And so this is Christmas! And what a lively time it has been. Last night is the big night and day of celebrations. On the 24th, rather than the 25th, people will travel the country to get to their loved ones and have a meal. All through the night of the 24th there are firecrackers going off alongside the street parties. I was so shattered last night when I fell into bed at 1.30am that I slept even through the street party that sounded so loud that it seemed it was actually in the garden! But that is to start at the end. I had three Masses for Christmas here in the Parish: two last night and one this morning. The two on the 24th were jam packed and even into the choir-loft whereas this morning was much quieter, numbers-wise. All three though had great participation from all of the chapels round the Parish and in each mass there was an acted out Gospel; and this morning we even had an Ecuadorian pageant showing all the various regions of our country here. One of the great traditions here is for each family to bring all the figure of Christ from their family crib so that it can be blessed at Church – water flies everywhere as people seek to get themselves and their Christ figure blessed. Then at the end of each of the Masses there was a scrum to get the wee bags of Christmas sweeties provided from back home. After the Masses I spent my time phoning home and seeing what everyone was up to back home – where Santa had been etc. Then it was off to a local hotel for a meal with the other St. James guys and then topped off with a film that you just snooze into! A fantastic day – our community Masses here and then off for a bit of relaxation! We had the last of the large Baptisms – at least I think it’s the last of the large ones. 40 this time, on Saturday past! Of course, one of the good aspects of the large numbers is that the parish is getting more and more recognized so that more and more people are coming. However, the downside is that the I worry as to how deep we are touching their lives – is the message really getting through? A question to ponder for many weeks and months ahead …. We had a big Diocesan event earlier in the week where the Archbishop gathered us all for a big talk. Unfortunately, although he is an engaging person on a one-to-one basis, he can be a rather dull public speaker so it wasn’t a very lively meeting. It was made bearable by the crack of the other priests round about and also by the nice Christmas meal that was provided at the end. And, of course, I also hosted our now annual teacher’s meal in the house here. It was all very well when I started here and the staff was only nine but on Tuesday there we had twenty-four teachers around the table. It was a bit of a squeeze and, if it keeps growing, we will have to look for somewhere else. In any case, we sat down to Scotch broth, turkey and a Scottish pudding (I say it was Scottish because it had a wee bit of whisky poured over it). Along with the singing, presents and the dancing that went along with the meal; it was a very enjoyable afternoon!!!! And a great bunch of people. I went to see Fernando in hospital – he is the father of small Andres that came to Scotland. He is a city hospital having his diabetes looked into. He is a very deep guy and, although he doesn’t come to Church, we always end up speaking about God and religion. I also spent part of last week visiting the housebound and simple walking around the Parish. It is a real blessing to be able to walk around and see at first hand where people live and the sufferings they have to put up with. I went to visit Greta on Christmas Eve – she is well into her eighties and lives with her son and his family. She suffers from Parkinson’s disease and, as with so many people here, simply cannot afford regular treatment at the doctors. For her and for so many, the struggle goes on and on …..

I am just back in from a ‘possession’ event. These occur from time to time. Basically someone will come to the Chu8rch and tell me that such and such a young person is possessed by the devil and needs healing. I had had a few of these in recent weeks but when I was called out tonight, I saw that the 15-year old guy was shouting with more force than others so, instead of trying prayers and blessings, I tried another tack. I suggested we should go to a nearby clinic. The anxious mother agreed and we were able to get an injection and a few pills. The young guy, Ramon, seemed to settle down and was almost sleeping by the time we got him home. Possessed or what I am not sure but there are grave problems caused by lack of education and by poverty. This week was the big First Communion week. 250 young people received their First Communion ion Saturday. I had thought earlier in the year that they would, like previous years, all receive in the one Mass. But then I realized that the Church was not big enough. So we spilt – one Mass at 8am and then again at 11am. The Mass – and the photos afterwards – was so long that the Masses actually clashed. Having said that, it was great to see the Church packed on both occasions and with everyone participating. Music was by Tito and group so we are still swinging from the rafters. The photographers do get right in your face but, unfortunately, there is no point in fighting it as they will just find another way of getting right in there. Next year proves to have even more kids for Fist communions. These big events were followed by two youth events in Saturday evening and night. Firstly we had a youth concert at a nearby secondary school. IT was for the local youth of the various parishes and was a Christmas concert. It was very lively and lasted till about 10pm with various nativity scenes being acted out as well as Christmas songs and hymns. Then it was off to the city centre for our annual all-night vigil. I had promised that I would be the main celebrant at the Mass and thought I might be able to get a few moments of sleep but it was impossible. The event was great but everyone was shattered come 5am and the finishing Mass. Of course that was followed by three Parish Sunday morning Masses – I was nearly sleeping during my own sermon! My new job within the St James Society calls me to go and visit the Ecuadorian guys where they are working. I have see quite a few of them already but I was glad to get out and see Liam Reilly in a rather tough area of Duran and then later in the week get out to the coast to see John Keane and Tom Bierney whoa re in La Libertad. All three are in areas of great poverty and all three are just starting out on their missions. It is great to see their enthusiasm and commitment. So Christmas is just around the corner. And there is the big build–up here …. Though not as big as back home. There is no money so there will be no presents. But everyone wants to get something. Even if it’s a toy soldier or a turkey for their Christmas dinner…

The big building work of this month has been completed. Basically it is a wall outside the Divino Nino chapel (the chapel that St. John’s youth group did up when they came out here). For a while the catechists there had been on at me to do something. I had said that if they raised $500, we would go ahead. So being pretty smart people they got going with fundraisers: bingos, selling hot dogs out on the street etc. So quickly they came up with the cash. And I had to come up with my part of the bargain! It looks good, strong and sturdy. Although they have put barbed wire along the top which takes away a bit of the good look. Last Saturday was a massive Confirmation day – we had 120 people for the Sacrament! With so many Confirmations throughout the Diocese, the Archbishop sends out local priests to do the needful. So we had Padre Mauricio who was very good – he only spoke for thirty minutes (I heard of a guy who spoke for an hour and a half). So the Church was packed and, after the Mass, it was a long period of smiling for all the cameras with the various kids that had lined up. That, of course, was followed up by another batch of Baptisms – only thirty this weekend! We are looking forward to building the long-promised Medical Centre. We got a few good donations from back home so, although not all the money to complete the project is there; there is enough to make a good stab at it. The rest, God will provide. However, before we even get to that stage, the housing charity (Hogar de Cristo) who will run the Medical Centre, are fighting on our behalf. Basically the best bit of land for building is right beside the Nursery but we don’t yet have claim to that land. Not only that but the ‘lawyer’ said it wasn’t ours!!!! So I think while the lawyer seems to be ‘on the run from the law’, we are making hay with the City Council and getting claims!!! Hopefully we can start building soon. And I got another bit of good news this week: the local Rotary Club is funding the laying of a water pipe to get water up to the Nursery, Church and House. They sunk a well two years ago in the school and now they want to lay pipes from the school up to the house. It will be a great boon and blessing as we spend $50 each week for water in the Nursery and house. Good old Rotary! John Keane has his sister, Mary, our visiting him. While I was out at San Pablo to get some Society things sorted, we went out for lunch to a lovely place at Ballenita overlooking the ocean. Mary had just arrived and was shocked by the extent of the poverty. But the meal and the chat – and the scenery – made for a lovely afternoon!

The retreat at Ayangue was good and Fr. Jim and Fr. George, the two guys that were leading us were very good. There was no big psychological thing, which is Jim’s slant, but rather the key idea of the retreat was that all of us need to have a Spiritual Director. Who will care for the carers, who will minister to the ministers? One thing about the retreat was that we had to be accommodated at the nearby hotel – there was not enough room at our own house. So there was a daily walk back and forward between house and hotel – scenery on the way was fantastic! The only bad thing about the retreat week was the amount of additional business meetings that were added on. So when I came back to the city on Friday it was for a busy weekend. On Saturday I had 75 Baptisms split between two sessions. The reason for so many Baptisms is that people get panicky about not having their child baptized before the end of the year. So it was a busy, very busy Church on Saturday morning and afternoon. And I think there might be more this coming weekend. On the other hand I felt a great sense of relief last night as we concluded the Confessions Season. Last night it was the turn of those who will make their First Communion in a couple of weeks – all 250 of them. I started at 6.30pm although we had told them 7pm. And for a while it looked as if myself and Colm Hogan would be there for hours but then the cavalry of Tom Oates and Padre Augusto (Colin’s assistant) came to the rescue and we finished around 9pm. I have now heard the confessions of all the 850 kids that are involved in our catechetical programme!!! A funny incident happened yesterday. I was writing my latest article for the Observer and I had chosen the theme of ‘the water situation’ here. Normally I include several photos that the paper can use as they wish. However, I did not have a photo of the water truck actually filling up at people’s bamboo houses. Then I struck on a great idea: I went up the main road and waited for a water truck to pass (I didn’t have to wait long) and asked if I could accompany them. So we went up hill and down dusty dale them filling up tanks and me taking photos of it all. There was of course banter all the way from the heavy guys but they were quite pleased with the $5 I gave them – money to buy a roast chicken, they said!

