REPORT TO ST. MARY OF SORROWS ON THE VISIT BY BILL SEILER TO OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP MISSION, CHIMBOTE, PERU - AUGUST 2000
(Click on picture to get larger view)
When I arrived in Chimbote, I noticed
that many things were backwards when compared to the U.S.:
the toilet water flows clockwise, the hot and cold water faucets are
reversed, water to the homes is turned on for only two hours in the morning and
in the evening, trash collection is very limited, there are only a few street
signs in the city of 500,000,
and the list could go on and on.
All those material deficiencies became a part of the stage setting for
the main event of my trip, meeting the people of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH).
As soon as I met the people of OLPH, I knew that God was alive in the
parish. I never kissed so many
women (Pat was a little nervous after my first email home) and hugged so many
men as I did the first few days our group of 15 gringos was in the parish.
Much
of the affection from the women and children is attributed by the parish staff
to the lack of affection at home and/or abuse by a spouse or parent.
Fr. Jack Davis, pastor, in his next newsletter will detail the tragic
murder of Graciela Pinedo Chávez , one of his catechists and tutors, while she
was on her way to morning prayer at OLPH. She
was murdered by her drug addicted husband who had threatened to kill her earlier
in the week. Sr. Peggy, who works
with Fr. Jack, is seeking funding to build a shelter for battered women.
OLPH already has two counselors on staff to help abused women.
Fr. Jack works in many ways to teach respect for others.
I observed a catechist in her classroom with her arm around a student in
front of the class, and each student came up to the student and hugged or kissed
him. Even though I don’t speak
Spanish, I knew that she was telling the class that no matter what someone does,
you have to respect that person. There
is a group of 130 handicapped people who meet weekly at OLPH.
Their wheelchairs are provided by the parish.
We
distributed clothing and other things donated by St. Mary’s parishioners and
other parishes in the U.S. It is always a problem controlling the people during these
distributions because they know that there is a limited amount of things to go
around. In the U.S. when we get in
line for something, we are generally orderly and know that there will be
something when we get to the front of the line.
It
was obvious to me that the parish is the center of people’s lives, not just
for their spiritual needs, but also for their physical and domestic needs.
There is little employment in Chimbote, but invasions of hundreds of
people still occur. 
An invasion is
a group of people who move from the country to the fringes of Chimbote, where
OLPH is located, with the hope of finding a better life.
They buy about 12 estera mats to construct a shelter while other reed
mats or pieces of cardboard boxes become their beds on a damp floor (the water
table is 3 ft. from the surface). An
estera mat is a 6 ft. by 9 ft. section of reed matting that costs $2.60 U.S.
Many of the people get estera mats from OLPH.
While
most of our group stayed at the parish compound, I lived with a host family
whose house had cinder brick walls and an estera roof.
Since the estera provides little protection from the outside, I had
trouble sleeping when the dogs 
on roofs (for security from robbers) started
barking and the roosters started crowing at 4 a.m.
One night as I lay in bed looking at the moonlight through the estera, I
recalled how Fr. Gerry Creedon told how one night in the Dominican Republic
mission he saw moonlight through holes in the roof of his host house.
I think we at St. Mary’s could become advocates for housing in Chimbote
since a “starter” house of 12 estera would cost about $31.
An upgraded house of cinder bricks would cost about $500.
I can provide further details if anyone wants to assist in this area.
In
addition to the parish center, OLPH is organized into three barrios, each of
which has a chapel where Mass is celebrated weekly, a tutoring center, and soup
kitchen. One of the barrios has a
medical and dental outpost. Since the poor can’t afford dental care, only extractions
are done. The tutoring centers
provide hope for the children to complete their education and get out of the
barrios. Peru does not provide
funding for textbooks or supplies. The
teachers must buy school supplies and a textbook for each topic out of his or
her salary of 600 Soles ($208) a month. The
students must pay a matriculation fee to start school, and pay for paper,
pencils, and 1 Sole for each test (the teacher’s cost to reproduce the test).
OLPH ends up paying for many of these fees to keep the children in
school. The tutor centers have
books available for students to do their homework because their families cannot
afford to buy the books the children need.
The tutors are responsible for monitoring the students’ progress.
St.
Mary’s has traditionally provided funding for the soup kitchens and day care
center operations. Shirley Smith,
Our Lady of Good Counsel, Vienna, donated 4 sewing machines and has visited OLPH
to teach sewing to over 100 women. St.
Michael’s parish, Prior Lake, MN, started a small business loan program run by
and for the OLPH, and helped dig some wells in OLPH.
They also host an annual fund raising dinner for OLPH.
St. Ann’s, Gulf Breeze, FL, provides cloth and materials for sewing and
funds for other projects in OLPH. Representatives
from these and other parishes in the U.S. were present to experience the
material poverty and spiritual richness of OLPH.
