This past week’s lecture on the Bolivian family was very helpful in understanding why so many children are abandoned and/or abused. As in most undeveloped countries, environmental and economic degradation has forced many families to emigrate from the rural indigenous villages to the big cities looking for work. When they can’t find employment, the stress of dire poverty & lack of family support leads often to family breakdown with the consequences of single parents, alcoholism, abandonment & abuse. In these orphanages & shelters we saw the living effects of these realities.
Casa Nazareth is a home accommodating about a dozen little boys, K thru 5th grade. It is operated by American religious sisters. The boys seemed happy to be where they were and played so nicely with each other and were so responsive to us that they stole my heart with their dark eyes and big smiles.
Solomon Klein is an orphanage of about 150 babies from birth to 3 years. In one of the toddler rooms I sat down near a little girl who was lying face down on a mat. I began stroking her back. She looked up at me and crawled over to me like a little caterpillar and curled up on my lap and reached up and touched my face. We culled for the rest of the time. When I got up to leave I couldn’t stop crying.
Madre de Dios is a shelter accommodating between 25 & 30 abused or abandoned young girls from grade school age founded in 1980 by 2 American Sisters of Charity, one who is still living hosted us.
She looked like she was well into her 90’s and spoke with such love for these girls it made me cry again. I was able to cover up my embarrassment by calling myself “the water works”. All the girls looked so sweet & endearing. One of them took my hand and didn’t want to let me go until I said “Hasta luega” to her and she smiled. I feel very drawn to choose this place as my volunteer site.
The children’s hospital has some kids from poor distant villages whose parents can’t make the trip in to the big city to visit them. Some are there for months without any visitors. There is a house on the hospital campus for the rural parents that accommodates about 12 people (mostly mothers) who would otherwise be camping out on the street. Touring the hospital I was struck by all the prominent religious statues and pictures. I asked our guide if this was a Catholic hospital. She smiled and said Bolivia is a Catholic country. The new president Evo Morales is trying to build a separation between church & state but like all changes it is met with much resistance.
Nuestra Casa is a home for teenage girls sponsored by the Jesuits and run by several Bolivian women. They made us lunch and the girls joined us and all introduced themselves and gave their ages ( ages 12 to 18) They were all so sweet with their shy pretty smiles and dark eyes & hair.
We ended the day with a kickoff celebration of Maryknoll’s 100 anniversary year. Music , prayer, slide show of photos of the first missionaries to Bolivia in the early 40’s & 50’s, small group discussions about what the Maryknoll spirit is all about , skits with much fun & laughter
& a large group reflection ending with a cookout at the house of the Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers on the campus of the Language Institute. About 50 people from the Maryknoll community in Bolivia attended; Maryknoll priests & brothers, sisters, lay missionaries with their children and us short term volunteers. Many stories were shared over supper from the early days from the memories of those who are now mostly in their 70’s & 80’s but still vigorous & vibrant.
Maryknoll Father Tom Henehan described it best:
From all reports we seemed to have enjoyed our time together. Many have commented how the group was able to weave together; prayer, reflection, laughter and celebration. The collaborative spirit was certainly evident during the cook-out: bringing different dishes to be shared with others, helping to prepare and serve the food and working tirelessly to wash the dishes and leave the kitchen and dinning areas spotless.
First Maryknoll Centennial Family Gathering, January 29, 2011
Cochabamba, Bolivia
During the final plenary, the group identified historical characteristics of the early Maryknoll landings that will be useful to orientate the Maryknoll Movement in Bolivia in the future.
The preferential option for the poor and excluded was evident in Maryknoll’s initial insertion into the Bolivian Pando Vicariate. There was a sense of adventure, a willingness to embrace God’s plan, not ours. Maryknoll entered realities where others were not willing to enter. The first missioners, even though they made mistakes, were able to take them in stride and enter the new cultural reality with respect and with a spirit of service, of being available. They were aware of the presence of God among the people. They struggled to learn the local language and worked hard at understanding the different religiosity and cosmovision of the people with whom they worked. The attitude was consciously intercultural (cross cultural). On one hand there was a sharing of aspects of our culture and on the other hand there was an attempt to value the local culture.
The first missioners fostered a spirit of trust among the people. They were willing to be vulnerable and also adaptable. This required a sense of not taking themselves too seriously. It was marked by an affability very much related to the saving grace of having a good sense of humor. This spirit of trust often led to a more horizontal relationship with the laity rather then vertical.
This mutual trust was often put into practice by way of cooperatives, helping people trust each other. The network of social communications that also has been characteristic in our work in Bolivia is another example of how we have tried to facilitate the empowering of people. Throughout our presence in Bolivia and in other regions, our work has often been characterized by leaving behind well formed laity empowered by their baptismal commitment that is lived out as active members of their community. Many of the works initiated by Maryknollers have been handed over to the laity.
The relationship between the Fathers, Brothers, Sisters and later with the Lay Missioners has been one of valuing and embracing the diversity among us; seeing it as a gift rather than divisive. All vocations are required and valued to form community which models the universal Church.
The first Maryknollers brought to the local ecclesial reality a sense of the universal Church and its mission. A humble farmer from the alti-plano of Bolivia once said, “while the Jesuits gave us St. Ignatius and the Franciscans gave us St. Francis, the Maryknollers gave us the Spirit of Christ.”
Notes taken during the plenary by Tom Henehan, M.M.
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