By Fabio Zenadocchio
In the bishop’s house in Tahta, which has been abandoned for fifty years in favour of the more comfortable house in Sohag, two Salesians, Fr Bassem and Edward, have started a summer camp for young people and three training courses (English, Italian and computer science). Fr Bassem has been a priest for three years and Edward is in training in the Lombardo-Emiliana Province. They were sent here to run a summer programme that has been going on for years, and that brings the teachings of Don Bosco to a new area.
On July 28 the “Don Bass" band staged the final night of the Tahta summer youth programme. Twenty leaders organized the evening with games and dances for four teams of children and with a grand finale - a maxi grill open to adults and children.
Among those who took part in the festivities were Fr Alejandro Leon Mendoza, Provincial Economer of the Salesians in the Middle East who was on a visit to Egypt, Fr Pietro Bianchi, Rector of the Rod El Farag house in Cairo on which the mission depends financially, and Magued George, a Salesian Cooperator in charge of vocational training courses in Rod El Farag.
The evening was marked with joy and enthusiasm. The songs and dances were heard even above the chants of the muezzins who call Muslims to prayer from the top of the minarets five times a day. The long-awaited grill finished around three in the morning, marking the end of "hostilities".
The following day Bishop Youssef Aboul-Kheir of Sohag (the diocese to which Tahta belongs) inaugurated the ceremony for the awarding of certificates to those who had participated in the courses. He had already met Fr Pedro and Fr Alejandro on the previous day to discuss issues related to the Salesian presence in the diocese. As well as the bishop there were local authorities including the chief of police in the governorate of Sohag, and the local pastor of the Evangelical Church. The Salesian input was noticeable: Don Bosco was previously completely unknown to many but left a deep imprint in the hearts of all. A medical student who was present composed a poem in Arabic to highlight Don Bosco’s loving-kindness.
Those four walls covered with cracks, the football field with crooked lines and only one set of goalposts, the apartment blocks that overlook the dusty courtyard, the bishop and all the inhabitants of the district were hit by an outburst of typically Salesian joy which they are unlikely to forget.
In the hearts of the young people, however, the seeds of Don Bosco have been planted, and we are sure they will soon bear fruit.
