Padre Pedro

In 1989, Father Peter Opeka, an Argentian priest working in Madagascar, founded the Akamasoa Association - meaning Good Friends - to assist the poor to rise above the humiliation and despair of poverty and to achieve dignity of life. Padre Pedro: Apostle of Hope tells his remarkable story.

A bricklayer's son, Padre Pedro (as he is affectionately known) began teaching the poor how to make bricks and build family homes, and helping the people gain self-worth. As of 2007, Akamasoa boasts seventeen impressive villages. Almost every family has its own home (which it gradually pays for in small installments), while working hard and following the rules democratically established by the delegates of the entire Akamasoa community. The settlements have all the necessary infrastructure: schools (which, according to the most recent report, are attended by over 9,000 children, from kindergartens to high schools and lyceums), dispensaries, shops, churches, and a huge multipurpose sports hall where on Sundays and holidays from four to six thousand worshippers gather to pray and sing.