The very sad news this week came when we heard that our good pal from the Parish, Pedro, had died. Pedro was well-known to many of the Scots visitors that came here as he lived near the school and was a regular at all our Masses. He was 78 when he died last Saturday and had suffered since June with a cancerous growth. He really was a lovely guy and the funny thing about him was that at Mass, when people were asked to add their own petitions, he would always pray for ‘Padre Martin’ …. That he might get wisdom. I pointed out that he never prayed that I might get MORE wisdom and people could think that I didn’t have any wisdom at all. But he never changed the prayer. Good old Pedro, rest in peace. Things are gearing up for a busy month of December with the Confirmation (100) and First Communions (250). Last week I went to the printers to get the certificates for all the children that take part in catechism classes. You see, we have two years preparation for First Communion and two years for Confirmation, plus we have an infant’s class. So I signed over 900 certificates last week. 900! Although as I pointed out to our catechists on Saturday just because we have quantity doesn’t mean we also have quality. I think we need to work at that. However the signing of the certificates made me realize that we do not have enough space for 250 First Communion kids what with all their family etc. So on the same day – 13th December – we will be having two First Communion Masses. No doubt my smile will be worn by the end of that day! I went down to the Soup Kitchen today for lunch as I often do. The mean is very good: a good plate of home- made soup followed by a plate of rice and beans all washed down with home-made fruit juice. I was asking today how they judge what people get into the Soup Kitchen. And Freddy as able tot ell me that they actually visit the kids before they accept them for the Soup Kitchen to check that they are the poorest ones. Mainly it will be kids whose parents are not at home all day because they are working in the city; so they would be coming home to an empty house and an empty plate. Our newest chapel – Saint Narcisa – was having it Novena this week so it was great to be able to participate in that bamboo chapel. There is room for about 120 people crammed in to the chapel and each night it was full. The way they had organised it is that they had invited the various areas of the Parish to take charge of organising the hymns and prayers and had also asked a priest or nun to give a talk. I wasn’t able to go every night but, when I was, it was always a lively affair. And now you find me down at Ayangue for our annual retreat. The retreat has not actually started yet as people are arriving all day – from Peru, from Boston and from Bolivia as well as from all parts of Ecuador. I had the task of going late on Saturday night to pick up the two priests that will lead the retreat, Fr. Jim and Fr. George, both from the USA. We had a good few chats over these last few days and, of course they had their work cut out with me …. they’re both psychologists!

The Charity ‘2 Hands’ comes from the midlands of England and is led by Dianne Kidd and Douglas Mullen (originally from East Kilbride). They run their charity to support Church projects in Ecuador. So far we have been the lucky recipients of funding for our School. And they are interested in helping us for the forthcoming Medical Centre. This week’s big adventure then was me sending a Memory Stick with a few short videos of why we need a Medical Centre with interviews etc of people inside and out the present First Aid post. I sent it by DHL and you can track your parcels on the net. So one day it was Guayaquil to Panama, then it was on to Barbados (for some reason) before it made its way over to Europe and England. It eventually got there and Dianne and Douglas have now transformed it into a short five-minute clip. So hopefully it will be of use to somebody. And hopefully the Medical Centre can become a reality. I was woken up last night at 1am!!! Ring, ring, ring at the door! Wasn’t too impressed by getting woken up but then found out it was a sick call. Just round the corner from me is Dario, a sixty-four year-old who has been ill off and on. This time his family had thought that he was really suffering – he looked really bad and I said the prayers. As I left I wasn’t sure if he would still be with us by the morning time. And sure enough when I went back in the morning, the undertakers had already arrived. IT was sad as always to see the family in tears, a family that I have visited often. Poverty all around but, despite that, they give a lot of dignity to their dead. Rest in peace, Dario. Last Sunday we had a medical Brigade come out from one of the city centre parishes. There were about fifteen doctors and nurses ranging from dermatologists to dentist (and other specialties that I cannot spell). We had arranged that there would be a ticket system to prevent fights and, in the end, we had around four hundred patients. Everyone was treated with patience and the treatments and tablets were all free. It was all well appreciated but the great need that was shown that day reminded me of how urgent is the need for a medical centre that has affordable prices to the poorest. To finish the day today, I had a pleasant but unusual experience. I say unusual because it is something you would not associate with being in a shanty town. Our Parish School celebrated its’ first-ever “Prom”. At the start I was a bit unsure of whether it was right to have such a thing but the kids insisted for about two years and eventually Adela and Freddy relented. So last night the patio of the school was bedecked with make-shift lighting and romantically set tables. There was food on the go – not a posh meal just sausage and chips (but lovely nonetheless!). And there was a School Queen elected by the pupils – Alison, one of our Catechists. And there were posh suits (hired, I suppose) and home-made dresses. The kids danced (I did too) from that 10pm start until around 2am. I had long since gone. On reflection though, I thought to myself well, it’s a school and it can and should act like any other school. There was no extravagance associated with it – it was very much simply put together and very much enjoyed by all. It will, I suspect, become part of the school calendar!

Tom Oates came back on Thursday and it is great to have him back not least because I don’t have to be doing their extra Mass. I love going back to Tom’s Parish each year to remember old friends but you don’t really feel part of the community and you drift in and drift out. In any case, I have now seen Tom – he came over this morning – but there was no present of US chewing gum! Oh and no mention of the big US event of the week – the election. So I don’t know if that means he’s Republican or just forgot to mention it. And the great news he gave me was regarding the building here of the Medical Centre. I mentioned that we are fighting with the ‘lawyer’ over rights to the land where we want to build. He said that, if the land belongs to the City Council, then the lawyer has no claim over the land and we have legal rights over it. Of course, that was the position we had already come to but it was good to get an independent voice supporting our view. Let’s see if this week’s meeting with the Council brings ‘white smoke’; if so, we can move closer to building start date. Talking of a building start date, I went over to see Colm Hogan’s new school building this week; they are doing the building for a school start-date in April 2009. I had already seen the three classrooms that had been built before I went home to Scotland but now they have started building a convent for some Philippine nuns that are coming to run the school. The convent is large and will house three nuns. It is great to see Colm’s sector expanding too although it is still incredibly poor as well – no running water, sewerage and no electricity. Ten days ago I was asked to go to a Rotary Club function to speak about our work here. The meeting was in a very posh house in a very wealthy part of the city – totally different from Nueva Prosperina. There was genuine interest in what is being done here. As ever there were promises of help. Normally the promises remain as such but these promises produced fruit this Tuesday as I was the proud deliverer of fifty boxes of beans (a thousand tins of beans). Thank you, Jorge Luis – right enough I wouldn’t go near the school Soup Kitchen for a few weeks!!!! The bad news of the week is that Oso had another raging fight with a dog out on the street. I was going over to see Felix about the Church benches. Since it was a nice afternoon I thought I would walk and, since he had been a good boy for over five months, I thought Oso would be calm enough. He was – most of the way – until about five minutes from Felix’s house! He went into a raging fight with a smaller dog. It wasn’t quite a case of putting my fist into the lion’s den but you get the picture. I had to rescue the other dog from Oso – and then make sever apologies. Never again for Oso’s walks around the sector.

