How a young girl from England helped bring relief to a flood-shattered ‘barrio’ in Peru
The new water tanks; Beatriz (left), Fr John Boles and Milagros (centre) doing presentations to local residents.
Who says that miracles don’t happen?
Milagros Sophia Hampson is twelve years old. She lives with her parents in a block of flats overlooking the River Mersey in the great English conurbation of Greater Manchester.
“Milagros” is a Spanish word which means “miracles”, and Milagros Hampson has certainly proven to be a little miracle as far as a poor, devastated community on the edge of Lima is concerned.
I have known Milagros’s family for over twenty years. Her mother, Beatriz, was born and raised in a Columban parish in Lima, the capital of Peru, and was living there when I started my life as a Columban priest nearby. In a series of coincidences which might also be considered little miracles, Beatriz was invited to visit an Aunt living in England. The Aunt took her to Manchester - specifically to my native parish (for I am from Manchester) - where she met and fell in love with a local lad named Darren. Back at home on leave, I ran into them at church, and soon after I had the honour of celebrating their wedding. Visiting them each time I was on leave, I witnessed the arrivals of son Edselito and daughter Milagros.
(Later, a friend of Beatriz came to visit her….and fell in love with Darren’s brother. Then, Beatriz’ sister came and the same happened with a friend of Darren`s! I celebrated these weddings as well, and kept in touch with branches of the family on both sides of the world.)
Milagros was conscious of her South American background. “She was always watching and reading things about Peru”, her mother explains. “She was proud of her roots”. In March 2017, Milagros was very upset to see how a series of massive flash floods had wreaked havoc in parts of her mother’s homeland – and decided to do something about it.
She obtained permission from the head of her school to hold a “pyjama party” and used the proceeds to start her own small relief fund. Inspired by this, her Mum organized a “tea time” for neighbours, and so swelled the coffers. They contacted me in Lima, and through Columban benefactors I was able to double the amount raised. Not to be outdone, Dad Darren – a taxi driver – got together with his mates to finance a trip to Peru for Milagros and her mother, so that they could bring help directly to the flood victims.
Following the floods, the Columbans in Peru had been working closely with the Loreto Sisters. (Another coincidence – the Mother House of these Loreto Sisters is in Manchester!) These had “adopted” one small community – or “barrio” – on the edge of Lima called, “Las Liberas de Cajamarquilla”. Of its 23 families, eleven had seen their homes completely destroyed, and the other houses had been badly damaged. Roads and service lines had been severed.
The Loretos and the Columbans had provided food and medical supplies as a first response. The government had set up tents for the homeless and had installed temporary access bridges. The Sisters had secured financing for eleven pre-fabricated bungalows. What was required next was a supply of water tanks for the new houses. (This was because, with no running water, trucks were going round to deliver water door to door, pouring it into insanitary makeshift cisterns.) The Sisters wanted to buy eleven purpose-made 1,000 litre domestic tanks with filters, to ensure that the affected families had access to clean drinking water.
The trip to Cajamarquilla was a real adventure as many of the roads and bridges along the route had been washed away. Eventually, after many a twist and turn we reached our destination just in time to meet the lorries coming to deliver the tanks. The community was there to meet us and we then presented the tanks to each family during a ceremony in which Milagros played a starring role.
You’d think that at this stage Milagros would declare ‘job done’. Not a bit of it ! She used the photos taken during the visit to do more fund-raising back home and a year later returned, this time not just with Mum but with Dad and brother Edselito as well. By then, the Sisters had managed to repair all the damaged properties and had also built a little community centre. Sr Miros asked Milagros and Beatriz to use the second round of donations to buy toys, picture books, tables and chairs for children, so as to equip a kiddies’ play-room within the community hall.
‘Milagros just wouldn’t give up’, her mother said.
‘The sight of all that destruction in my country broke her heart’. ‘I only wanted to help’, says Milagros. ‘I like helping people’.
The flood victims of Cajamarquilla know that and are grateful. Grateful for a little miracle – a ‘Miracle’ from Manchester.
Columban Fr John Boles has worked in South America for over 20 years.
Related links
- Read more from The Far East, September 2018