“We do not want the Central African Republic to become the underbelly of Africa, where all bandits thrive. We want to be a civilised country”. Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Archbishop of Bangui, said this in an interview with SIR news agency, as violence is still raging in the Central African Republic, despite the signing of the peace agreements in June. We continue to say that weapons are not the solution. We need to discuss and seek solutions together to end this crisis – he reiterates -. But there are young people who want to use this crisis to enrich themselves, to climb the political ladder (…). We do not want to become a country of violent people and bandits. This is why we call for dialogue, reconciliation and justice”. “All those who have lost everything – he suggests – must have seeds to plant in the ground, those who no longer have a house must be helped to rebuild it. We want the crisis to become a springboard, an opportunity to rebuild a new Central African Republic, accepting all cultures and religions, moving forward together in the same direction”. In September, the Archdiocese of Bangui will inaugurate the first 10 schools in the larger villages, thanks to funding from the 8×1000 Fund. The CEI Committee for Charitable Interventions in the Third World has already paid €482,790 for this project. “Children should not take up weapons to kill, but pens to write – Card. Nzapalainga says – to be good citizens, and work and earn their living honestly. We do not want them to be manipulated or exploited by anyone”. “The crisis is said to be religiously motivated – he points out -. But we have always insisted that this is not so. The school is the place where Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Animists see that they are all sons and daughters of the same country. They were born here, and here must they learn to accept one another. As they study and play together, the school becomes a meeting place for cultures, where they learn to respect one another and work together. Otherwise they will continue to think that the Muslim or the Christian is the enemy”.