This weekend has been quite quiet as it is a mix of school holiday week with All Souls weekend where people travel the country to get to their home villages in order to visit the graves of their loved ones. It is a nice tradition but it does leave our relatively new areas with very little people. Having said that, with less people there is less need of water tanks (normally come from 4am tooting their horns) so I have been sleeping till 5.30am/6am!!! This week also saw our in-service at the school. As I said last week there seems to have been a specific problem which needed to be sorted out. So we had our two days in the school – we had been scheduled to go down to Ayangue! The first day I led them in a discussion on ‘sin’ and how our actions can harm others. Colm was also on hand to hear Confessions – I think most went. We looked at the specific problem but there was no one standing up saying ‘I am the cause’ ….. so we moved on. The next day I had decided to concentrate on ‘community’ but, rather than talking about it in a dry sense, I decided that we should do something active that shows how to ‘build community’. So I sent them on a Treasure Hunt around the sector. I think they thought they were walking around two or three streets but one group was out for over two-and-a-half hours! At the end of two days it was back to hugs and kisses, smiles all round. Oh yes and a water fight to show we are all pals again. I am not sure if our two days achieved their purpose but they got there, In getting ready for the Treasure Hunt, I went round the route and therefore the sector walking. It is one of the simple and great joys just getting out and having a walk. When you are driving you don’t have a chance to meet people but when walking you can stop and talk to folk, go into their homes. And you end up seeing people’s lives so much closer. It is a real privilege. We are moving ahead with plans for the Medical Centre. The housing charity, Hogar de Cristo, are working this week in trying to find out exactly whether we can build on the plot of land beside the Nursery. It could be tricky of course because the ‘lawyer’ could cause problems in saying that the land is his. Having said that, if the land is clearly stated as municipal and the City Council gives it to us for a Medical Centre, what can be said????? This week should move it forward a wee bit more.

One of the things that I have been getting used to once more in the past week is being on my own again. It was the realization that, with Disco Dave leaving the house last Monday, and with all sorts of people being in the house since last December (Colm Hogan before taking up his neighbouring missions, as well as Terry, Grant & Helen), I knew that I would be back to a quieter life. So, yes, it is quieter and I miss the company but there is always a load to keep me on the go…… This week we had a bit of a stir in the school. When the school started there were only nine teachers and it was very much a wee family working together. However, with almost twenty-five teachers, it is impossible to keep that small spirit going. Over the years, then, there have been various tense moments. This week saw things come to a head. I wasn’t there but on Wednesday the staff had – as they would say in political debates – an open and frank discussion. It seems that there are divisions – as there would be in any community that size. The thing is we were due to go on a three-day retreat next week and so, realizing that not everyone is ever able to go on the annual retreat, I decided to cancel the retreat so that we can dedicate two mornings next week to looking at the problems and seeing how we could move forward. Mostly what you see when you enter our school (and Disco was writing this in his recent Diary entries) is a very happy and untied school. But, like good Latins, things come to a head every so often. We pray for light at the end of our tunnel…….. After our visit to Manta last week with the Rotary club, things are moving ahead with the proposed Medical Centre. Rotary are going to be chasing funders for equipping the centre. Hogar de Cristo, the housing charity, is running it and I am waiting with fingers crossed for funders to appear from back home to allow the building to go ahead. All three interested parties met this week – and the big chief, Hermano Roberto, of Hogar de Cristo turned up. Hs intervention was fantastic: we looked at the various locations for the centre. I had discounted the plot of land right beside the Nursery and my house because the ‘lawyer’ had said ‘no’. However the lawyer is no longer around and Hermano Roberto asked why we don’t go straight to the City Council and ask if we can get the land. If it doesn’t come through, we still have the school land but this would be marvelous and would bring Church, House, Nursery and Medical Centre all together on one bit of land. I have never prayed so strongly for a favourable solution. You don’t have to wait a long time in these parts before another ‘fiesta’ comes along! And, in Church terms, we finished another Novena yesterday. Resucitado chapel had a novena to the new Guayaquil Saint Narcisa of Jesus. Each night they had a talk from an invited guest (I was the first – there wasn’t a big crowd) and then yesterday we had a big celebration Mass. This was followed by a procession through the streets – accompanied by a local band – with the big Narcisa statue and fireworks going off all over the place. Today there are games etc for the kids which I will be going to shortly. One thing for certain the latins, even if they are poor, certainly know how to put on a celebration.

We were down at Aynague on Monday and Tuesday with the St. James’ priests. It is always great to be down there and relax a bit, get everyone’s chat and take the Mickey out of one another. They also have satellite telly there so we were able to watch the Man U game the other day. The camp was divided, mainly Celtic fans but Paddy McIntyre stood out as a former season book holder at Old Trafford. No need to go into who was the happier at the end of the game ….

We had a great day yesterday at the inauguration of La Paz chapel. As with Maestro chapel, we had the blessing ceremony first, then the Mass and then a fiesta out on the street afterwards with dances from loads of the kids and even a mad Scotsman. There were loads of folk there – with plenty coming from other chapels and, indeed, from the centre of town. Gloria Nieto, our 75-year old granny catechist, is a fantastic woman and a terrific example to us all. She, along with her sister, Isabel, comes two and three times a week from the city centre to help in whatever way she can. She has been doing so for around three years and has really transformed the community from being divided to being united and motivated. In any case, the chapel is looking fantastic – statues, benches, altar etc all looking great. And, of course, Tito was there to lend a motivating hand for the music. On Friday I also spent the day with Tito as we traveled up the coast for three hours to the city of Manta with his wife, Lourdes, their two year old daughter, Yerly, and Disco Dave. We were making the trip to be part of a Rotary Club festival there. Basically our next project for the Medical Centre will be equipped by one of the Guayaquil Rotary Clubs (the funds for building it will come from our charity back home and the running of it will continue in the hands of the housing charity). So the festival had around forty Rotary clubs from all over Ecuador displaying their projects for the year ahead with wealthy people, mainly from the US, coming to listen with a view to funding these projects. Rotary had asked me to go as the priest involved in the project and I had asked Tito’s family along as a clear example of a group that had been helped by the Medical Centre already. The journey up and back was long and the roads bad, but the craic was really good and the laughs endless. We also had to work hard while we were there (although Dave did look rather bored) explaining what our project was all about. So far we have not yet heard whether we were successful or not. We shall see. Earlier in the week, I had taken Dave around on some visits. As well as some visits to the housebound, I took him to see one of our catechists, Richard from Carmen chapel. You should see their house: Richard, Gisela and their thirteen year old son, Omar, living in the tiniest house with absolutely no room to move. They have lived there for ten years but they are looking to see if they can build. I resolved to see what I can do for help in building a better home. And so we came to this morning and Disco Dave’s final farewell from Nueva Prosperina. The last week was in fact filled with farewells: from all the chapels and from the school. On Thursday we had the school do which had dances from several of the year groups; afterwards we had eats in the staff room. Then, from Friday onwards, everywhere we went there was a fiesta for Dave’s farewell mixed in with his birthday which was on Sunday. We had fruit cake, sponge cake and chocolate cake. Dave had presents, cards and gifts in all shapes and sizes. I also gave him my by-now traditional shaving foam birthday gift! And everywhere he went, he gave a speech in his best Spanish “Amigos y amigas, feos todos”! was usually the first line. By now he will be winging his way over the Atlantic heading for Amsterdam and Glasgow. It was great to have Dave here – the funniest guy I have met in a long time, so sharp witted I sometimes had to pause for breath. It was also great to see once again someone come and give their heart to our community here. Thanks, Dave for what you gave and shared here with all of us

