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The Ambitious Ants.

Ants are the busiest creatures in the world. Every ant has a full time job, with no holidays and no half-days off Ants like to work, and they don’t like much else. The biggest and strongest ants build whole cities for themselves, complete with compartments like deep shelters to which they can retreat if any…

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Hare and the Corn Bins.

In the old days, all the animals used to make farms like men do today. They hoed the ground, planted the seed, harvested the grain and stored it in corn bins which looked like little round huts, only instead of having a door in front they had a circular hole at the top under the…

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How the Dogs Came.

A long time ago there were no domestic animals, all were wild, and all were the enemy of man. They feared him, and he feared them, unless they were too small to do him any harm. There were no dogs such as we know today, but creatures roamed the forest who were a mixture of…

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The man with seven dogs

Once upon a time, there lived a man called John who was a hunter as well as a magician. John had seven dogs and seven large black pots. The dogs were useful for hunting while the pots protected him from his enemies. John and his wife wanted very much to have a child, but to…

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The Lion, Jackal and Man

It so happened one day that Lion and Jackal came together to converse on affairs of land and state. Jackal, let me say, was the most important adviser to the king of the forest, and after they had spoken about these matters for quite a while, the conversation took a more personal turn. Lion began…

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Why the Bat Flies at Night.

0nce upon a time, the bat and the bush-rat were great friends. All day long they would go hunting in the bush together, dodging between the tall grasses and the stunted trees, and finding good things to eat. When evening came, they would take turns to cook the meal and then eat it together. But…

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Spider’s Web.

The animals were lonely. They stood in the forest talking to one another, wondering how they could each get a wife to keep them company and to cook their food for them. When Hare joined the group, he was soon able to tell them what to do. “I have heard that there are plenty of…

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Somalia. The Well.

A long time ago, there were four families who lived in a small village in Somalia. The first family would argue all of the time, the second family were very greedy, the third family were always away from the village exploring because they were never happy with what they had or where they lived. But…

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Brazil. The Forest And The Little Monkey

The sun rises above the Amazon rainforest and the huge, evergreen trees allow rays of light to pass between their leaves and paint the forest floor in dappled shadows.  In one of the taller trees, little monkey Dora is waking up.  Dora is a pretty little monkey with brown hair and a long tail.  She…

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How The Stars Were Born.

One day, two friends named Ebopp and Mbaw went off in search of a good site to establish a farm with fine fields of grain and peanuts.  They looked here and they looked there until they finally found the right place. They immediately began to fell trees and break up the soil. They worded for…

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Tanzania/Maasai. The Woman Of The Oxen.

The Maasai have a saying: “you cannot touch what belongs to a woman”. Indeed, the Maasai – who live in a patriarchal society – are nonetheless very respectful of women’s private property. The proverb came about because of an event that happened years and years ago … Long ago, when the Maasai had just climbed…

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Laos. The Chance Of Living On Earth Longer.

Once, long ago, when the world was newly created, Phya Thaen, the highest god and creator, sent all creatures to the earth. As he was sending them down, he would tell each of them how many years they could live on earth. When all creatures had left, he realized that he forgot to tell four…

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Advocacy

Sister Rosita. Four Decades of Refugee Advocacy.

When asked how a farmer’s daughter who became a Catholic nun ended up as one of Brazil’s most influential refugee advocates, Sister Rosita Milesi, 79,…

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Baobab

Kalulu and the Great Spirit of the Forest.

Vusi was an honest man and a hard worker. He had cleared a large piece of moorland and turned it into a beautiful fertile field. He…

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Youth & Mission

Towards World Youth Day 2027 in Seoul with the courage…

On 24 November, the Solemnity of Christ the King, on the occasion of World Youth Day in the Particular Churches, in St. Peter's Basilica the traditional…

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