ASIA/KYRGYZSTAN - Kyrgyz children at the discovery of the Sky

Thursday, 19 September 2019 caritas   evangelization   youth   solidarity   human promotion   development   faith  

Jalalabad (Agenzia Fides) - "In September, we prepare ourselves for the second year of our educational project", says to Agenzia Fides Sher Abdugapirov, deputy director of Kyrgyzstan Caritas at the headquarters of Jalalabad. The activities organized by the Kyrgyzstan volunteers serve mainly for the cultural training of children from poor families in the regions of Chui, in the north of the Country, and in Jalalabad, in the south, but there are also initiatives dedicated to the rehabilitation of disabled children. Former alcoholics and drug addicts, on the other hand, are involved in learning projects in the agricultural and livestock sector.
The deputy director recounts the accompaniment of the children in the summer months: "Summer is very hot in Kyrgyzstan: temperatures between 38 and 45 do not allow to carry out big programs, except those related to typically summer activities. For example, this year, in the month of July, we organized an astronomy field dedicated to students: it is an annual training event that takes place over several days and is dedicated to the discovery of the sky. It takes place on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, one of the largest and deepest lakes in the world, and involves the best students of our astronomy clubs present in various schools of Kyrgyzstan". The astronomy project was launched by Caritas Kyrgyzstan in 2015 and, explains Abdugapirov, "provides activities dedicated to night observation of the sky, which is carried out in a playful way. Participants are given the opportunity to meet Polish volunteers and astronomers and work with them. This year there were one hundred students and six trainers". Looking at the sky, they point out to Caritas, encourages children to reflect on the infinite, on the meaning of life, on eternity, on a path of pre-evangelization.
The Caritas kirghisa owes its origins to the creation, in 2011, of the Non-Governmental Organization "Light of Love": the decision to embark on the path of integration of the NGO inthe pastoral and charitable organization of the Bishops was born following the participation of a meeting organized by Caritas Asia in 2014 in Almaty. In Kyrgyzstan there are currently three parishes in the cities of Bishkek, Jalalabad and Talas, but many small communities are distributed in the rural areas of the country. Local Catholics can count on the spiritual assistance of seven priests, a religious and five Franciscan nuns. (LF) (Agenzia Fides, 19/9/2019)


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