Things are a bit quiet around the sector this weekend as it is a long weekend. The 9th October is the annual celebration of the day our city of Guayaquil gained independence from the Spaniards. There are loads of processions throughout the city; indeed our own Primary School took part in a big three-hour procession through the area. The result of it all is that a lot of people head away for the weekend to see family in distant places. I suspect that Masses will be a bit quieter than usual. The other reason that Masses might be a bit quiet this weekend is that a lot of people are heading out to Nobol, a village about forty minutes from here. Nobol is the birthplace of Narcisa de Jesus who tomorrow will be proclaimed a saint by Pope Benedict. It has been a long time in coming but she will be the first ever Guayaquil saint so everyone is very excited. There are about 3,000 Ecuadorians in Rome for the event. And I saw from the newspaper this morning that they are expecting about 15,000 in the small village of Nobol. Since our Parish made a 500-strong pilgrimage earlier in the year, we don’t have an official delegation this time but one of our chapels (actually has the name of the new saint) will be sending around 50 folk so at least we’ll be there in spirit. I have just come in from my first session of Confessions which will last for the next few weeks. Sixty kids today making their first Confession; and that is just from one of the six chapels where we have catechetics. In total, there will be around 500 kids over the next few weeks coming for Confessions!!!!!!!! On top of that we have a lot of classes fro Parents – I had one session this week with the parents of the main chapel here. There were about two hundred parents but I enjoy these nights as I love meeting and chatting to the parents. Obviously with so many kids in preparation for the sacraments, I have to rely heavily on the great work of the catechists but I always try to meet the parents and/or the kids as they come in and out of their classes. Sometimes I get to sing a crazy hymn with them – hands waving, Lourdes-style! Dave is on a roll now as he makes more and more contact with people around the Parish. We have even started a wee game as we go around the place – who gets more people shouting for them … “Padre Martin” or “Daveed”. IN all humility I can tell you that at the moment I am well ahead. We headed out to Ed Veasey’s Parish on Friday as it was a quiet day. Dave wanted to see what his Parish was actually like as he always assaying how poor it is …. And that nobody visits. His sector, Guasmo, has been established for about twenty-five years more that Nueva Prosperina but still it is without proper sewerage and had streets that are strewn with boulders. Dave said afterwards that, in some ways, he felt the poverty was more acute. But how do you judge between extreme poverty and extreme poverty? Next week will be Dave’s last. I suspect we will be “filled with emulsion” at the thought. There are farewells planned not least because his birthday falls on his final day here. One of the things we have planned is a trip to Manta on the coast about an hour and a half beyond Ayangue. I am going there as part of the Medical Centre project. The money to build it will come from home but the equipment will be funded by one of the local Rotary clubs. So we are going to this Rotary Convention to put in a bid – I think the idea is that we (some local families) are to look as poor and miserable as possible. At least miserable should be no problem for us, eh? This week I went down to Ayangue with Paul Koch from Bolivia and Simon Cadwallader from Peru. It was the first time ever I have been down there that I have experienced the cold. I never had my shorts on at all, was not down the beach and even had to put a blanket on the bed!!!! Is there climate change? Paul went back to Bolivia on the Wednesday but Simon stayed another night and it was great to have him with us for Maestro Mass – a very happy chapel where they were still enthused about their new surroundings!

The big news of the week was the inauguration of Maestro chapel which was a fantastic event! Yesterday we had the chapel full to overflowing (okay it is actually a small chapel that can seat 120) for the Inauguration Mass which had Tito and Damian animating the Liturgy. They were great as ever. During the Mass I went round and blessed every corner of the upstairs chapel and downstairs meeting rooms. Then after the Mass we had dances out on the street – some Ecuadorian dances and a Scottish one by yours truly. Note to self – for the La Paz Inauguration in two weeks, practice the Highland Fling at least a bit. It was all finished off with sandwiches and a celebration cake. Of course, there had been a lot of preparations this week and back and forward taking the new altar, seat, statues and a painting representing the title of the Chapel ‘Jesus, teacher of Truth and Love’. Everything was looking great. Let’s hope that the Chapel brings joy and unity to that part of the Parish. Heiko Junge is a new St. James’ priest and he in Ecuador for a month before heading off to Cochabamba, Bolivia for his Language Course. Although he has a German name, he is from the States (Portland, Oregon). During this month the idea is that he should visit as many of the St. James’ parishes as possible so he was here last week for a few days. It was great to have him around and we spent our time visiting a few old folk in their houses and taking part in Masses at the school. After his time in Bolivia, he will be appointed to a parish here. Although no building work is taking place, I have been making headway with plans for a Medical Centre: with the housing charity ‘Hogar de Cristo’ who will run it; and with some friends from a local Rotary club who will equip it. Of course the funding is coming from back home so we are waiting to see if funds come through …. Fingers, toes and everything is crossed! One of the things that has really taken arms and legs over the years here ahs been the work with the Catechism classes that prepare kids for Communion and Confirmation. When I came there were about sixty kids for Communion and twenty for Confirmation based in two of our chapels. We now have six chapels where there are classes and this year we have over two hundred kids for First Communion in December and one hundred for Confirmation also in December. This all involves quite a bit of preparation – one of the things that I have planned in the last weeks is organizing when I am going to hear all these Confessions! And also there is the preparation of the Catechists which I do and talks to parents: I do some talks myself but I also have a six-strong team to help me. Otherwise??? Oh and finally can I just say Disco Dave is still playing a stormer. Loving his time here and he is a pleasure to have around although he does constantly take the mickey! It is a challenge. Having said that, imagine getting to the age of twenty-two (his birthday’s next week) and the only thing you’re able to cook with any confidence is sausages – no beans, no potatoes, no boiled eggs! He is the wittiest person I have ever met but his cooking skills are a joke!

Today (Sunday) is a big day in Ecuador as the country votes on the new Constitution! Basically Rafael Correa, the President, is hoping to push through some reforms that will radically change the way the country is run. There has been a very busy and bitter campaign not least with the Churches, some of whose leaders have openly opposed the reforms. However, it does seem that the President will get his way though maybe not throughout the country. In any case the country has been so oppressive of the poor for so long – so many people living in sub-standard housing, with poor education and poor health care – that what comes now could not be much worse. We shall see! As a result the sector is quite quiet as people travel the country to vote – often in the native town or village. Everyone is compelled to vote; if they do actually vote, they receive a certificate which entitles them to various benefits in the years ahead. On Friday we had another very typical Ecuadorian festival, the swearing-in of the National Flag. Every public institution has to perform some ceremony towards the end of September to honour their flag. In our school we had an early-morning ceremony with the Primary 7s taking the lead. We sing the National Anthem, hear about various Ecuadorian heroes, and then watch as each pupil bows before the flag and swear allegiance. It is now the fifth time I have taken part in that school service and it always strikes me that we in Scotland do not have the same emotion for such civic ceremonies – I’m not sure that’s it’s a good or bad thing. After it was all over, the teachers had a party out in the school yard with Disco Dave being the centre of attention as English and Spanish words were exchanged and as he received the by-now traditional “Teachers Pile-on”. On Thursday I went with Dave to an Anniversary Funeral Mass for the mother of one of our workers. Mauricio is a lovely hard-working guy but it is his son that is better-known to some Scots that have been out here. Bismarck, who is three years old now, had a hernia as a young baby when the St. John’s, Stevenston group was out and Susan Keyes, the nurse was able to take the stitches out – for free – as the family did not have money to pay doctor’s fees. The family is a good example of a shanty family: they scrape by to get the five eldest kids into school; they live in a bamboo house that is leaning to one side; and the three girls until recently slept under the floorboards! That is why I am so willing to help them in any kind of need. Disco continues to enjoy his work here. He is down the School most days and, although he is finding the Ecuadorian teaching systems a little lax, he is enjoying the company. From my point of view, it is terrific to have someone so witty and intelligent around the place. I think he raises the tone! Although I have no building projects on the go at the moment, I met with the architect through the week to pay off outstanding debts and also to look forward to a possible Medical Centre. After having looked at different locations around the sector, I feel the best place is actually where it is just now, right beside the school – being at a main street corner, it is accesses by so many people. So Pedro is looking into building a two-storey Medical Centre that will be able to attend to more people and in more ways than the present two-roomed centre. Talking of building we are gearing up for two Chapel Inaugurations: Maestro will have their big day next Sunday; and then La Paz chapel will be inaugurated on the 19th October. No doubt there will be singing and dancing all over the place.

So last week we were off to Ayangue for the monthly meeting. As I mentioned I was able to get off on Sunday night, rather than Monday so it meant an extra night’s peace. You do get used to Nueva Prosperina but the daily noise here (and even through the night) does take a bit of getting used to. Ayangue was good – it is great to meet up with the other St. James’ priests, hear their chat and their jokes and share stories about how projects are going. Since there was no meeting on Monday morning, I headed up the coast with Disco Dave as far as Olon. There is a dramatic monastery there perched on a cliff top from where stretches an enormously long beach. The whole coastline is beautiful dotted with small fishing villages. On the way back we went into a village called Barcelona where they make “Panama Hats” – don’t want to bore you with the details but the light, straw Panama Hats do not in fact come from Panama but Ecuador! Once we were back in Nueva Prosperina it was back to the day job. While I got going on the home visits, Dave got going on the school. I think it would be fair to say that Ecuadorian school life is not as organized as it is back home. He is taking English classes with Freddy’s sister, Yessenia, but there does seem to be a bit of improvisation in teaching methods. Still it is great to be involved with the school and know that truthfully education is the only way that so many of the world’s poor can eek their way out of poverty. When I came back last week, Colm Hogan, the Irish priest that has been staying with me since December, was still here. During the summer his house in his new Parish of Monte Sinai had been getting built but was not yet finished. I had been over a few days just to see how it was all getting on. Some furniture going in, some painting still to be done. And then suddenly he was away – on Thursday. I had a mixture of emotions: sadness that a friend was moving away; but also great happiness as Colm steps out on an exciting path. To be with your people, to actually live there takes time in our set-up here but, once you are actually there, so much can be achieved. Good Luck, Colm. I took Dave on a few home visits and it was great to see the people again. This week it was mostly sick and housebound and I was happy to see my friends again, people in real need. In some cases, there was money to be given to help them buy medicines but in most cases we simply prayed and had Communion. It was also back to the usual round of Masses (eight between Friday and Sunday) and there were also three Baptisms. An interesting feature of being back here is that, for the first time in over three years, I have no building projects. There will be a Medical Centre being built once we raise some money but at the moment nothing. Having said that, we finished two chapels just before I went to Scotland so those communities are busily preparing their inaugurations for next month. No doubt there will be dances and eats as well as the Mass itself. I am looking forward to these days as the chapels stand proudly in the midst of poverty as a symbol of change, a prosperous change that the can also achieve in their own lives..

