In 2015, while living in Chontal, I was able to get 20 bibles at about $10 each, and then sell them discounted to $2. To follow up, I began a Bible study on the Sundays of Lent to prepare for Holy Week and Easter. I used Powerpoint presentations and we covered different themes chosen by the people. Anywhere from 4 to 20 people came each time, and it was a good introduction to the Bible while providing some cool insights to different stories.
Lenten Retreat for Religious Ed Teachers
In Lent 2016, I organized a retreat for the local religious ed teachers in Chontal. We went to Mindo, which is a well-known tourist area that also has retreat ground belonging to a religious community called Communio Sanctorum.
I incorporated a trip to the butterfly farm at the beginning to prepare for the retreat. We finally arrived a the retreat center at lunchtime Tuesday, and we left late afternoon the next day. A visit like this is rare for the people here, and it stretches their funds, but the parish priest donated a bit of money to support too.
The retreat experience was awesome, and each person had time to share with me - there were some amazing stories! We had fun coming back (we have to catch a few buses), and that turned into an adventure as well. There were some landslides that stopped the last bus route, but we got a truck to take us to the landslide in the rain, and a group of us walked across it in the dark, At the other side, a truck from Chontal picked us up and took us home. When I got back, I was up til midnight hand-washing my clothes and backpack that were covered in mud!
Tragedy Recovery Therapy in Chontal
In October and November of 2015, four students from a local family in the local elementary/middle school in Chontal committed suicide. The faculty and the local people were at a loss at what to do, and although after I arriving in December I had offered to assist them if they wanted to memorialize the students, they were reluctant to react.
In January, another student tried to commit suicide. A teacher came to me at night, and decided she would be open to doing anything. We met the next morning with two other teachers, and the idea for the butterfly memorial was born. The next day, I entered a class, and after doing a bit of English, transitioned the conversation to the recent tragedy. I shared about my own losses, and how I learned that when I memorialize someone who has died, I feel their presence with me. In fact, just like the caterpillar turns into a butterfly, we don't ever leave - we transform. We are still present, just not recognizable. And the church down the street is a memorial to my mother, and I feel that she is always with me. I offered that we could if they wanted to, make our own butterflies, and describe our friend on one wing, while putting our own personal message to them on the other. I finally finished with a question: would you like to do that? It was a universal and resounding "yes".
The butterfly making spread from classroom to classroom as all the teachers one by one wanted it for their own. These memorials filled the walls in the classes of the deceased students, and a big weight was lifted from the school atmosphere.
Fire Disaster Relief for the Chiluisa Family
Don Segundo Chiluisa is a widow who has 4 young children in Chontal. His wooden house burned down in 2014, and the people of were able to give him a part of the donations we put together for those most affected by the landslides of Mother's Day 2014. As there is no insurance or government assistance, he was able to buy the cinder blocks he needed to start to rebuild a home, with the help of his young daughters. The house remains unfinished. He continues to plant a number of different things in the small property he has, including beans and cocoa and aloe, hoping to make some income. But being older, he can't work like he used to.
In January 2016, I was able to give him some more donated money to help him pay off some debt that he has. There are a number of families who are just eking out an existence, and facing tragedies along the way ...
Language Group at St. Anthony Shrine
From September to December 2015, I facilitated an interactive English Class at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston. We had members from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. The emphasis was on forming a support group where people could come to resolve their English experiences from each week and find their growing points. The idea is that we learn a second language just like our first: from everything. The teacher is God. So, the goal of the group is to accompany and assist the members in growing as learners from all their experiences in the culture (including dedicated classes), while untying the knots that result along the way.
Rebuild the Schoolteachers' Housing
In March 2015, the teachers at the local elementary/middle school in Chontal asked me if I could find a way to help them rebuild a part of their teacher's residence. Most of the teachers commute from cities about 4 to 5 hours away, and so they stay overnight during the week. There is a small residence on the site between classrooms where two of the teachers stay, and the wood construction was rotting. Coupled with the entrance of rodents, the teachers didn't feel safe. They asked for $200 to provide the cinder blocks to rebuild the housing as best they could.
