Tuesday afternoon…
As a means of a simple break we decided to take the Metropolitan from one end of Lima to the other. This is a new bus service which travels virtually from the northern to the southern suburbs of Lima via the middle of Lima’s CBD.
The buses are very comfortable and travel fairly quickly along a dedicated path in the middle of the road. In this way you are continually passing all the local buses, taxis, trucks and cars which are crawling along beside you blasting their horns. There are a number of buses travelling the pathway in the same direction and they are continually ‘leap frogging’ each other on the way.
Each station has two loading areas for passengers; your problem is to guess which area the bus is going to stop at!
The payment is simple, purchase a card and swipe it whenever you want to access any of the many estacións, ‘stations’, along the way.
The authorities have even introduced special feeder buses to take you to the nearest station; you also use your card on these buses. When your card runs low on credit you pay more money at any estación. It works very well here, makes you wonder why it does not work so well in Melbourne!
Wednesday…
We travelled with Dick and Liz to Pedregal Alto, Valle Sagrado and Montenegro to show them the ‘sights’. Dick and Liz are from England and are working out here for three months with the Columbans.
The comedor in Pedregal Alto is functioning so well, Sister Dora and her helpers are doing fantastic work supplying healthy lunches for over fifty children three times a week. All the people back home who supported this fundraiser can feel so proud of their efforts. The building looks great and the locals just enjoy being there.
We then took the bus further up to say goodbye to Sister Jacinta and Gladys and in the case of the latter it was a very sad time. Ever since 2008 Gladys has become a very dear friend and we continually marvel at her efforts to improve herself, she is presently aiming to enrol in a three year course in Infant Teaching.
The final stop before returning to the Center House was to say goodbye to Teresa and her family, her mother Maria and finally Lucy at the Parish Center. We were fortunate enough to actually catch up with a lot of other people at the same time, they were gathering at the Center for a meeting.
Thursday…
Off to Huaycan to visit Sister Marita’s project involving the children of the area.
Sister is a Columban Sister from Korea and has been in Huaycan for just over three years. Huaycan, pronounced ‘why carn’, is about a one hour drive south east of the center of Lima, we would possibly described the place as an outer suburb of Lima and on the way to Chosica.
On arrival at the convent we reacquainted ourselves with the other two Columban Sisters, both Marys, and immediately sat down to a delightful lunch. Aldo our driver for the day also joined us.
After lunch Marita was very keen to show us her project first hand. She explained that when she first arrived in the area she said she spent a fair amount of time just walking the streets and visiting families in their homes.
She quickly observed that the children, from both primary and secondary levels, had no real place to do their homework. In many cases they were simply sitting on the streets in the dirt and dust working at their lessons. That was when she set about providing a place for the children to go to so that they would be able to complete their schoolwork under adult supervision.
Since her first center she has had to move three times in order to cater for the numbers who attend on a daily basis. And unbelievably in two weeks time she will be able to move into a brand new brick building which she has been able to fund at the cost of about $50,000 US.
The new and the old homework centers for the children.
She proudly showed us through and it is a fantastic facility ready to be used. There are two large rooms set aside for primary and secondary children, office space, showers and toilets, a kitchen and adjacent room to be used in the future for a dining space. The building has an enclosed courtyard with space for a garden and possible water feature and she has also made sure that essential services are in place for accommodation to be added on the first floor in the future.
The question arose concerning her immediate needs for the building and from what we could see it was all about essential furnishings such as tables, chairs, white boards, cupboards and shelving to store books and other resources. She also sees the need for basic office equipment, especially a photocopier. Finally, she would love to be able to set up the kitchen area as soon as possible with all the necessary equipment such as stove, refrigerator, pots, pans, crockery and cutlery.
We all agreed that we had visited a wonderful Columban project and that with a little help we may be able to support it in the future.
Friday…
A full days shopping in and around the Miraflores area. We were gone from the Center House by 7.30 a.m. and returned around 4.00 p.m., a big day. Another discovery was made – the authorities boast that the Metropolitan system moves thousands of passengers each hour; they failed to add that they did this by only using one bus! It is amazing to watch how many can get on at each stop even though nobody seems to ever get off!
It was the same both ways, initially we thought we were caught in the morning rush hour, however, on the way back the crowds were virtually the same. Marion thought that it may have been just after siesta!
Saturday…
Lunch with two good friends, both Sisters of St. Joseph, or as we say brown Joeys! We worked with Marg Malady in 2008 and I knew Patricia Day while working in Catholic Education for the Ballarat Diocese. Both great women and we had lots to talk about and share before saying more goodbyes…
Not quite sure what will happen tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, nevertheless, we do know that on Thursday we have a 9.30 a.m. appointment at the LAN Airlines International departure desk!
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