We
participated in a festive Mass outside the parish church to celebrate Fr.
Jack’s 25th anniversary as pastor and to thank those who have
contributed to his mission. The
Mass began and ended with liturgical dance by children and, to Fr. Jack’s
surprise, the release of hot air balloons. During the Mass, several dogs and cats visited us, and Fr.
Jack’s mentally handicapped friend, Hiemy, wandered around the altar.
To a few of us visitors, this was puzzling but generally accepted as part
of the Peruvian liturgy. The music
was provided by the parish music group that has recorded on a CD.
After Mass, there were fireworks and dancing.
Another
emotional part of the trip was participating in the 9th anniversary
Mass for the three Franciscan priests who were slain by the Shining Path
terrorists. We traveled 70 miles
over terrible mountain roads to Pariacoto.
The slain priests, two Polish and one Italian, have been declared
Servants of the Lord. The twin brother and mother of one of the Polish priests were
present for the Mass along with the Polish ambassador to Peru and several
Italians. The celebrant of the
Mass, the bishop of Chimbote, came down the aisle with a plain wooden crosier
and kissed and greeted the people. Although
most of gringos did not speak Spanish, we commented afterwards how we had no
problem understanding the spirit, emotion and caring that the Bishop and
everyone put into that Mass. After
the Mass, Fr. Jack led us up a hill to the place where the priests were slain
and where a small grotto has been constructed.
Two
days after Fr. Jack’s anniversary celebration as I helped disassemble the
stage and platforms built for the celebration, I learned something else about
life in Chimbote – nothing is wasted. Cardboard
is saved for sleeping on or plugging holes in estera, plastic bags for storage,
pieces of wood for starting cooking fires, etc.
I was a big hit with the Peruvians because I could reach the highest
bolts on the platform. As the
platform came down, several parishioners, like worker ants, came around to pick
up pieces of wire, nails, and soda bottle tops (they are used as washers along
with nails to hold the estera to wood poles), while others swept.
Sweeping is popular in OLPH. On
Saturdays when the parish soup kitchens are closed, the women and a few men,
show up at 6:30 a.m. to sweep the entire parish grounds, including the concrete
soccer field. For their work, they
are paid 5 soles (about $1.75). On
one Saturday some other visitors and I distributed the money and some M&Ms
to each worker.
The day before we left OLPH, we hosted a luncheon for our host families at the same restaurant where we participated in the parish’s annual dinner dance for the handicapped group and their families. Towards the end of the luncheon, Mack, Fr. Jack’s chief of staff, told us that his wife died about a year ago and she was good about writing down things. A few days earlier he had been reading some of her writings, and he thought that he should be writing down more things. So he wanted to write about our visit to OLPH, but he could not understand why we come to Chimbote and show so much love and support for the people of OLPH, but he was very grateful for what we had done.
Near
the end of Fr. Jack’s Anniversary Mass, Hector Bosse, St. Ann’s, Gulf
Breeze, FL, answered Mack’s question in a statement he read in Spanish on
behalf of us gringos. Hector said,
“We come because we believe the biblical teaching to share our wealth with
those less fortunate…At the end of Matthew 25, our Lord says: Amen, I say to
you, whatever you did for one of these least of my brothers, you did for me.
We find Christ in you.”
During
one of our group meetings, I distributed and we prayed St. Mary’s prayer for
social 
action. Every morning as I
walked from my host home past the extreme poverty conditions, the dirt, and
smell of foul orders to the parish center, I prayed our prayer for social action
that begins, “Lord help me choose a simpler lifestyle that promotes solidarity
with the world’s poor”. St.
Mary’s works to promote solidarity with the poor by sharing some of our
tithing funds with OLPH and providing volunteer opportunities in Peru.
Those of us who have traveled to the foreign missions have been blessed
by the experience and certainly are motivated to do more.
I watched Fr. Jack’s videotape, available from the video library,
several times, and I thought I had a good idea of the poverty in Chimbote and
the friendship of the people, but the experience of the extreme poverty of the
people and their friendship helped me appreciate life in Chimbote. An appreciation that could only be gained through being
with the people.
When
we returned from the anniversary Mass for the slain priests, we met with Fr.
Jack, Sr. Peggy and some parishioners who were not at the Mass.
Fr. Jack was explaining the spirit and emotions of the Mass when Sr.
Peggy mentioned that maybe he should be explaining in English to the gringos
what he was saying. Someone in our
group said that he didn’t have to explain it to us because we understand, we
were there. I am grateful that I
can say I was at OLPH, and I hope that others can have a similar experience, or
maybe even volunteer for an extended period.
Those who cannot travel to Peru can contact me to learn about
opportunities to participate in the OLPH mission