A few friends and I raised the money, and after the blocks were bought, a few of the local people donated some of their time to rebuild the house. And just in time, as one of the teachers had just come back from maternity leave with a new little one in tow!
Short-Term Mission Support for Family Missions Company
In May 2015, I helped out the Family Missions Company missionaries receive a short-term mission group from Louisiana. I had been in contact with missionaries Ryan and Jason with FMC for a while about making a visit to get to know their community a bit, and it worked out for me to come and help out in the mission. This mission was located in Puerto Misahuallí, which is located in the Oriente on the Napo River. I joined in with the missionaries Ryan, Jason, Candice, and James to receive the students (along with their guides) who had just graduated from high school. My own experience with the culture and language allowed me to fit right in and be helpful, and it was easy to get to know the local people and the missionaries. It was a really special time, and we all bonded in a special way with each other and the local people. I hope to go back someday...
The experience also gave me some new ideas and solidified some of my own ideas on the hosting that I would like to do as Barriers To Bridges.
Medical Costs for Scarlet
The family of Scarlet Bosmediano in Chontal was in need of financial help to pay for her medical bills. Scarlet was born with a dislocated hip, and the free medical attention they received didn't work. They decided to go to a paid physician, which put them in debt. They began a fundraising effort in Chontal but were not making much headway. We were able to join in the community fundraiser and raise $800 of the $1000 they were looking for to pay off the debt for Scarlet's care.
Scarlet has had a great recovery so far, and after crawling for some time, she is now walking and running normally. Whether it's chicks or footballs, she's a sweet and friendly girl!
Scarlet with her Mom, Ines. She had a complete body cast around her hips that prevented hip movement.
First Communion for Santa Cecilia
In 2013, I visited the community Santa Cecilia each week along with one of the Franciscan sisters. Santa Cecilia is one of the satellite villages in Puerto Quito, and they received a visit from the local priest about once every several months. No one was available to visit the people there when the local priest asked me if I wanted to go. I invited Sr. Josefina to come along, and she continued for another year after I had to leave. By the end of the two years, 15 children received their first communion, in the first "first communion" experience of the village. For me, I also saw that the whole process was the children's - and the villages - first experience of communion in grace amongst each other.
The first time we went, we used the readings from the Mass to have a celebration of the Word. We had about 2 or three young mothers, plus some small children, gathered on a bamboo bench just outside of the local one-room schoolhouse. A dog lay nearby, and a large pig trotted by as we began. One young woman read the first reading while breastfeeding. And I remember that that was the first time that I ever preached, as a large number of small birds arrived to listen! Well, from there we were able to use the schoolhouse for a bit, and then had to move to neighbor's house, as the group of children grew as well. We used material supplies that we could get in Puerto Quito plus our own creativity to give the people what I like to think of as the best activities of all the Sunday experiences in the Puerto Quito area! And above and beyond all, an experience of heart-felt communion. Check out the video:
Living in Puerto Quito
I spent one year living in Puerto Quito, from Feb 2013 to Feb 2014, and was blessed to live in the parish house and come to know the community and their way of life. There are so many memories and continued relationships!
In January 2015, I returned to live for a month, alongside the Bazurto family, who became good friends. The Bazurtos were a family of 15 - including several young women with physical disabilities - living in a small wooden house. (Some have since moved out, and the matriarch of the family has found work.) I spent a lot of time playing with the kids, as well assisting the family with their poverty needs: food, furniture, and eyeglasses for the kids!
Enjoy the house party:
Landslide Disaster Relief for Chontal
Don Ramiro, Sra. Shisela, and representatives of the families that received relief funds.
