Central Africa Republic – “The rebellion of water and forest spirits”

“We have neglected the country’s hinterland. There is a lot of poverty in the villages. The administration has been abandoned; schools have been abandoned; health care has been abandoned. People die here like animals. And the people will go back to the traditional methods which is rooted in their mentality: witchcraft.”

H. E. Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, CSSp Archbishop of Bangui.

Central African Republic The continent’s so-called “forgotten conflict” continues tear at a small country in the heart of Africa, the Central African Republic. With a population of only 4.6 million, the CAR has been ravaged by ongoing violence since 2012; initially between the Séléka and the anti-Balaka militias, today this has fragmented and armed groups and militias control more than 70 percent of the territory. For the majority of Central Africans who are subsistence farmers, life is a physical struggle in an effectively lawless state.