The construction projects that were supported by the October ’99 mission were from the parish of San Francisco, which was the only parish to respond to the letter sent to all the parishes. We worked in the barrio of Espiritu Santo and the barrio of Villa Margarita. A total of 15 dwellings were started during this mission with 7 in Espiritu Santo and 8 in Villa Margarita. In the barrio of Espiritu Santo, 2 Habitacions (affecting 17 people), 2 Banos (affecting 9 people), 2 Cocinas (affecting 21 people), and 1 Cuarto (affecting 8 people). In the barrio of Villa Margarita, 3 Habitacions (affecting 24 people), 3 Banos (affecting 22 people), and 2 Cocina (affecting 11 people). In the construction projects alone we have affected the lives of 112 people directly not counting the neighbors, neighborhood kids, bus drivers, and those we met during our travels. I would estimate that on the average 30% to 40% of the work was completed. We learned that many of the people knew we were coming and were home to work with us unless a job required their attention. The Villa Margarita barrio came together as community through out the work period as evidenced by the mutual agreement to work on Sixta’s house, who is a recent widow with 8 children. Detailed listing of the projects will be supplied on the CCC Field Report sheet.
Edith did a fantastic job in coordinating the entire effort! She had a list of work sites with the family names, the work required, the materials to be supplied, and the cost of each construction material and total cost. After giving her a check for $5,000 on Tuesday morning the materials were on site by Wednesday morning. She will be sending a copy of the invoices to Mary Jeanne. Edith was always on time and coordinated the events extremely well. We used local buses for our transportation to and from the barrios. I made it a point to tell Padre Joaquin privately and publicly of the high quality of Edith’s work.
We visited the hospital site twice (meeting with Roberto and Jorge). Once for an assessment and then to receive the schedule to complete the work. There was a lot of work in progress at the site. We (Marty, Randy and I) estimated 5 to 6 months to complete. The engineers have the work scheduled to be complete by March. Therefore, independently we believe that the time available prior to the dedication is sufficient to complete the work. But will the work flow as planned? I had them prepare input to the schedule that I provided and we agreed that I would fax the schedules to them for monthly updates. The first update will go out to Bolivia November 15. I believe constant attention will provide for the hospital to be ready for the dedication. A trip in January will allow follow up to the community health issues (AA, ALANON, ALATEEN), meet with priests to set up the specifics for the April mission, and to determine if the new hospital will be functional to accept the medical team for April.
The hospital has oxygen being piped from tanks to operating rooms, intensive care, and recovery rooms. I believe that this is via copper pipe. Is this acceptable and can someone verify? The electrical supply is 200KVA at 220 volts and this appears sufficient to us, but there is no bill of materials to confirm that the supply matches demand. If a power outage occurs the plan is to use a generator, BUT there is no generator in the current plan. (The plan was to place this in the equipment room, but we told them outside since the generator will probably be diesel fuel powered.) They believe that the transformer will give a steady power source, but will use individual voltage stabilizers for each piece of sensitive equipment to protect against power surges. We did not get an answer to the source of suction, which we asked in different ways and we were unable to connect on the communication. We were told that the operating room lamps were coming from the USA. The water supply to the hospital is from the chlorinated city water supply. I asked the engineers if they would drink this water and the answer was no. Their plan is to boil the water for patient consumption. The incoming water is to be stored in a cistern (maybe to have water available on those days that there is no water supply from the city), but that can be a good place for things to grow. We think consideration must be given to a filter or another treatment prior to the water entering the hospital distribution system. These are some issues to follow up in January and to learn of other issues before arriving in April.
We met with the Curia and Bishop Jesus Perez was in attendance. We used Fr. David to translate on our behalf. The Bishop stated in the Sunday mass and again in this gathering that we are two Dioceses in community and in solidarity and his support was evidenced from the comments and the warm greeting. Also this is not a Bishop that wants to be patronized, rather wants all to participate. Some of the points we made included – the medical and CCC are in Sucre for all the people, the missioners from the USA represent different parishes in the Joliet Diocese and therefore we are two Diocese in solidarity with one another. One parish responded to the inquiry for assistance and that was San Francisco where we are currently working, and we want to know what are the needs of the people of Sucre so that we can help them in the future. Also one priest requested a mission to his barrio which is in the country. Maybe for one of the future mission trips we advertise for some outward bound people to go in the country for a few days to determine the needs, what is required to help those in the country, and to determine what is required to live in the country. Two priests came to Padre Joaquin to request information of the CCC and the hospital. This would be another agenda item for January. One priest told the curia and us that in our mission "hacemos la iglesia" – we make the church!
