It will be a mobile clinic to support the "Mama Mzazi" maternity center in remote and poverty-stricken Tanzania, where Father Carlo Rotondo, from Sinnai, carries out his mission. Since August, the missionary priest, sent to a distant land by the diocese of Cagliari, has been in Sardinia to discuss his new and extraordinary experience in Africa, but also to advocate for another of his causes: the purchase of this mobile clinic that will travel to the most remote villages to help mothers who are about to give birth.
"Not everyone," says Don Carlo, "has the opportunity to reach the Mama Mzazi Maternity Center: so a mobile clinic will provide the necessary assistance during childbirth."
Settimo San Pietro, who has never shied away from solidarity, met with Don Carlo at Casa Dessì yesterday: the missionary celebrated Mass, spoke about his new experience, and then everyone dined at a large table set up in the central Via Gramsci.
The proceeds will be donated to support the purchase of a mobile clinic , an ongoing project that will help reduce the mortality rate of babies and their mothers who are often forced to give birth in difficult conditions.
Yesterday, thanks to the Santa Lucia Folk Group and the Amico della Missione Amiss association, several hundred people attended the event, with mass and dinner under the stars.
Don Carlo Rotondo has been a missionary in Tanzania for almost four years, where he focuses on children, schools, healthcare, and the most acute poverty, and where he will remain until 2027. For Don Carlo, returning to Africa was almost a "homecoming" after having been a missionary in Nanyuki, Kenya, from 1994 to 2004.
Since 2004, he has held parish responsibilities, and at Unitalsi, as secretary to Monsignor Arrigo Miglio and Monsignor Giuseppe Baturi. Using a football image, Don Carlo believes that the saying "the best defense is a good attack" also applies to faith.
"My departure to missionary territory," he said four years ago, before leaving for Africa, "is my way of 'attacking' as a Christian and as a priest. I'm taking the reverse route that migrants take on rubber dinghies. I'm the one who went to them, to live with them, to do what I can for them." In these four years in Tanzania, Don Carlo has accomplished a lot: his tasks are countless. Including supervising a class of 169 students, along with a local nun who teaches. Is it a large one? "We adapt," says Don Carlo, "the kids are all Cagliari fans. We follow it step by step. There are so many problems, but with everyone's help, they can and are being solved. We also had a visit from the president of Cagliari, who donated a lot of equipment: we've already built a soccer field, cleared and leveled the ground, built changing rooms (three huts), and even five rows of steps, thus forming the bleachers. In short, we adapt to the situation, always trying to do more and better. Many people have come to visit us, from northern Italy, Sardinia, and other places: I counted 78."