So they’re off and running! Back to Guayaquil after a great time in Scotland. As ever I love being at home with me family and friends. I had preaching to do every weekend but there was plenty of time to catch up and see as many people as possible. I love being at home. Leaving home, therefore, can be quite trying for me as witness the two hour crying session with the Ecuadorians when we were returning home in March of this year. However, the tears were not much in evidence this year. Sad, yes, but with my Mum & Dad we managed to keep it together. Of course, returning to Guayaquil with me this time was Disco Dave Ross (for the sake of this diary will be referred to as Dave). He got a wee bit sick on the way over but I don’t think it was my chat that was putting him off rather the rotten scrambled eggs that KLM had served at 2am!!! Having said that, after a wee rest in the house he was settled and ready for Latin American life. I am sure the weeks ahead will be very worthwhile for him …. He laughs at my jokes and, out of respect, I laugh at his! My time at home this year was a little shorter than other years; the reason being I had thought of traveling up to the jungle for a couple of days. So, after a check to see if they could take us, myself and Dave took off first to Banos and then on to Puyo at the mouth of the Ecuadorian jungle. It was brilliant experience with a canoe journey up the forest, walks up jungle hills, night walks to see the insects and wild flowers and, of course, eating with the monkeys and parrots (no, literally). It was something I would recommend to anyone and, if I have another chance, maybe go in a little further! So, with all of that, the only Parish activity has been Sunday there. And it was an unusual one. The local Archbishop Arregui had decreed that there were to be no Sunday Masses apart from the big open air Masses to be celebrated around the city in support of ‘Life and Families’. Our area to the north of the city had an open air Mass in the grounds of Hogar de Cristo, the housing charity. The reason for it all was to promote life in all its aspects in the light of the referendum on the New Constitution on the 28th of this month. The President has been working hard in support of the ‘Yes’ vote. The Church is against some aspects of the Constitution and has been in the press a lot. I am not sure how the vote will go but the President still had a great popular vote. We shall see….. So, with no Sunday evening Masses, I set off with Dave a little early to our Ayangue meeting. It is always great to be down the coast and I look forward to meeting up with all the priest from all over the country. And, with my homesickness ebbing away, I am very enthusiastic to return to the Parish on Wednesday morning to get going with gusto.

This is my last entry for this present year as I go home for my preaching break in two days (or, as I thought last night, in ‘two sleeps’ time). And this entry is the same as most entries – busy and varied. I had quite a bit of running around this week as I tried to get things ready ‘for the off’. When I go home, I generally have to go to the bank before to make sure that things run while I am away: the Soup Kitchen still runs; the kids school fees are still paid; and the various Church items do not run out. One difference this year from the pervious three summers is that there is not a building project underway while I am in Scotland. We have just finished the building of La Paz and Maestro chapels. They both look brilliant and will stand the test of time for many years. Once again Pedro Mogrovejo ahs made sure that the money has gone a long way. Having said that, I do get frustrated at him from time to time because he keeps all his drawings in a wee jotter and he is quite often late in presenting his bills. However, as I say, his work is excellent and, not charging high personal fees, he has made sure that Scottish money ahs gone a long way. Thanks, Pedro. Flor is the new ‘Queen of Nueva Prosperina’!! She beat 18 other candidates in a contest last Saturday night. I had known the competition was coming off and, since five of the candidates were Parish catechists, I thought I should go along. I was, of course, quite tired in the midst of the weekend Mass schedule but, when I walked through the local school gates, I was told to be one of the five judges! I was so tired that I fell asleep at several points – thank God I sable, last year’s Queen (and one of the visitors to Scotland) was at my side to wake me up at the appropriate moment. All in all it was quite a funny experience as there were loads of people there and it was quite as community spirit. Flor won because, as well as being good-looking, she spoke and clearly and well – she answered a question about ‘loyalty to the local lawyer, Sergio Toral’!!!!! One of our chapels, Our Lady of Carmel, had its fiestas recently. Different tot eh big Parish Fiesta where I was heavily involved, most of the organization here was done by the local community. Fantastic! They had arranged a daily Novena of prayers and hymns each night. But the whole week was preceded by an Opening Procession through the sector and finished with a big street party and Mass at night. I particularly liked the way that they invited the other chapels of the Parish to lead a different night of the Novena – I think it is something I will copy for next year’s big Parish Fiesta. One of the things that seems to take up a lot of my time is the preparation and giving of various faith talks – to teachers, to catechists, to youth leaders. I seem to spend quite a bit of time investigating various aspects of faith t give talks: this week I gave a talk to the parents of Confirmation and Communion kids, prepared a talk for our catechists’ leaders, led our youth in a prayer service and gave a talk to our School teachers. I don’t mind it at all, although I do worry as to how it will all go! In the end, I get confidence and just keep going! As well as this heavy stuff, of course, there is the fun side and last week I took our Parish youth leaders to an outdoor swimming complex. We were there all day and had great fun on the flumes and in the general pool area – it was a Guayaquil holiday but there weren’t too many people there. The idea behind the trip was that these leaders were now part of a Parish-wide programme to revamp our Youth groups – this ‘revamping’ will take place in October so this was a chance to get know one another a bit better. It worked! One of the worrying events of the week concerned the community of San Ignacio. It seems that the government body that runs the water canal that runs near their community wants to clear people away from living near the canal. They have said that no-one should live nearer than 150 metres of the canal. This means that they want to re-house 100 families away from the community as well as relocate the primary and secondary schools there. It is very clearly a serious worry for the community and it seems it is an argument between the government, who say they should be evicted and the city council who say they should be exempt from this government ruling. This one will run and run! And so my pen runs dry for another year. I am immensely thankful to all my friends here who continue to make my journey here fun and life-changing and to all my friends and family back home who continue to support me. After a short rest, we will be back to start all over again ….

Well, that will go down as one of the best weeks of my life in Nueva Prosperina. The House Swap was an experience that will live with me for the rest of my life. Mainly because Freddy and his family are a fantastic bunch of people, who struggle to get on in life. There are so many things to tell you about the week in Freddy’s house. Firstly I should tell you what it looks like: he has a plot of land right beside his Mum’s house and as such they have not put up a dividing wall into between the two properties. He has a brick house, or rather one room where he works, sleeps and washes himself (generally he eats at the school or sometimes next door). Although it is a brick house, it is not plastered and the walls do not meet the ceiling. A simple house! The property is also shared by two ducks, two dogs, one cat (who pounced down on top of my bed on Thursday night (giving me an enormous fright), and, of course three pigs which they keep to sell when they are big enough. There is a constant smell from the pigs but you do get used to it. Of course the other animals that are a constant are the mosquitoes who make themselves present especially at night-time. I was bitten to blazes the first night since Freddy doesn’t use a mosquito net (they must be used to him); so, when they found that a gringo was sleeping in Freddy’s bed, a mosquito fiesta was declared and I lay awake till 3am getting bitten all over. I went to breakfast the next morning with my mouth all swollen up as a result of bites. One of the things that I constantly marvel about the people here is how they can live to old age having never flushed a toilet in their own house. That is the case with Freddy where the outside toilet is also where you wash/shower. Wanting to embrace the whole experience I went to the toilet on day one but, when I went in to do the toilet, I was immediately met by a very welcoming pig who wanted to share the experience with me. I told the pig (in a very nice way) no thanks and shooed him away! I got used to the pigs and the washing/showering experience. And one of the other aspects that was kind of novel for me was the presence of so many people in the house. Obviously living on my own, I get used to the silence etc but with Freddy’s Mum’s house right beside I spent quite a bit of time there talking with them, eating with them and sharing the whole experience. In their two-roomed house there are, at the moment, seven women – Freddy’s Mum, Freddy’s sister, Jessenia, and her two daughter’s, Freddy’s other sister and also his niece. The conversation was lively and I sometimes had to fight to get a word in!!!!!!!!! I went all week without luxury items – no phone calls (although ET did phone home to my Mum & Dad, no car, no internet. I am ashamed to say that it was the first time – after four years – that I have traveled right into the city centre on buses; I shall be doing it more frequently. A simpler lifestyle and I didn't come off any the worse for it. Having said all of that, I return to the fact that it was one of the best weeks I have spent here. I wanted to get to know in a closer way how people actually live and survive in their poverty – without the things that I, for one, take for granted – running water, flushing toilet and clean water. Freddy and his family gave me that opportunity and I will be for ever grateful. I remember meeting someone recently in the centre of the city whom I didn’t really know. When I told her that I was working in the ‘invasion areas’ of the city where the poor people live, she asked if they were as lazy as she thought. Lazy? I have never met a more determined bunch of people. People who really do want to lift themselves out of the poverty in which they find themselves. People, who this week, have shown me how to live! P.S. One of the side aspects of this week is that Freddy was in my house all week. The first thing was that he asked could Manuel share the house as well since he couldn’t contemplate living in a house all by himself – he has always shared a house with loads of folk. Freddy is a great person and, although we were living in different houses all week, there was a definite bond there and I really do thank him for the experience.

