In many ways, however, I love the country of Peru much, much more than our own. The materialism of North America and the false sense of true happiness which this can bring, saddens and disturbs me. I would be happy to live in Peru, where the people have few belongings, yet great hearts and an abundance of faith. Of course Peru has its own problems, too. They're one of the reasons we went there. But they are completely different from the problems we have in our own country.
A big realization I came to was how much I take for granted in my own life. There was one old man on his death bed, to whom one of our priests gave Holy Communion and Last Rights. The last time he had the opportunity to receive the Eucharist was over thirty years ago. When I first heard about this, it really hit me how blessed I am - I go to mass every Sunday, and can go every day of the week if I wish to...
Indeed, the most important thing that we could give these people was the Sacraments. All of the villages have chapels, but most of them go for months without a mass said in them. All of our priests were busy, day after day, offering mass in numerous little villages, going off on “communion calls,” etc. It was amazing to see how grateful the people were, and even though the majority were not familiar with Latin Mass, they seemed to really appreciate it. One boy was asked what he thought of the Latin mass, and he answered, “I liked it a lot more than our regular mass - it was very beautiful and reverent. I also liked the way the priest was facing towards God, and not the people.” That boy was only nine years old.
Santissimo Sacramento Parish, where we stayed, was very beautiful. When I first walked through the front doors, I was in awe of the place. The buildings in Piura are not the same as our buildings back home – everything is very open. In the parish complex, there was no front door, and few doors separating rooms – just archways. There was art everywhere, and some of the walls had art painted right on them. There were many pictures of Blessed Mother Theresa, for she is very loved among the poor.
Padre Joseph is the priest at Santissimo Sacramento, and for the past twenty years he has been taking care of his 20,000 plus parishioners in Piura. I was blown away by the amount of good that he and the parish do for the Peruvians. Indeed, I saw the effects of their works first hand – they have a program there called “Family to Family,” in which an American family donates $300 a year for food for one particular family in Piura; this is just enough food for them to feed themselves. The day that I helped in the distribution of this food, one old man told us, with tears in his eyes, that since his wife passed away last year, the parish's monthly food donations were all that were keeping him alive. It was incredibly moving to see.
One of my favourite of the work assignments which we were given each day was the house building. Seeing a house just spring up in a day was pretty neat, although at the same time quite mind-boggling... Just seeing the kinds of quarters that the Peruvians there actually live in is hard to wrap your mind around. The floors were dirt, the walls were weaved bamboo, and the main structure of the houses were bamboo poles.
Helping at the hospice was also quite something. It really helped me to see the kinds of things which I might do one day if I become a nurse. I saw some very horrific afflictions right before my eyes, such as a man with such horrible scoliosis that he could not move out of bed, a 35-year-old woman, all skin and bones, who suffered from Polio since she was 4, and an old man with terrible bed sores, some of which were the most deep and awful wounds I have ever witnessed. We clipped these patients' nails, moisturized their skin, cleaned their wounds, and fed them lunch. I even shaved one old guy! - and nicked his cheek at one point, oops.
Another one of my favourite jobs was teaching English at the school. The man who oversaw us was so grateful for those who came that day, and for us to help the kids with correct pronunciation with English words. If any of the kids there would like to go to university in the future, it's required for them to know English. So in the first classroom, I was paired with two boys and one girl, and practiced with them the correct ways of asking and answering questions. In the second classroom, I helped teach the months of the year. I actually felt like a real teacher, walking around the classroom, and asking them to "repeat after me." The cool thing is that I could actually see myself doing that one day - teaching in a classroom, organizing lessons for children... hmm. Something else to think about.
We went to visit the Hogar (orphanage) many times while we were there, which was quite special. The girls were all sent there by their families to escape the dangers of the jungle. These girls were so very sweet, and I befriended one in particular, whose name was Rosemery. It was interesting to see the difference between the children in Piura and the children back home... the Peruvian children just seem so innocent, and so good. Kids in America lose their innocence at far too young an age...
One of the purposes of the trip was to light a fire in the hearts of us young people which we can bring back to North America. This fire - this burning love of Christ - is what our country needs most. I've really found this fire in myself since I came back from Peru, and I know that it's vital to feed the fire in order to keep it alive. And I need to keep this fire alive in myself, and do my best to spread and ignite it in the hearts of others, as well. Altogether I had such an amazing experience in Peru. I hope to come back to the same mission next year. Who knows, maybe if if become a nurse one day I'll go there to help in the hospice. The past week and a half I've been camping at Two Jack Lakeside with my parents, and I've had a lot of time to just sit and think about everything. There has certainly been a lot to process. The things I shared above are only small details of the many stories I have to share. This mission trip has changed my life, and I will be forever grateful that I had the opportunity to be apart of it. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!
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| Distributing clothing |
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| Cute kids |
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| In front of the roof we built |
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| Mass at the Hogar |
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