A desert outing — in a landscape that is beginning to bloom — was organised for the children attending the nursery school of the Mihtawish Bedouin community, which lives in the villages of Khan al-Ahmar (east of Jerusalem), located in the so-called Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli civil and military control. It was Comboni Sister Lourdes Garcia who recounted this “experience” to SIR (Religious Information Service – In Italian Acronym). For years she has worked daily alongside other missionary sisters through educational, health and support initiatives for Bedouin women and children.

“Our commitment,” she explains, “is aimed at building relationships of trust with these families, who are all Muslim. We try to remain close to them by listening to their stories and responding to their needs.” One of these needs concerns “children’s learning and literacy.” To this end, the sisters support five Bedouin nursery schools, teaching children to read and write while providing assistance and a safe environment.

A Desert Outing

“This year there have been few days of rain, but they have been intense, and now the arid land is beginning timidly to bloom, as if silently celebrating life,” the religious sister says. “With the arrival of better weather, the teachers from the village nursery school suggested the annual walk in the desert.”

The request came earlier than usual, as the excursion normally takes place in spring rather than winter, Sister Lourdes explains. “Moreover, Ramadan begins on 17 February, so a more suitable date would have been after its conclusion on 19 March.” Yet the plan went ahead: “the contagious enthusiasm and impatience of the mothers and teachers encouraged us to set off without waiting,” the Comboni missionary recounts. “The weather was beautiful and, as if called by the desert, we went.”

It was the second year that the children’s mothers had also taken part in the outing.

“While we were walking,” Sister Lourdes recalls, “they told me, with smiles and a sense of shared understanding, how happy they were simply to go out and experience at least one different day: a day without washing, without cooking, without household chores. A day to breathe. For that reason, this year they decided something special: to buy food for the outing. They said: ‘We want this day to be a day of rest and relaxation as well.’ And so it was.”

Lent and Ramadan

The day unfolded with walking, singing, games and dancing, and the mothers enjoyed themselves just as much as the children. “The desert became witness to laughter, slow footsteps, grateful glances and a rest they are not always able to afford.”

“During the outing,” Sister Lourdes adds, “a moment of sharing emerged — simple yet profound. We spoke about how we experience Lent, about our way of fasting, about the differences but also the similarities with Ramadan. Together we reached a conclusion that united us: fasting offered also for those who have nothing.”

“As we spoke, I could hear whispers of surprise: ‘Christians too have a time almost like ours,’ the women were saying.”

At the end of the outing, she concludes, “I returned home with a full heart. Grateful to God for these simple yet deeply sacred moments of encounter, interreligious dialogue, respect and shared humanity. In the silence of the desert, God reminded me once again that mission is built in everyday life: by walking together, listening to one another and sharing life with respect. Wherever there is encounter, care and fraternity, He is already at work.”

See, Cisgiordania. Khan al-Ahmar, la gita nel deserto dei bambini beduini. Suor Garcia (comboniana), “la missione si costruisce nel quotidiano”