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.