The big event of last week was my Mum’s 75th Birthday. Happy Birthday to you! I obviously wasn’t able to be home for that occasion but bizarrely the elderly couple, Jaime and Olga, who are the exact ages of my parents, were celebrating a birthday last week. So I managed to give my Mum a surrogate present by giving them flowers and some whisky. And I got it on camera which was then sent to Scotland. So happy 75th Birthday! Grant & Helen have now moved on to Peru as part of their Latin-American tour. As I said last week, you could tell that they were genuinely moved by what they saw and experienced in these days that they were with us. And I enjoyed their company – it was terrific to have them here. In the days before they left we had another stroll through the sector visiting families along the way. On Friday night, their final night here, we had Mass as usual at Narcisa chapel (in Reynaldo Quinones) and, as well as giving them a warm welcome, they gave them a farewell supper of rice and chicken! Of course, the thing that they will be remembered for is for thinking that I belonged to an older generation: having been in the house for two hours, Helen (I think) asked whether I was my Uncle Dan’s brother. I mean, he is 26 years older than me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Liam Reilly has arrived back in Guayaquil having done some preaching in the States. You’ll remember Liam as being the priest I visited with Jamie up in the remote mountains of Azogues. Anyway, he has moved on to a new Mission in El Recreo, replacing Paul Sanders who is returning to work in England. The surprising news of his return, though, is the fact that his two German Shepherd dogs had nine puppies while he was away. He never even knew she was pregnant. In the school this week we are in exam week so there is a lot of sweating going on. It also means that I will not be having Masses there this week but I shall be going in to see how they are getting on. In any case, Monday and Tuesday of this week have been spent down at Ayangue on the coast where we go for a monthly retreat. Having said that numbers this month are severely depleted: only Liam, John Moriarty, the great Tom Oates and myself, with the others being away in the own countries preaching. The buildings of La Paz and Maestro are moving into their final stages (you’ll be saying I thought that should have finished a while ago). Only the painting and bell towers left to do. They should be ready any time now and we will move in there to have Masses with the official inaugurations taking place once I come back from Scotland in September and October. At the moment I have my eye on the next project which will be the building of the Medical Centre: it will be a two-storey building in the present site and will be able to cater in a better way and in a decent building for the 50/60 patients the Doctor gets every day. I managed to get a few house visits in this week and once again simply walking around the streets gets me into close contact with the people: you get invited into their homes and you see the very basic way they live their lives. Without water, sewerage and sometimes without food they make me feel truly humble. And it encourages me to go out and do more.

Well, now that we are into July, I can say ‘next month I am going home’. And I am really looking forward to it. I have my usual spreadsheet up and running and changing by the day although Andy says “it’s not worth the paper it’s written on”. I am home this time for a little shorter – the reason being that, when I come back, I will travel around (perhaps go up the jungle) for a week before getting stuck in again. This week’s building work goes on apace and we are moving into the final stages of both La Paz and Maestro chapels. Both are preparing their bell towers this week as well as putting on the undercoat for the painting. Both groups of workers have been great – slowly but surely moving ahead as with all the building projects. However, there is a difference in that Manuel, the ever-present foreman and foreman of Maestro build is much more outgoing than Christian, the La Paz foreman. So, when I take my bottle of cola and buns for the workers, in Maestro they stop and share the crack whereas in La Paz they just leave them till I go away and don’t stop for a chat. Do you think they don’t like me? At the Pastoral council last week we decided to leave the Inauguration of each chapel till I come back. That way there is no pressure to rush towards a finishing date. The National Youth day was fantastic last week. There were over three thousand people at each event. On Wednesday there was the opening service, March through the city centre and festival; then on Thursday there were prayer services and the Final Mass with the Roman Cardinal Re. Of course, I was involved in the accommodation process and it meant that we were up and running on the Wednesday from 5am and at it till the Festival finished making sure that each group had arrived at their Parish of accommodation. It was a sweat as numbers kept changing by the minute – literally till they arrived. Having said that, working with the other youth leaders was a great experience and bodes well for future enthusiasm in diocesan youth work. Also the phrase of the whole experience given to us by the Archbishop was ‘We should be the last people to lose our calm”! MY second cousin, Grant, and his girlfriend, Helen, are here staying for a week as part of their tour of South America. We have been involved in loads of things: we walked through the sector visiting some of the old folk; we have been down the Nursery; we have been at the school on various occasions (I left them there this morning so that they could be with Flor’s class all day); and have celebrated Mass in several chapels. I think, like most people, they have been stunned by what they have seen but genuinely appreciated the warmth of the friends around us. I have decided this week to undertake a new project and a personal one. I am going to do a house-swap for a week with Freddy. Why a house-swap? Well, for some time I have thought that my life here and my experience with the people would be better enhanced by living as the people here do, in their very poor houses. I hope that by living in a very basic house, I can get a better understanding of what it means to live a shanty life. Why Freddy? I have great confidence in him. I hope to do it before I come home to Scotland but, in any case, we will discuss it this afternoon …. In Freddy’s house!

So here we are at the night before the first ever National Youth Festival in Ecuador. It has been a lot of fretting getting to this stage. My part was to arrange the accommodation for 650 of the young people that are coming from all parts of the country. One of the phrases that has stuck with me was from the Archbishop at one of our many meetings – “there will be plenty of things going wrong at the last minute but we are the last people that should lose our cool!” I think it is a good phrase for so many moments of life. And, of course, it has helped me get through many phone calls with volunteers asking so many questions. In fact the only irate customer was Sister Cecilia from Guayaquil’s Schoenstatt who, when I asked her if everything was all right for her to receive her twenty-eight youth, she went into a bit of a tirade telling me how hard she works and she couldn’t possibly do any more. I kept my cool and told her that, yes, she was well known for being such a hard worker!!!!!!! So I hope it all goes well for tomorrow and Thursday. Ecuadorian bureaucracy came to the fore this morning as I went to get my car road tax sorted. Under the system here you need to get a tax disc for the current year but you can get it any time until the middle of the following year. So, although it was absolutely necessary, I decided the time was right. So I went with ‘my contact’ to the road tax offices where we were refused at lane 4, then again at lane 1, and then finally told to go home. We took a trip round the corner, came back, went to a new lane and then got the disc within minutes. Now I don’t know if they were friends that went back a long time or even that money did not pass hands, but I was certainly glad that I did not have return to this form of Ecuadorian bureaucracy. Oh and I had a new tax disc. One of the disturbing sights of the week happened when myself and Terry went to visit Pedro, a really nice old man who lives just down from the school. He is around 75 and lives in a bamboo hut with no proper bed or cooker. And he often doesn’t have money for food on a particular day. Anyway, we went to see him and he showed us a large cancerous growth on the underside of his arm. He was going into hospital to get it sorted so we shall be praying fro him these weeks until he comes.

