Father Claudio Marano, who passed away at the age of seventy-two on July 27, is a prominent figure in the modern history of Burundi. This Xaverian father leaves behind an indelible mark on the hearts of many young Burundians, particularly those in the northern districts of Bujumbura.
In Father Marano’s eyes, there was wisdom. His hair and white beard gave the impression of facing a guardian angel. This is what he has become in the eyes of many Burundians since the 1990s. At the time, Burundi was particularly eaten away by the virus of ethnicity. In the neighborhoods of Bujumbura, adolescents learn hatred at a young age. The young people of the Kamenge, Cibitoke and Ngangara neighborhoods are no exception.
The creation of the Kamenge Youth Center (CJK) will change the lives of these children who have been torn apart by the civil war. Adolescents and young people of all ethnic groups will meet around football, cinema or even chess. In short, the center created by Father Claudio Marano will become a haven of peace in which they will grow up. Together.
The Miracle Marano
“Walking around the Kamenge Youth Centre today, on the wall next to the Secretariat, you can see cards belonging to deceased members who were unable to recover them: you can read their names and the cause of their death. For the overwhelming majority, it says “War” as the cause of their disappearance. “It is a work of memory that the centre wants to give back to the world,” explains one of the sisters who works in this centre.”. This is an excerpt from an article by Yaga on the role played by the CJK in promoting peace in Bujumbura in the 1990s.
In Marano’s CJK, a young Tutsi from Cibitoke who is keen on comics can chat with a Hutu from Kamenge who is a theatre lover. Hutus and Tutsis spend the day together, playing, laughing, becoming human. A fragile moment of respite in a city on fire and blood. Because if the center shelters the young people during the day, when night falls, the demons of hatred take over again. In January 1995, about the violence that haunts the northern part of Bujumbura, Father Marano will say in the columns of Release : “These gangs are often on the verge of banditry. But the neighborhood remains rather tolerant. Here, the young people are recoverable.”.
Father Marano will have devoted his entire life to “recovering” young Burundians. A Herculean task in a country that, for a long time, will have dragged the reputation of “sinking its youth”. Bring on more miracles Marano. This country needs them so much.
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2024-08-02 08:03:40