On December 25, 2013, Centre John 23 parish in Bangui, CAR’s capital, was turned into a displacement camp when thousands of people from one of the city’s neighborhoods thought refuge here. They climbed over walls and broke through the gates after rebels stormed their neighborhood, indiscriminately killing people and burning homes. Fr. Frederick Nakombo, the parish’s pastor and General Secretary of the CAR Justice & Peace Commission, is working with Caritas and the support from CRS to provide food to those living in the camp. Conditions are grim, with people sleeping on muddy ground without enough to eat and malaria rampant, especially among children. Once populated by several thousand people, the camp currently houses 1,500 people still too afraid to return to their homes. Some of the camp’s women, with the support of CRS’ partner Caritas, have created a child-friendly space for children unable to go to school to come and play. Conflict broke out in CAR in late 2012, and thousands have since been killed and hundreds of thousands more displaced, either in CAR or outside of its borders. Though motivated by economic and political factors, the violence has taken on dangerous religious dimensions. CRS works in CAR to provide critical humanitarian assistance to thousands of people, including food, shelter, seeds and tools as well as intensive training in social cohesion and reconciliation.
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