Well, as ever, it’s been a busy week with the Scotland trip looming large. This week was taken up with last minute arrangements: on Monday I went along to the KLM office to check that we were on the list for Sunday. To my amazement we were so it’s all systems go. Not quite. They also told me that the five under-agers in the trip need to check that they have the proper permission – I shall only be happy when we are all on the plane. Then on Monday, once that was over, I headed back to base for our dance practice; on two or three occasions we are going to present a typical Ecuadorian dance. I am joining in to make up the numbers. The funny thing about that practice was that it was done in the pouring rain – we were all soaked but had a great time dancing and throwing water at one another!!!!! So we are ready to go – it’s amazing how quickly it has all come round – less than six months since we decided to go ahead – thanks to so many people in Scotland and here. Last Friday saw me at the studios of the Catholic radio station “Radio Maria” fro my hour-long programme about the Pope’s latest letter on ‘Hope’. As I suspected I had to throw out almost half of what I had prepared to mention. As I went through the programme, which was recorded in front of thirty people, I could see that I was using up so much time. So I just went along chopping off pages. I had also taken along a few parishioners and Tito on the guitar so there was plenty of variety. I think it went well – at least those who have now heard it (I haven’t), they said it went well. The rain continues to come but this week it seems that it has come with more force than before. It just seems never to stop heavy rain and it cuts away big gulleys in the street outside the house, making it almost impossible even to get the car in off the street at night. The rains, of course, have been causing havoc with the building work especially the football pitch. That project is nearing completion – all that is left now if some minor plastering work and the paint work. Since it is called ‘Paradise Park’, the lettering is green and white. On that front, the good news is that we have elected a committee to run the park and make sure that all groups have a chance at using it whether they are youth, kids or adults. We shall see how it operates. Last Saturday was a great day …. And I still have the bruises to prove it. We went with the catechists for a day out to an open-air swimming complex. There were about thirty of us there and although it was not sunny many of us got sunburnt. Having said that the main news of the day was that I was able to master some tricky dives. There were plenty people wanting to show off their skills – forward dives, backward dives, handstand dives etc. But most I was too scared to do. Then as the day wore on and I tried harder and harder, I could see that I was gaining more courage. And eventually I managed to do even a backward flip!!!! And I have the scars to prove it …. As I hit the bottom of the quite-shallow pool. I will never learn, will I?

THIS IS THE LAST BLOG BEFORE SCOTLAND .... NEXT TIME I'LL BE LETTING YOU IKNOW HOW IT ALL WENT

So I‘ve just come back in from a walk around the Parish and a few home visits with Communion. It is mud everywhere. Now that would be bad enough because the roads are all cut up and swept away; with no drainage the rain cuts through the weakest part of the street. But there is another problem – the people here don’t have running water in their houses and rely on water tanks to bring them fresh water. During the rainy season, it is impossible for the trucks to get anywhere near many houses and so the people gather the rain water that falls of the roof. This they use for washing themselves, washing their clothes and their houses. It is for me a further indignity in an impoverished life. What makes it even worse is the cost of the water: the people that live on the other side of the city’s perimeter road have running water from the city supply and the same amount of water ( a barrel ) costs them 7 cents (3 pence in Scotland) whereas it costs the people here 70 cents (ten times as much)! Some random thoughts …. This week I have been very busy getting ready for bursting onto the Guayaquil radio scene. In a moment of weakness I agreed to do a programme on the Pope’s recent encyclical letter on ‘Hope’. Not only had I not yet read the letter but I had forgotten to ask how long I would have to speak. I was shocked to find that the programme and my slot was AN HOUR!!! So I have been busy reading, revising and preparing myself fro my hour on Friday. As yet I don’t know if it’s live – I hope it’s recorded! But in any case, my ‘hour’ is going to be made easier by having Gloria, Adela, Freddy and Tito with me – I will ask interview them on ‘hope’ as well as get them to join in the prayers I will lead The rain has been causing havoc to the building work – at least to the football pitch. Every afternoon it has rained heavily so the work has to be suspended to let the worst pass. Then they start again. One embarrassing moment occurred when I took Oso down for a walk – as he got near the work, he broke free and ran all over the wet cement – I got a lot of dirty looks. And needless to say Oso has not been back. The school continues to progress and now they are going to add a further set of toilets as well as move the Soup Kitchen to a better location in the school. Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday so I was out and about all day doing the needful. In the morning two chapels were busy enough but at night time the three chapels where I had services were full to capacity – even the Parish Church. I reckon we had around 700 there. At each location I had a few ministers to help me and we still managed to have a faith-filled experience. Some despair that so many people only turn up at Church on such days but my take on it is that, if they are only here today, then let’s give them the best experience of God We are getting every excited about the Scotland trip – only nine days left. So Sunday was dance rehearsal day and finish off eth videos. At a few locations in Scotland we will present a few traditional Ecuadorian dances – even yours truly is joining in (really only to balance up the numbers). And the video hopefully will give a good image of what living in Nueva Prosperina is like as well as introduce our young people. Saturday was our second First Communion Day. These were the kids (nine of them) that were doing extra classes with me in January to catch up on what had been lost. Obviously it was a much quieter affair from the December First Communion (when there were 180) but it meant that we perhaps had a more intimate feeling to it all. By eth smiles at the end they enjoyed themselves.