And so it was time to say farewell to our good friend, Terry. Last week was taken up with a few farewells: at Maestro chapel with his workers where we prepared chicken and rice; at the school where we got – you guessed it – rice and chicken; and at the youth groups where there was sponge cake coming out your ears….literally. It was great to have Terry around and, as with all the guests that have been out here, he left a little bit of himself behind with us. And, with Terry working at Maestro chapel build, he will be remembered every time I look at the walls. Even the people at Maestro chapel (who are the poorest people in our area) gave him a presentation with a home-made photo frame. Thanks, Terry, muchas gracias!!!!

I feel as if my mind is turning around in circles. And mainly it’s to do with the forthcoming National Youth Day which will take place in Guayaquil next week. For my sins, I have been part of the organizing group and my part has been to find homes for 650 of the youth that will come to the city from all parts of Ecuador. It ahs been a bit of a task to go round the chapel houses asking for the priests to find thirty beds each and then to match it up with the groups that will come. As we speak, I am about to go and have another meeting about it. I am sure it will go well. And apart from that, I think it will be a great occasion; we have four parish participants but there will be many more going to the events that are open to the public: open air concert, procession with the Youth Cross through the city centre and a Mass with a Cardinal from Rome. Terry is coming to the end of his time with us and he stopped work at Maestro chapel on Tuesday of this week – this was to allow him a chance to get to know some of the teachers and kids at the school. Barriers of language have been broken down by his football skills (and by the fact that in a country of small people, he appears like a giant). Last night was his last Mass at Maestro itself and the people had got together and made him a card which they all signed and had chipped together for a large cake. So, naturally enough he had to “bite the cake” – a favourite Guayaquil game that ends up with the ‘biter’ being covered in cream. By the looks of Terry afterwards, he loved it all. Talking of cakes, Flor (who was in Scotland with our trip) had her birthday this week and she invited loads of people to her house last Saturday for a party. It was fantastic with plenty of dancing and the inevitable “biting the cake’ for Flor. I even learned a quick trick from Flor’s Dad about how to avoid a lot of cream. And, with a lot of the youth group there, it was a good way of getting to know them also. The work at the two sites continues apace and I was asking Pedro the architect when they would be finished. He reckoned around the 15th July and that would be great but I have learned one thing here and that is not to press the architect/workers too hard or they can start to make mistakes. So I will be happy if we can get into the chapels before I head for Scotland on August 4th. At this stage they are simply finishing off the plastering and details around windowsills etc before the windows come in and the painters arrive. As I said last week the next project will be the Medical Centre and I have moved on that one this week. Dave Cupery, an American business student has been trying to seek funding my Michigan, his home state, through his local Rotary group. They have been quite keen to help us in some way and thought maybe with equipment for a new Medical Centre – they don’t do construction. So that focused my mind this week as they needed an idea of how much it would cost. So I got together with the doctor at our present Medical Centre to see how we could work it out. We went into the city centre to the offices of Hogar de Cristo, the housing charity who also do health care and who run our medical centre. They are quite keen to increase their service but will have to look into whether it is possible. One avenue that fell through this week was the land beside the Nursery which is not ours but I thought I might be able to acquire/buy it from the local lawyer (the one who denounces me in public). Anyway, when I went to see him he told me that it was set for a fire station – the same story as five years ago – and I was quite happy not to have to enter into negotiations with him. So I think what we will be doing is rehousing the medical Centre in the Parish Hall for the three months that it takes to build a two storey new Medical Centre on the site where it is presently. The down side is that we will not be able to acquire that land for the school but the up side is that we will not now have to shelve out money acquiring land!!! Every cloud has a silver lining!!!!

One of the things that seems to be taking up a lot of time recently is youth work both in the Parish, in the local area and in the Diocese. I suppose it must be my youthful looks that keeps getting me selected for this work. And yet I enjoy it tremendously; as well as that, I can clearly see that forming young people now is both laying foundations for the future but it also very enjoyable in the present. At the moment the big event on the horizon is the first ever National Youth Day taking place on the 2nd/3rd of July to which 3,000 people will come. It will be a Mass with a Roman Cardinal, a dance festival and a procession. The big challenge for me was to find amongst the neighbouring Parishes accommodation for 600 people who are coming from other parts of the country. With our local youth leaders we decided to visit the priests personally to try and persuade them. It was a difficult task but yesterday when we got together – surprise, surprise – we had the required number! Of course, the real task is only beginning and we will have to be on alert the day of the festival to make sure they get here in the way they should, no-one gets lost and they get showered and fed as they should. Although it is a bit of a hassle getting it together, it should be fun! The building keeps me going both at La Paz and Maestro. I try to go as often as I can and often am there day after day. When I go I take along cola and buns which seems to keep them happy. Is that a cheapskate thing? I have just had the architect in (duck – he’s always looking for cash!) and he thinks that a couple of weeks more and the jobs will be finished. So it will be great to have the Masses and community meetings back in a decent building. Of course it will mean two celebration days and Masses. Whoopee! Once that is finished, and even before it is finished my mind has already started thinking on what we do next. The Medical Centre is firm on the agenda; the present building only has two small rooms and is actually attached to the school complex and takes up space there. So the question is where to move it – I don’t have any firm ideas yet. One of the ideas is to build it on waste land right beside the Nursery and my house. Having said that, that land doesn’t belong to anyone so I have tentatively approached the local lawyer (the one who denounced me in public) to ask how I could acquire the land. I am presuming (going on past experience) that he will ask for cash!!! We shall see. One of the great things I did this week was get away for two days down the coast at Ayangue. We go there once a month for our meeting. And it is a chance to catch up on sleep and also meet the guys. There is also a chance to swim in the sea and practice my dives (have a look at my Bebo page). I wasn’t as brave as I have been on other occasions. Terry McKenzie is working away like a Trojan in Maestro chapel and it is amazing how he has been able to communicate so well with the workers there – and indeed with the youth of the Parish _ with very little Spanish. It has been great to have him around. He also went down the coast where he also practiced some diving!!!

One of the things that seems to be taking up a lot of time recently is youth work both in the Parish, in the local area and in the Diocese. I suppose it must be my youthful looks that keeps getting me selected for this work. And yet I enjoy it tremendously; as well as that, I can clearly see that forming young people now is both laying foundations for the future but it also very enjoyable in the present. At the moment the big event on the horizon is the first ever National Youth Day taking place on the 2nd/3rd of July to which 3,000 people will come. It will be a Mass with a Roman Cardinal, a dance festival and a procession. The big challenge for me was to find amongst the neighbouring Parishes accommodation for 600 people who are coming from other parts of the country. With our local youth leaders we decided to visit the priests personally to try and persuade them. It was a difficult task but yesterday when we got together – surprise, surprise – we had the required number! Of course, the real task is only beginning and we will have to be on alert the day of the festival to make sure they get here in the way they should, no-one gets lost and they get showered and fed as they should. Although it is a bit of a hassle getting it together, it should be fun! The building keeps me going both at La Paz and Maestro. I try to go as often as I can and often am there day after day. When I go I take along cola and buns which seems to keep them happy. Is that a cheapskate thing? I have just had the architect in (duck – he’s always looking for cash!) and he thinks that a couple of weeks more and the jobs will be finished. So it will be great to have the Masses and community meetings back in a decent building. Of course it will mean two celebration days and Masses. Whoopee! Once that is finished, and even before it is finished my mind has already started thinking on what we do next. The Medical Centre is firm on the agenda; the present building only has two small rooms and is actually attached to the school complex and takes up space there. So the question is where to move it – I don’t have any firm ideas yet. One of the ideas is to build it on waste land right beside the Nursery and my house. Having said that, that land doesn’t belong to anyone so I have tentatively approached the local lawyer (the one who denounced me in public) to ask how I could acquire the land. I am presuming (going on past experience) that he will ask for cash!!! We shall see. One of the great things I did this week was get away for two days down the coast at Ayangue. We go there once a month for our meeting. And it is a chance to catch up on sleep and also meet the guys. There is also a chance to swim in the sea and practice my dives (have a look at my Bebo page). I wasn’t as brave as I have been on other occasions. Terry McKenzie is working away like a Trojan in Maestro chapel and it is amazing how he has been able to communicate so well with the workers there – and indeed with the youth of the Parish _ with very little Spanish. It has been great to have him around. He also went down the coast where he also practiced some diving!!!

