A BOY THAT “DIED OF HOPE”: AT LAURENT’S SCHOOL IN ABIDJAN TO TALK ABOUT A POSSIBLE FUTURE ON THE AFRICAN SOIL

Yesterday, February 5, the Community of Sant'Egidio in Abidjan sponsored a conference at the high school that was attended by Laurent Barthélémy Ani Guibahi. He was a 14-year-old boy who was found dead in the undercarriage of an airplane in Paris last January 8. In front of more than 300 students and relatives of the teenager who lost his life because he dreamed of reaching Europe, the Community addressed the topic of the future that is denied to so many young Africans and the need to build it where they live. Alphonse Krecoum, from the Community, explained the terrible risks of those who set out for Europe, of walking in the desert and the attempts of sea crossings, by recalling in this way the thousands of men and women who have lost their lives on the journeys of hope, including the case of Laurent. Nonetheless, in front of the school officials, he also called on young people to take their future into their own hands in order to change the society in which they live, by starting with the poor and the weakest. It is through solidarity and the spread of a new culture, which is the one of living together, that the foundations are built for no longer wishing to abandon one's homeland.

The conference ended with a prayer in memory of Laurent Barthélémy in which his schoolmates participated. About 100 of them decided to meet again with Youth for Peace (the youth movement of Sant'Egidio) in order to decide on new initiatives.
In Côte d'Ivoire, after the dramatic discovery of the boy's body (which is currently in France), a debate took place almost exclusively about security measures in the airport area, which led to the destruction of shacks in the slum near the airfield, even though it is more than twenty kilometers away from the neighborhood where the boy lived. There is the belief that it is necessary to spread a new culture among young people; hence, the Community of Sant'Egidio will continue to do the school tours in Abidjan, starting with those in Yopougon. Sant’Egidio will also carry on the organization of conferences and meetings.