Now that the schools have moved into their long holiday, this week has been taken up with a few trips. Firstly we had the teachers on their annual trip. We went to a swimming pool complex about an hour from the city called ‘Aquamarina’; we had intended to go further afield but the terrible rains have swept main roads away so we needed to stay closer to the city. About fifteen of the teachers came with us and we had a great day together: eating, swimming, playing on eth swings and having a little bit of the sun (although I got a bit burnt and am, still suffering). I always enjoy these trips with the teachers, they earn so little in their regular wage that the trip becomes another way of saying thanks to them for their teaching which really is a social-work job as well as a teaching one. The very next day I took the altar servers on their first ever trip. At home these trips were regular affairs but I had never taken one yet. So off we went – about twelve servers from the various chapels around the Parish – to the local shopping centre. The ‘Mall del Sol’ when it was built was the largest shopping centre in Latin America – amazing for a city so poor! In any case, the servers had a great day: we went for a burger, walked around the centre, went up and down the escalator (they had never seen one), when up and down the lift (a very elegant one) and then went to play billiards in the amusements. Over all, I was struck by how new all of this shopping centre was to them and then I realized that, whereas doing the shopping at one of these centres is a regular thing at home, here families from our area could not afford to shop there. I was also struck by the amount of kids – most of them – who kept a bit of burger back ‘so that they could give it to their Mum”. Then on Monday we were on to the coast for our Youth Group Retreat. We took around 24 youth and worked on the theme ‘What is your treasure?” Once again the young people amazed me by their enthusiasm to get involved in prayer and singing. Of course, as well as the work we had a chance to get down to the beach but what was amazing there was that it was crowded. Normally the beaches are empty but, because it was holiday weekend, thousands of people from the city had spilled out onto the coastal beaches. Through all of this the work on the school classrooms and on the football pitch continues. We are nearing completion on the football pitch – it might even be ready before we head for Scotland. However the eight school classrooms will take a little longer but I am less anxious about them in the sense that we are on a long school holiday until the end of March so there is plenty of time there. And talking of the school, last week we had our Graduation Ceremony for the Primary 7s. Forty five kids have now finished their primary education at our school and some will pass on to our secondary school – others will go to specialist schools in the city, some will go tot eh local state secondary. It was a great moment to see them all reaching this goal. On a serious point I had been asking our teachers recently whether the standard of education had increased since we started the school in 2003; the general opinion seems to be that the longer the kids are with us the better they are at studying and responding in investigations. I suppose then it’s a case of ‘onwards and upwards’, no?