austraLasia #2377

Cameroon: a Salesian Africa insider view

YAOUNDÈ: 12th March 2009 -- While Cameroon might seem far removed from the EAO Region, all eyes will be turning that way over the next week, from 17-23 March, when Pope Benedict XVI makes his first African touchdown in Cameroun's capital Yaoundé. Secular media so far have focused mainly on the negatives, it seems.  It is up to others to present a face of Africa that is full of hope.
    Because of an growing interest on the part of Salesian African Provinces to have their provincial newsletters 'preserved' and given a wider audience through SDL, the ATE Province, which includes Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic and Chad, offers us an interesting insight into the Salesian work in that geographical spread of nations, each with its own particular challenges and possibilities.
    @temedia is the name of the Provincial newsletter.  It is mainly in French (an occasional item in Spanish) but don't let that bother you. SDL manages to separate text from images, and the images speak for themselves!  ATE province has decided it wants all of its provincial newsletters in SDL, from the beginning, so the first 35 or so, in MSWord, have already been uploaded. More recently they have been in pdf, which is of great advantage to the viewer in SDL if you choose the 'quick read' left hand icon instead of the pdf version itself.  Because internet comes and goes in Yaoundé, it is taking some weeks to put all items on SDL. Only the most recent (n. 89 February) in pdf has been uploaded but we expect to have the remaining 60, at least half of which will be in pdf,  uploaded over the next month, progressively. However, n. 89 is well worth a look since it gives one a good idea of the Salesian activity at the moment, and you will also find an outline of the Papal visit on the last page.
    AFO province has now indicated that they wish to have all their provincial newsletters in SDL, and AFM have begun to send along their Missionary newsletter, just begun.  AGL is also now nibbling at the bit.
    The end result of these newsletters is to give us a panorama of Africa and it has the unique advantage of letting Africans present themselves. The majority of these recent newsletters, which are visually attractive and technically competent, are written and produced by young African Salesians.  The overall message is one of vitality, colour, hope.  And their material also becomes a good educational resource for the rest of us.
    How do you get there?  Go SDL (http://sdl.sdb.org as indicated below anyway), then choose the 'Regions' collection, and under 'Author' choose ATE. Voilà!
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Title: australasia 2377
Subject and key words: SDB General Africa ATE
Date (year): 2009
ID: 2000-2099|2377