Building peace through the youth

He speaks 14 languages, has about ten degrees including two masters and a doctorate, strives for peace and lives for his faith.

Kiyala Jean Chrysostome a.k.a. Father Chrys, is the new priest at Ballito’s All Saints Catholic Church and he is ready to revive the youth and give us a taste of la langue française.

Originally from the Congo, he started off as a business studies teacher, but when religion called he studied philosophy and found his purpose.

“As a priest, I felt I needed to build peace in this torn apart world.”

The charming man with the peaceful eyes poured his energy into the most evil youth thief – child soldiers.

“I did my doctorate in peace management, peace building and conflict resolution through restorative justice to prevent children from being used in armed conflict.”

He worked in the Congo’s bordering countries Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi under incredibly tough, emotionally draining and highly dangerous circumstances.

“We were in the middle of the jungle, working in huts with self-demobilized child soldiers who managed to escape from the rebels. Some were only four or five years old. They were kidnapped, turned into merciless, wild animals who had to kill their parents during their imitation.”

His role was to help rehabilitate these children, find their families and reintegrate them through peace making circles.

“The children are vulnerable and have been robbed of their childhood. Through all the misery, you can see innocence in their eyes. When they return, they are feared and shunned by their community.The peace making circles allowed the children and community to talk to each other, share their fears and try to reconcile.”

He completed his work in November last year and was happy to hear of his transfer to Ballito.

“When I started in Ballito last December, I thought I could relax a bit in this small town, but I was wrong. There is a lot of work to do here,” he said with a chuckle.

Although he is impressed with the devotion shown by the senior citizens in the church, he misses the youth.

“I believe the youth should be the priority of our society. I want to revive our youth program. It is crucial to give our young people a strong, moral grounding so that they grow into adults who are good for our world.”

The linguist will also offer French classes on Wednesdays in the near future to give people the opportunity to enjoy the language.

“By learning each other’s languages, we learn about one another. South Africa is a wounded society and we have to be careful what we say. Racist comments will not help us heal.”

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