Sophia University Institute: Open Day 2012
«At this time when universities are affected by an economic, social and cultural crisis, what made you start up this project and what is new about Sophia?» Giorgia, an Italian, the students’ representative, asked the theologian Piero Coda, President of Sophia. She was putting into words the questions of numerous students, interested young people and those about to enrol, all present on 1 March this year in Loppiano for an internet conference call covering the four corners of the earth during the first Sophia Open Day. So, what is new? Bringing together rigorous academic discipline and wisdom – hence the name Sophia – understood as a ‘transdisciplinary’ approach that draws from the roots Christian revelation: this is what is new. Sophia’s mission is to produce men and woman capable of revisioning human destiny, as Piero Coda pointed out in live a video interview. Up to this point 150 students have studied or are currently studying at Sophia, and about 30 of them have already achieved their degrees. «Sophia began years ago with our summer schools, Prof. Coda recalled, and the purpose of these was to relate various disciplines to the charism of Chiara Lubich so as to overcome the fragmentation that can be observed among them. Today the Institute has reached its fourth year and it offers a formation programme that aims at going beyond the ‘schizophrenia’ that can be experienced between academic development and the social, political and economic challenges of the world today». 
There are several new approaches in the educational programme, as presented by some of the Institute’s teaching staff: Judith Povilus, vice-president and provost, Antonio Maria Baggio, professor of Political Philosophy, the theologian Alessandro Clemenza and the economist Giuseppe Argiolas. From next September the master’s degree in ‘Foundations and prospects for a Cultural of Unity’ will have four specialist areas: political studies, trinitarian ontology, economy and management and, in conclusion, the ‘culture of unity’. This last is aimed at students coming from any area of specialization, open to building a new world and willing to highlight the dimension of human relationships. After this presentation several of Sophia’s students spoke. They came from various countries across the continents. Metta, a Buddhist from Thailand, grappling with studying in an environment that has a Christian inspiration, said: «For me studying here is mainly about a relationship of fraternity and these relationships are the language we all, students and teachers, have in common even in the midst of our differences. It’s a dimension I find also in my own religion». Marco, an Italian whose first degree was in Motor Sciences, attends Sophia’s first year: «Looking to the future, the choice to go to Sophia has made me feel that I don’t wish so much to deepen my understanding of a specific discipline. Rather I need a formation that, as much as possible, will open up my cultural horizons and my awareness and make me better placed to face the world of work. At the moment, it doesn’t offer much certainty and so I have to be a self-starter».
Atuação social na região da Mariápolis Ginetta
Fraternidade como categoria jurídica
Burundi, Small Heart of Africa
Burundi is a small country, situated between two giant nations: the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the United Republic of Tanzania. It is endowed with a landscape of extraordinary richness and beauty, and yet it is one of the poorest countries on the planet. It is home to three peoples: Hutu, Tutsi and Pigmies who share the same language and culture. It’s green hills hide the suffering cries of many how came to know violence and death during long decades of conflict and dictatorship. It was only in 2002 that Burundi emerged from a political and ethnic conflict that displaced a million and brought death to 300 thousand others. 
The Ideal of the Focolare Movement has also reached this place in the heart of Africa, only a few kilometers south of the Equator. Its roots go back to 1968, when a Belgian family moved to Bujumbura to find work and through the witness of their life, shed new light on the Christian message. Almost contemporaneously, another cell was formed around Fr Alberton from the African Missionaries, at the parish church in Mubimbi. 
1979 was an important year in the history of the Focolare in this nation. At the request of the local bishops, a focolare was opened in Gitega, but following the first persecutions, the focolare made an emergency move to Bujumbura. This was the beginning of a particularly difficult period for the Movement and for the entire Church: total prohibition on holding any type of activities; churches closed during the week; the impossibility of spreading the Word of Life. 
In September 1987, with the coup, freedom was returned and it was possible to come out into the open. Little by little, people were contacted again, finding with emotion that some faraway communities, the people continued to meet regularly to share their experiences of the one copy of the Word of Life that they had preserved for years. They carried ahead for years with only one Word of the Gospel. 
Today the Movement is comprised of more than 24 thousand people in 290 groups spread throughout the country. Today the ideal of unity holds genuine hope for the people of Burundi. In a climate of tension following the war, the members of the Movement got involved in contributing along with the local Church in the process of reconciliation. There have been some interesting achievements in the economic field and some innovative things are happening in the fields of health and education. In 1999 a group of volunteers of the Focolare Movement founded the CASOBU Association (Cadre Associatif des Solidaires du Burundi), with the goal of seeking durable solutions to the problems of poverty, through the process of participation and mutual support. 
