What we would like to share with you is a story of hope in a context where everyday difficulties challenge the very idea that it is possible to initiate actions for a social, cultural and inter-religious new manner of living out mutual understanding and collaboration, to be able to imagine and bring about a more inclusive Chad.

We are in the town of Abeché in the North-East of Chad, which is situated along the frontier with Sudan, Egypt, Libya and Niger. Abeche is a very dynamic town that has a kind frontier flavour because its inhabitants, beyond the natives, come from all over the country in search of working opportunities, whereas the youth come here to study at the local university.

Social life, relationships, are strongly affected by Islam: historically speaking, the town has played a quite important role in the Islamisation process of the country, being in contact with the rest of the Islamic/Muslim world thanks to trade, and because of pilgrims who travelled through the desert going to the holy places of Islam in Saudi Arabia. The religious landscape has changed dramatically because of the colonisation and the militarisation of the North-East: up to the ‘60s, a military administration was in charge of this vast territory.

Christians spread here, and they are an absolute minority, comprising some from the very rare natives converted and the Chadians from the South being soldiers and/or civil bureaucrats. The two faith communities – Muslims and Christians – have been living in uneasy and sometimes conflictual social relations. It is very important to underline this kind of social, cultural, and religious background, which is slowly, very slowly changing. It is this change that brings about a desire, a dream, an active participation in social life that is represented by the Foyer des Jeunes.

At the Foyer, we meet Assia, Arthur, Josué and Ahmed, the small but motivated leading team who tries every day to implement the vision of dialogue in fraternity. It is nice to point out that the team is balanced from the religious point of view: they are Muslims and Christians working, praying and sharing the burden of the animation of the young people coming to the Foyer. Unfortunately, gender balance is not equally present because Assia is the only woman in the team, since another young lady has left the country to pursue further studies. In any case, Assia, being an Arabic and French speaker, plays a crucial role because her presence helps young Arabic-speaking people to come to the Foyer and to participate actively in its initiatives.

What do we do, what do we propose to the young people of Abeche, why do they come to us, though they are not as many as we would have liked? The Foyer tries to implement a policy of inclusiveness and friendship; it shares its spaces, its three libraries, with the youth of Abeché. The spaces of the Foyer are meant to welcome the readers of the libraries, the students doing their homework and/or their research in a relaxed, calm atmosphere that helps, regardless of the heat of the season! – to relate and know each other, to exchange ideas, and have a dialogue of life.

The cultural and educational endeavour of the Foyer calls for a long-term engagement: we propose activities and initiatives in order to favour, support and implement a kind of new mindset. It is a very challenging task because of the social and cultural situation in which we operate.

It is worth mentioning the role that Assia and the team play, because we believe it is thanks to their efforts that the Foyer is alive, though logistic and cultural difficulties do not help to run it as we would like to.

First of all, Assia, a young Muslim woman who is able to relate with everybody in a nice manner, is an asset because, taking into account the socio-cultural environment of Abeché, having an educated young woman in charge of the management of the Foyer cannot be taken for granted. Besides, there is Arthur, a young catholic man who, since his time as a university student in Abeché, has been involved in the activities of the Foyer. Arthur is an artist – a singer – and sometimes his artistic touch prevails, and a difficult situation can be easily solved. Arthur is involved in getting in touch with the educational environment (secondary schools, University) of the town, and thanks to this, we run cultural activities that meet the interests of the youth. Josuè and Ahmed try their best to guide and help the students coming to us to be members of the libraries in order to improve readership.

In the end, perhaps the story of the Foyer is not a very exciting one because we try every day to live out some important values such as friendship, mutual understanding and respect for one’s own religious beliefs. However, it is ours, and we try to be positive and actively involved in a dynamic process of cultural change, no matter how difficult it may be.

Bro. Enrico Gonzales MCCJ – Foyer des Jeunes, Abeché