Never too old
19.01.2009
.jpg)
As the Columbans would say - just walk with the people.
You are never too late or too old to follow your dreams. My wife, Marion, and I have just returned from Peru where we have been working for the past year. It has been Marion's dream for over 40 years to work in South America and now it has been achieved. The trouble is the 12 months in the Lima parish of Motupe/Montenegro has not satisfied either of us and we cannot wait to return!
In July 2007 we visited Fr Leo Donnelly in order to investigate the possibilities of voluntary work teaching English somewhere in Lima. After visiting a number of schools in the Punta Negra area Fr Mick McKinnon, a Columban Associate from the Ballarat Diocese, invited us to have a look at his parish of Motupe/Montenegro, San Juan de Lurigancho. This is an extremely poor area about 20kms from the centre of Lima. It is also being populated rapidly as the houses continually move up the valley into the foothills of the Andes. It's estimated that just over one million of Lima's nine million live in this valley.
Fr Mick assured us that there was a need for us to teach English in this area, as well as supporting the people in other ventures. He found us rental accommodation and we lived very comfortably, after we got used to hand washing everything, including our sheets and towels!
What was it like and where do you begin? It was an amazing experience, one which has left us with lasting memories, especially of the wonderful people we met and worked with.
We taught English to two groups: each group for three nights a week for three months and then for the remainder of the year, one night a week for 'a two hour conversational experience!' We quickly realised that we may have been achieving more in the area of personal self-esteem than in their mastering the English language. They were so appreciative, they loved their work and they became special people in our lives, and hard to leave behind.
We also had a most rewarding time teaching English to two lay missionaries and two parish workers who lived and worked in our area.
We witnessed the construction of the community centre in the area of Pedregal Alto. This venture was due to an enormous amount of local fund raising in the two Parish Primary Schools of Sacred Heart and St Paul's, Mildura, the Sacred Heart Parish and the wider Sunraysia community. This venture began in July and was completed in December. During 2009 this kitchen will be utilised to provide midday meals for the children of the area. The Pedregal Alto area is an extremely poor area and the families are certainly in need of such a facility.
What else filled our year? As the Columbans would say - just walk with the people. So we talked to them, shopped from them and Marion supported their music at their Masses. In other words we endeavoured to live normal daily lives with our immediate neighbours.
Truly a wonderfully rewarding experience and one which we will never forget.
Luke and Marion Guthrie live in Mildura; Marion teaches in Sacred Heart Primary School.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)