When I was home in Scotland at summer several people asked me what was the big project that I would still love to do while in Ecuador. Without much hesitation I said “Bring a group over to Scotland”. I had seen various other people doing the same sort of thing and I thought it was possible; and, after all, the youth group from St. John’s, Stevenston had already asked us to think about it.
So, when I came back, I investigated whether it was in fact possible. At every step I met with an open door of people who thought it was a good idea – offering funding along the way. So, after asking the youth from the four Parish youth groups here to fill in an application form, yesterday I announced the names of the eight people who will come with us in February/March on an exchange trip to St. John’s, Stevenston: Adela, Freddy and Carol are the leaders along with me; the girls are Flor, Sonia, Lucy and Carmen; and the guys are Manuel, Jose Carlos, Andres and Andres. Of course, they were over the moon; but what struck me was that there were only a few sad looking faces from those who weren’t picked – in the main, the rest of the groups decided to get stuck in behind their own representatives.
While in Scotland we will work on a regeneration project in North Ayrshire, visit the new St. Matthew’s Academy, Saltcoats, take part in St. John’s Masses and activities as well as making a visit to Celtic Park, the Scottish Parliament and other places.
Personally, I am looking forward to it greatly. There is still a lot of work to be done - not least in raising funds and making sure we get passports and visas for all our people (none of whom have such a thing). This is a unique opportunity for people who, under normal circumstances, would not be able to afford a trip to Quito in the north of Ecuador. Yet once again the generosity and support of people in Scotland has been fantastic and I am sure it will be a great success. We have a strong team!
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