"Young Africans are often held back by their limited budget when they have to attend the World Youth Days. Only four young people from Burkina Faso managed to go to Sydney this year", reads an article published on the Thursday 17th July issue of Burkina Faso’s daily paper "Le Pays". "Unfortunately continues the piece , the African continent, where faith is very strong, has had no chance so far to organise any such religious event". In 2006, in the run-up to the 2008 WYD, the Cross and the icon of the Virgin were taken through Africa, from Senegal to Tanzania, starting nationwide events and meetings that were also attended by young people from the neighbouring countries. "Veritable breeding grounds of peace and a school of friendship and love". This is how the bishop Philippe Rukamba of Butare, Rwanda, had called them. Some young Africans have now the chance to take part in a bigger, more international "breeding ground" in Sydney, where, "in addition to the spiritual experience, human relations, cooperation twinning programs and projects are born, where people discover each other", as mentioned by "Le Pays". "As well as being an experience of faith concludes Burkina Faso’s daily paper , the WYDs are also an effective ‘tool’ for bringing different cultures together, for social inclusion, for a more open human spirit".
