It was in the parish of Saints Columban and Francis Xavier on the outskirts of Lima, Peru, that Fr John met Josè and eventually his brother David who has been confined to a wheelchair for almost all of his life. Josè is David’s full-time carer.
When asked why Josè and his parents never wheeled David to church, especially when they had their annual Mass for the sick, Josè said “Come and see why.” It soon became clear why David was never brought to church. The family was desperately poor, but more to the point, their flimsy two-room wooden house clung precariously to the side of a hill.
The article subsequently ran in the Australian and Irish Far East magazine and in the Mission Magazine in the USA. It resulted in a renovated home and much more.
Columban Fr John Boles, Josè and David's mother in Peru. Photo: John Boles SSC
Fr John Boles recently wrote this progress report:
I’ve recently returned to Peru after my sabbatical year, and have been able to see first-hand progress made during 2019.
Altogether we have raised over $25,000. The lion’s share of the money (just under $20,000) went on rebuilding the family home. My colleague, Columban Fr Ed O´Connell, handed over the finished product in my absence, and accordingly I sent a thank you article to the Columban magazines at the start of the year.
I’ve been to the house a couple of times now and can confirm that our builder, César, did a wonderful job. It had cost almost double what we had first estimated, but this was because the land (being on a steep slope) needed to have retaining walls built in front of and behind the site in order to stabilize it. Also, to get water pipes in, they had to drill through solid rock.
The second priority related to David´s condition. Early on we got him an orthopedic bed. I’ve now managed to obtain for him a made-to-measure personalized orthopedic wheelchair, plus accessories. Two physiotherapists from our special needs school, Carlos and Marilyn, are voluntarily making periodic visits to the house to check up on him and make sure the family are positioning him correctly in the chair and bed. David needs a permanent supply of adult nappies. A donor from Australia kindly funded these throughout 2019.
David at home on his orthopedic bed, Peru. Photo: John Boles SSC
You’ll recall that the other main objective of the project was to cover José, Ayala´s (David’s brother) university expenses. His dream had been to study physiotherapy himself. We got him into the local Catholic university in March, but couldn´t secure him a place on the physiotherapy programme. Instead he took education, a course that at least carried a half-scholarship.
Thankfully, after first semester, he was able to cross over to physiotherapy – although at the cost of losing his half-scholarship! Still, we should have enough to pay his way. He has four more years to go, at an estimated overall cost of $5,600. We have $4,000 in the kitty. Donations continue to trickle in. In the final two years, students can start working as part-time assistant physiotherapists, and this way José could help finance his own education.
Thank you all once again for your marvellous support. Please write to me with any queries. I shall continue to keep you informed.
Columban Fr John Boles has worked in South America for over 20 years.
Listen to "Update on 'Tale of two brothers'"
