“One night of torrential rain we left the Center to reach a village where there was an emergency. Along the way, people stopped us because a little further on, in the forest, they found a child who was sick and they did not know what he had and no information about him. After a good half hour of walking and making our way with the machete in the forest, we arrived in a hut where there was a 3-4 year old child: he was all curled up, he did not even look like a child, so much he was swollen. And he was alone. We took him to the car and entrusted him to a pygmy dad who always accompanies us on these trips also because he helps us with the translation. With the help of this man, I started talking to the child to get news. He told us he was completely alone, he ate some small animals he found around, he tried not to think about fear closing his eyes when it got dark and resuming the hunt for food as soon as day came and light entered the small hut.
That little boy is 14 years old now, we kept him at the mission and we entrusted him to another pygmy dad so that he took care of him like you do with a son. The boy is finishing elementary school now, but he does not like studying, he prefers to work on the plantations.
We have many similar situations: many children lost in the forest, alone and who have no one”.
– Suor Rita