A COLLEGE OPEN TO ALL
Interview with Fr. Beppino Puttinato
Q. You are a missionary and sure you intend to do work of evangelization in Comboni College. How do you evangelise students who are not Christian and, as it seems, will never become Christian?
A. Jesus said, "Go and announce the Gospel to every creature" (also to non-believers, I suppose He meant). Comboni College is open to everybody: to northern, southern, eastern and western Sudanese, to foreigners of nearby countries, to Christians and Muslims, to Indus and even to non-believers, to young men and young ladies, and to rich and poor students. To everybody we "announce the Gospel" instilling with our example and whenever possible also with our word the evangelical values of freedom of religion, equal dignity of man and woman, social justice, respect and welcoming of others, service to the community and help of the poor.
Q. Aren't these things that you call evangelical values found also in the other colleges and universities, governmental and private, which are so numerous at least in Khartoum, if not in other parts of Sudan. Is there a real need of a college of the Catholic Church, and to boot, as we hear it being planned, is there need of a Catholic university of Sudan?
A. I doubt whether certain private institutions may have other objectives besides that of making money through the granting of a diploma. As for governmental institutions, in theory they may have as objectives those things I have called evangelical values; in practice, however, governmental ministries and the directors of colleges and universities often cannot do everything to assure the education that students and their parents expect.The Church has the right and the duty to do her part in the formation of leaders and professionals who qualify according to her moral principles. Obviously, every part of Sudan, not only the city of Khartoum, must benefit from the opening of the various colleges of a future university.
Q. Daniel Comboni, the founder of your Institute, used to speak of the regeneration of Africa through Africans. You are Italian and sure you started and you run Comboni College of Science and Technology with money that comes from Italy. In what sense can Comboni College be considered an African institution, or more precisely a Sudanese institution?
A. I am Italian but I am also Sudanese: I have been granted Sudanese nationality. In any case, all the personnel of Comboni College of Science and Technology are Sudanese. And the expenses of the College are covered from 60 to 70% with Sudanese funds (fees of the students and income from short courses offered to professionals). If soon, as we hope, we manage to limit our dependence from foreign donations to 20-25% of the budget, we shall not be in a bad situation.
Q. You have mentioned helping the poor as being one of the objectives of the College. I am sure that you not only tell the students they must help the poor, but the College itself helps needy students?
A. Now we do not give total exemption from fees to anybody, as we did in several cases in the past. We offer discounts that go from 25 to 50% in the expensive program of computer science, according to standards in the exams and also according to the economic situation (not so much of the family, which often does not exist or cannot help) as rather the economic situation of the students themselves, who often have a small job.
Q. You have also spoken about ethnic and religious pluralism in the College and about equal opportunities for young men and young ladies. Would you please say something more about these two points: how does pluralism work in the relationships among the students? And what about the percentage of girls in the College?
A. Presently, the gender ratio in Comboni College of Science and Technology is 35%, that is 115 girls over 325 students in the university courses. The percentage of university girls is much less than 35% in South Sudan while it is more than 50% in the colleges and universities of North Sudan. Southern girls in colleges and universities, in the South and also in Comboni College, are still not so many because, in the culture of several tribes of the South, girls must look after little children (their own children or their small brothers and sisters) rather than busy themselves with university studies.
Q. What about pluralism?
A. As for pluralism, obviously students come to the College to learn to be pluralists, not to prove that they are pluralists. Small problems are there, from time to time, but the harmony that reigns among students of different ethnic origin and different religious affiliation is surely the best success of Comboni College of Science and Technology. Girls, as it seems to me, are better than boys in this regard. It is beautiful to see Christian and Muslim girls, from North and South Sudan, from this country and from abroad, greeting each other - kissing and hugging each other - when they meet again after days of holiday, and helping each other in their studies. There has always been war in the Sudan because pluralism, which actually exists in the Sudanese society, has not been accepted by all. If the experiment of Comboni College could be extended to the entire country, Sudan would really enjoy the peace and progress that everybody desires.
Q. For several years one has heard about the project of a Catholic University of Sudan. Where does the project stand now?
A. There are two approaches regarding that project in Juba the university has already been declared as established, although only a preparatory course is about to start or has just started in a first program of studies; in Khartoum there is Comboni College of Science and Technology that was approved by the Federal Ministry of Higher Education in 2001 and is about to graduate a fourth batch of science students before the end of this year. According to the Sudanese Government, there must be five colleges - or at least five university courses solidly established - to obtain the title of university. In my opinion, it would be better to wait some years before we speak of the existence of the Catholic University of Sudan. One does not build an edifice starting from the roof! One should start with solid foundations: in our case, with a number of university courses - at least partially self-supporting - spread in different parts of the Sudan.