This week was taken over by birthday celebrations for yours truly – 44 happy years on Sunday past! Having said that, since Latins love to celebrate, the birthday parties started on Friday morning and lasted till Sunday evening. There was a party with kids’ dances at the school, a house party organized by the lively Lucy on Friday, another kids’ part at Divino Nino chapel on Saturday and then three cakes on Sunday. They have this amazing custom here that you have to ‘bite the cake’; of course it is merely an excuse to shove your face in the cake. So my face was in six cakes in three days! Of course, I got my revenge by sharing my new-found face-cream with all around me. It was a great birthday and thoroughly enjoyable. Colm Hogan, the priest from Ireland that has been staying here for the past six months, left for preaching and Ireland on Monday morning. I have really enjoyed having him around, we have shared the highs and lows of missionary life. He has done a lot in six months – he started in his the new Parish of Monte Sinai without anything but now has four places he celebrates Mass (in a school, under a tree and in a billiards hall) and recently built a bamboo chapel. He has also started building his home which should be ready when he comes back. I wish him all the best. The big event of the week was the Youth Vigil from Saturday evening till Sunday midday. Tito has recently taken over as our first Parish youth director and this was his first event. I was therefore expecting a moderate turnout but was shocked to find a big, big number. I eventually counted them at our 2am bonfire – 120 young folk. Throughout the night and into the morning there were prayer services and various activities to help the young people reflect on their Mission under the banner heading “Jesus loves me and calls me’. I had to go away for other weekend Masses but when I was there I was struck by the energy and enthusiasm of everyone, not least Tito who was organizing it all. If this is the first event, how will the rest be? Terry McKenzie is settling in very nicely and getting to know the young people. After every gathering and Mass, there is a big crowd around our ‘new gringo’ to test his Spanish and inviting him to go on a Saturday or to join them in a game of football. His big task, though, while he is here is to help in the construction work at Maestro chapel. At the moment they are doing the plastering work so he is able to help with that and has been a great boon to Pedro and his team. Having said that I had a bit of a run-in with Pedro, the architect, in the last week. I had not seen him in weeks although I knew he was turning up daily at each of the two sites we have on the go. He had sent a replacement architect to La Paz chapel but when I asked about various elements, the replacement didn’t know whet I was talking about. In any case, we got it all sorted and we have agreed to meet up at the sites at least twice a week so that we can go over the basic arrangements. I would imagine that both chapels will be finished by the end of the month!

I have just come in from Mass at Maestro and, on the way back, we were asked to go to a funeral wake. This happens a lot – we rarely have a Funeral mass in the Church. Rather the family has prayers in their houses. It always amazes me that, although the people are very poor, they are able to gather cash in from family and friend s to give each person a dignified funeral. The big news of the week is the arrival of Terry McKenzie who is out here for a month. He had told me that he wanted to do some work while he was out here; so, knowing that he is a joiner to trade, I was able to put him to good use in the rebuild of Maestro chapel. He has little Spanish but it doesn’t seem to hamper his work of plastering and the guys there are making him feel very welcome. Terry has already had a great welcome from people but I am sure he will be made extremely welcome by all sectors of the Parish. The chapels themselves – La Paz and Maestro – are coming along really well. They are onto the inside plastering and the next job, I suppose, will be the painting. Talking of the chapels, I haven’t yet got word from Quito about the two statues I bought last week so I will have to phone them up and find out what-ho! Our Missionary Society (Congregation) had its vote recently for a new Director and the result was announced this week. Kevin Hays from Chicago is the new Director and will take over from Finbarr O’Leary at the February AGM next year in Lima. It was a long drawn-out process this year and even the humble Chambers got a few votes before heading out the race (I am better here in Nueva Prosperina). I am glad the voting has finished and each person can get on with being in their Parishes or, in Kevin’s case, begin to think about the job ahead. Saturday saw the last activity of our Parish Fiesta – the inter-chapel Football Competition. There are only five youth groups in the Parish so we decided to have a league instead of a knock-out competition. Each game was half-an-hour long so we had a good competition with plenty of goals and chances for goals. Eventually of course there is always a winner and, after their success in the inter-Parish competition, it was San Ignacio chapel that came out in first place as winners. Well done! Saturday was also the last of the Dawn Rosary processions. Each Saturday during May we were getting up at 5am to say the Rosary near one of the chapels. Although it was a struggle, it reminded me each time that the people here have tremendous faith. Last Saturday it was made a wee bit more enjoyable by the fact that we finished off with hot chocolate and buns! Roll on next year! An update on Oso, the dog. He has been sick these last few days and has been very quiet in the corner. However, I had him at the vet today and he seems to be recovering. I have also found a female dog to pair him with so, hopefully his bad humour with others dogs will quieten down.

What a great week we have just finished – I would suggest a Parish Fiesta to anyone! Last week we continued the Parish Novena and each night we had a guest speaker in to speak to us about ‘Christian Hope’. It was an even mix of priests or local lay leaders who gave us the wisdom of their thoughts. And I have to say that each night gave me, at least, some new aspect of hope to think about. What was special as well was the way that our poor parishioners went forward on several nights and gave testimonies about how they are filled with hope. Another great aspect of the Novena was the music that provided a backdrop each night: Tito, our youth leader, and Damian, provided us with real lively hymns. We even ended up dancing on the final night. Saturday started as it has each Saturday in May for the last four years – with Dawn Rosary! I have to say I always think ‘what am I doing getting up at 5am to walk the streets praying the Rosary?’ but when we are actually walking with the twenty or so parishioners (I try to go to a different sector of the Parish each Saturday), I always feel there is a great sense of faith there. So I am happy to join in. The next activity on Saturday morning was the start of the formation programme for our Parish catechists. This year we have arranged our catechists training in a different way: each fortnight they will have to come and join in a formation programme led by Sister Marianna and Ruth Bermeo (from the housing charity). I was a bit wary about how many would actually turn up especially since at 9.15am (we try to start at 9am) there were only four! However, after I had gone away to do some Baptisms, the number had swelled to a very respectable forty-four. Since it was the first time I was wary but hopefully the same number will turn up each time! In any case, once again it is a tremendous demonstration of faith. Then on Saturday night we headed into the city centre where our deanery was leading the annual Youth Walk. Once again Tito was to the fore leading the hymn singing as we made our way through the busy city centre streets. It reminded me very much of HCPT & Lourdes with its very lively singing, clapping and dancing. We started in the fading light and ended at the Cathedral at around 8pm where we had a Mass with the Archbishop in a packed church. I have taken part in these youth walks each year but I have to say this route that took us through busy streets was probably the best route I have experienced as the sound of the singing reverberated off the walls and brought people out to see what was happening. It was also great just to be with our Parish youth, both going there and coming back. Great fun and great laughs as well as the praying and singing. Then it was on to the main event on Sunday – our Parish Fiesta out at the retreat centre of ‘El Cencaulo’. We had a great day with about 800 people taking part. After the initial short prayer service, we introduced all eight chapels who had to come on stage and give a ‘Chapel Chant’. Then we spilt up for a catechetic talks; I had brought in four different speakers so we were able to have the adults, youth, children and toddlers in four distinct groups. Each was reflecting on a different aspect of ‘Christian Hope’ following on from our Novena. During the whole day there was plenty of opportunity for the kids to play on the swings and the young people to play football. We also had the egg-and-spoon race, three-legged race and sack race. Can I just say that I won the adults sack race …. And there was definitely no cheating! After lunch we had a lively Mass in which each chapel brought forward their own gifts – it was both lively and prayerful. Then the day was finished off by each chapel presenting a dance routine. Oh, and since I had my kilt on, I did the Highland Fling. Do I know the ‘Highland Fling’? No, but as long as you’re one page ahead of the rest ……. Of course we had to clear up and tidy up after everyone had left on the bus but I had to hurry myself because that night I was heading straight up to Quito for a few days to stay at the house of Paddy McIntyre, a St James’ priest who has worked in a shanty there for over twenty years. I got up around 8pm, just in time for supper. I stayed in Quito till today (Wednesday) and enjoyed the rest and the chat. There are two other priests there, Don Kenny and Bob Thomas, and together we had the chance of a few meals together. I took the opportunity of getting two statues of Our Lady for our new chapels. I also took a ride up through the Andes to a town called Otavalo: we ended up meeting a couple from Lenzie at a lakeside restaurant where we had stopped for lunch. Then today, just before I left for Guayaquil we went to the tourist spot called ‘La Mitad del Mundo’ where through various scientific experiments, they try to show you that this spot is the actual centre of the world. All in all it was a busy week but, when I look back, a thoroughly enjoyable one.