Community health is also something we addressed on this mission. We had the first open ALANON meeting in Sucre on October 12 with meetings now scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday, and AA (already established) is every Wednesday and Friday. Bety Aranbar Lopata de Diaz leads ALANON and Victor Diaz Ribera leads AA (their Sucre telephone number is 40291). We also participated in a town meeting on Alcohol and the youth on October 21. This meeting was poorly attended due to late notice and other political events in Sucre, but community leaders want this addressed. People we met at the town meeting included Colonel Pablo Caballero (Head of the Police), Dr. Sergio Querejazu (addressing alcohol as a disease), Camara Junior (Alcohol Free Youth), Aorg. Fedor Dorado (lawyer on alcoholism and the effect on society). I committed to look for additional Spanish language literature for ALATEEN. Also suggested that the emphasis be placed on ALANON before expanding into ALATEEN.
Jeanne, Fr. David, Steve, and I met with Hermana Celina during the second week. On our first visit we found none of the sisters home, but the projects that we were able to see were complete. Also the children and adults remembered us by name, and also asked for Carlos and Angie. A nurse in the field made an impression on the people. The new house is complete and BEAUTIFUL. They have their garden planted. The sisters brought out their guitar and we sang some songs, as is our tradition with them. We explained to Hermana that we are working in San Francisco to meet our commitment to be of service to all the parishes of Sucre. She is writing a letter to the CCC requesting financial assistance to build a "salon", which is a community center for teaching, gathering,etc. We told her that we would forward the letter, but we also heard her say that there are 30 more communities within San Clemente who are very poor. (If there are people living without acceptable living conditions and so many other parishes in need – a "salon" may need to yield to other priorities.) On a community health note Hermana stated that physical abuse and drinking are evident in San Clemente.
We visited the orphanage and spent the afternoon with the children, followed by mass and supper. Some missioners thought of adoption (we need to know the real rules for adoption in Bolivia).
The families from the barrios had a farewell party and the entire mission team attended. There were speeches, dancing, gifts, and solidarity. A youth group from the Villa Margarita barrio sang for everyone. The farewell from PROSAC was at El Huerto, which included speeches and dinner.
The entire mission team attended an international "Futbol" game (Sucre won with 4 goallllllllllllllllllllls), went to Tarabuco (enjoyed by everyone), visited the cemetery (very interesting), and an old mansion. It was great being one mission team!
The CCC grouped every morning after mass and before breakfast, and the Pastoral team joined us. We also had evening prayer with Fr. David and some members of CCC and the medical team.
Did not see Marlene’s youth group. We saw Helen and Chi Chi during mass at San Cristobal. We visited the Day Care center on Saturday to find that Mario’s youth group takes children in on Saturday to teach games, songs, Formation, and community. The mission team donated approximately 1,000 Bolivianos to this group to buy milk, flour, and other food. They are also in need to get transportation to bring children from the barrio to this facility on Saturday.
It appears that a contact list with names, addresses, phone numbers, and service/help provided would be a very useful tool. This would be a beginning to develop a network in Sucre to help us accomplish our mission tasks, as well as get the community involved in helping the poor of their own community (not only support from the USA). This is not replacing what we have already, but a parallel means to provide assistance. For example, Mario has introduced us to many contacts; in fact I have a letter from a Soccer group commending our work, as well as a name and phone number to call if I need help. Then there is the flight attendant from Cochabamba that will help if we need him, and the business man from Boston that is from Cocabamba who asked to say hello to his aunt who is a nun, but also gave us his address in the USA. This does not count all the others we have met. Our family is getting larger! And we were interviewed for TV in Cochabamba and Sucre, as well as for the Diocesan newspaper.
Helen once again became a Godparent during this mission, Jeanne and I will be Godparents and Steve a Godparent next October, and Diana a nurse was asked to be a Godparent. The people of the barrio are also asking us to come back to visit without work or money.
A laborer in Sucre makes $70 a month and a lead (or skilled laborer) makes $140 a month. Land in the barrio costs $10 to $15 per square meter. Maybe this explains why families stay together in order to live, and that some of the small family property is so small.