The “Chiara Luce Badano Social Center” was also begun, which cares for orphan children or children in extreme conditions of poverty in the Kinama quarter (outskirts of bujumbura), an area that was completely destroyed by the war. The words that Chiara Lubich addressed to them on 7 October 1996 remain impressed in the hearts of these Focolare members in Burundi: “Always concentrate on our “Only Treasure.” You’ll be happy and have peace, even amid the difficulties that surround you. Jesus will always be with you in your midst, to touch people’s hearts, to reawaken faith in His love, and to bring unity. I am also with you in this constantly renewed commitment, moment by moment. . .”
Burundi: CASOBU – reconstructive work and fight against poverty
CASOBU (Cadre Associatif des Solidaires du Burundi) was founded by a group of volunteers from the Focolare Movement in Burundi, one of the poorest countries on the planet. The country has emerged from a twelve-year political and ethnic conflict, with the displacement of a million people and 300,000 dead. The purpose of the Association is to seek for lasting solutions to the problems of poverty through solidarity and mutual support. Its activity cannot be assessed only in terms of infrastructure development and improved socio-economic conditions, but in the spreading of certain values: solidarity, unity and fraternity. 
CASOBU’s first focus is in rural contexts. They have taken up several projects, with the support also of AMU, the NGO inspired by the Movement for co-operation in development. For several years CASOBU has been involved with community microcredit projects. These have helped several hundred people, mostly women who are family breadwinners, achieve economy autonomy. In 2008 CASOBU’s social action concentrated upon Ruyigi. The town of Butezi has 6,700 families who live by subsistence farming. During the civil war most of the population fled to refugee camps in Tanzania and now, on returning to their own country, there are numerous problems of readjustment. This initiative takes a three-pronged approach:
- ñ nutrition and agriculture: after an initial distribution of emergency foodstuffs to 800 families, the aim is to develop independent food sources, with the distribution cassava cuttings, cows and goats to displaced people and refugees;
- ñ aid for orphans and widows;
- ñ schemes for the prevention of Aids, run in collaboration with public bodies, and schemes for the prevention malaria, which is responsible for the deaths of numerous children under 5.
The members of CASOBU are trained and skilled people, filled with the gospel spirit of service. Their main aim is to listen attentively to those they meet: ‘We often find ourselves behaving like mothers and fathers of people who more than anything have a burden of pain to share with others.’ In Butezi there is an area where nearly three thousand families live. Only about a hundred of them have clean water, the others draw water from unsafe sources or directly from streams and pools and are exposed to serious illnesses. This means there is need of a new project to bring drinking water to the area, and the first of five has already begun. The strong points of this initiative are: the involvement of local people in the work and in implementation committees to conserve springs and maintain the infrastructure already set in place. The local people accept that they must give the necessary land and accept the difficulties that arise from works being carried out in their fields. All cooperate to rebuild social bonds. The way the members of CASOBU live and how they work strike many people: ‘Often,’ said Innocent from Kayanza, ‘to have a job you have to pay, but here we have noticed a difference. They look in the register of those have already given a voluntarily contribution to the project and they enrol you without any kind of corruption…. Whether you are a simple labourer or a skilled worker, all are on the same level.’ 
Certainly, not everyone understands immediately what is being done, and patient work by CASOBU is fundamental for helping people realize that these projects are aimed at the common good. Three years after the first project, it is possible to note a significant improvement in the health of families and especially of the children. The latest initiative for access to clean water was in Kibingo (in the province of Kayanza), and it benefited 600 families and 1,200 pupils at the local primary school. Anyone who wishes to participate in the work of CASOBU on behalf of people of Burundi, even with just a one-off gift, can use the following bank details: Account name: Associazione Azione per un Mondo Unito Bank: Banca Popolare Etica, Rome branch. IBAN: IT16G0501803200000000120434 SWIFT/BIC: CCRTIT2184D Payments should be marked for: ‘Progetti in Burundi’. Burundi is a small country in Africa with enormous lakes, and it is one of the poorest places on earth. In the 2011 report by the United Nations Development Programme it was ranked in the third last place (185th) in the league table of Human development. The most vulnerable groups in the population are Aids sufferers, widows, teenage mothers, orphans and people with disabilities. There is also a need to achieve national reconciliation and to rebuild the nation’s economy and social fabric.