Building a nursery school in Bangui, Central African Republic, is just the latest of the projects run by Un ponte sull’Africa Centrale (A Bridge over Central Africa), an association founded in 2012 by Sister Silvana Rossini with the aim of putting into practice the help offered by friends and relatives who have been supporting small and large projects in the Central African Province of the Sisters of Charity for years.

The nursery school in Bangui was a project dear to Sister Silvana, who spent her entire life on mission in Central Africa and passed away on 31 December 2024.

‘Every year, in addition to financial support, some friends also lend a hand by getting their hands dirty in carrying out works, travelling directly to the missions of the Sisters of Charity for a few weeks,’ Annamaria tells us on behalf of the association. “In recent years, we have also sent two containers to furnish the Gala Gala hospital in Ngaundal, Cameroon, and some of the sisters’ houses.

We also support the Gore Nutrition Centre in Chad, providing two meals a week for around 30-40 children throughout the year.”

The photos show the ground excavation work and meeting the inhabitants of the nearby village.

Work began in June thanks to the collaboration and great help of Grimm Cantieri di Solidarietà (Solidarity Building Sites), men and women from the Brescia area who describe themselves as “missionaries with calloused hands whose greatest reward is the gift of a smile from the world’s poor, to whom, in addition to hope, we have given our hearts.

As of today, December 2025, the work has progressed rapidly.

By 10 January, the roof will also be in place!

In over thirty-five years, the Solidarity Building Sites have built churches, missions, schools, social centres, training centres, hospitals, reception centres, integration centres, homes for the poor and much more across four continents.

The friends of Ponte sull’Africa Centrale, the missionaries of Cantieri di Solidarietà and Sister Silvana from heaven: a solid network serving projects of education, inclusion, citizenship and cooperation.