On Mother's Day 2014, I was visiting Chontal to prepare for my stay to begin a mission near the city of Santo Domingo. That night, the rains caused severe landslides on the mountains that resulted in a national disaster. Fortunately, no one was killed or severely injured. But among many traumatic stories were the loss of several homes and extensive property damage. I opened a gofundme and over 35 of us from the States contributed a total of $14,000 to aid in the recovery. With the money, those most affected by the disaster were able to build new homes, rebuild the ones they had, or invest in new property.
Original video looking for relief funds
Victims thanking the donors
Follow-up video
Bosque de Oro Comes to Life
In 2013, I regularly visited one of the satellite villages in the area of Puerto Quito, called Bosque de Oro, or "Forest of Gold". With two of the Franciscan sisters, we went almost every Sunday to this community that had a Mass maybe once a month. There, we organized a celebration of the Word with Communion. I had the opportunity to preach there each week, but also to join with the sisters in developing the event. We prepared people to announce the Scripture, to form a choir, and take our own place at leading the services. We taught the rosary after the service as well, so that people could get comfortable and pray on their own at home if they wanted. In the meantime, we had also visited a few sick people after the service to bring communion or to pray with them. The attendance at the service and the sense of community grew until I had to leave, but return visits are always special!
Animating a Project for the Disabled
In 2013, I was able to spend a few days a week accompanying people with disabilities in Puerto Quito in a project called Amigos del Arca. Working together with the leaders and workers, we organized an all-day event every Friday that included a dynamic spiritual service, a lunch, and many social activities for the community of people with disabilities and their families. It all integrated spiritual and social dimensions in a way that made everyone look forward to every Friday. You could see the whole spirit of the community came to life!
Language Exchange in Puerto Quito
In 2013 in Puerto Quito, five of us met for much of the year for language exchange, with an emphasis on English. I taught English, and they taught me different things in Spanish. For English, we used the book Inglés Para Latinos, and eventually each person gave their own presentation in English on their chosen topic. We all are still friends to this day.
High School Language Exchange 2013
In 2013, the English club at the high school Santiago Apóstol in Puerto Quito began a language exchange with a senior-level Spanish honors class at Cardinal Spellman high school in Brockton, MA. First, each side completed a round of introductory videos to share, and then the kids from Cardinal Spellman added another while we updated ours.
This is ours from Santiago Apostol in Puerto Quito:
Here are the two from Cardinal Spellman:
One of the great aspects to this interchange is that the students got to build a relationship using the language barrier. And in the process, they used technology in service of the dignity of the human person and in building new relationships within the life of the Church as brothers and sisters.
Sadly, the project was discontinued when the teacher at Cardinal Spellman passed away from a long illness, and the ending of the English club at the school.
High School Physics Lab Upgrades
The physics lab at the high school Unidad Educativa Santiago Apóstol in Puerto Quito was pretty bare bones, without enough supplies to conduct experiments to any accepted standard in the US. I was able to get some simple components such as breadboards, resistors, meters, cables, and other electrical circuit equipment. It was a small start, but one that enabled a good physics lab project on electric circuits. From there, in collaboration with the physics teacher, we were able to design new physics lab experiments in electronic circuits.
English Club at Santiago Apostol HS
In 2013, with the help of the local English teacher, I started the first club at Santiago Apostol high school in Puerto Quito - an English club. We met each week for 2 hours throughout the year, sharing in a number of different activities related to English and growth in US culture and language. It not only focused on language, but bridge-building in general, including an exchange project with Cardinal Spellman HS in Brockton, MA. This will always remain a special group of kids to me, amd we continue to be friends to this day.
Building a Church for the Poor in Chontal
In 2009, I made donation of $35,000 in my mother's memory to the Franciscan Missions to help them build a church for a poor community. It turned out to be used for the people of San Miguel del Chontal, providing the majority of the funds needed to construct their church, San Miguel Arcangel. I made a visit to the first Mass and blessing in 2010, and sensing my mother's presence, decided to continue to get to know the people. That was the beginning of what this mission is today!
The original construction was an old barn-like structure. You can see the transformation!
Before and After
