeed, standing before the mound of rock, the first overwhelming feeling is to say: “It’s too hard; we just cannot do it.” But then we realise that what we are looking for is actually the cost of peace.
We must pay the price. And if we want lasting peace, we have to build it on the solid rock—our volcanic rock.
We are convinced that uniting young people from different tribal identities and from different religious beliefs around this project of constructing the sports ground, and finally bringing them to play together when the construction is completed, will itself be a school for peace.
We are conscious that with every stone we put in place, we lay the foundation for peace. This is what gives us the energy to go on.
Do you want to join hands with us in laying a foundation for peace in this war-torn region of Congo?
Fr Evans Chama M.Afr. is a regular contributor to The Southern Cross. His series on the Church’s social justice teachings concluded last month. He is currently preparing a new series of articles on the “Saints of Christian Unity”, which will commence in The Southern Cross later this year. He can be contacted at
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