Sixto Adolfo

Let me tell you about the man in the photo below who has become a friend in the last five weeks. His name is Sixto Adolfo. He is 83 years of age (which is so rare here) and a memory as good as it gets except that all of his memories are different everytime you enquire. A storyteller in that great Irish (Ecuadorean) tradition.
I discovered him while visiting an impoverished invasion of cane huts lost in the middle of the parish one day. There he was as you see him. He told me a (true) and sad story of how he lives 24 hours a day in that little 3 by 3 cane shack that you see, how he cannot move from pain in his legs and other parts, arthritis I guess. His children have abandoned him, in fairness they do not have the resourses either but it is truly frowned upon in a society that values the family so highly. Local families take turns bringing him a bowl of rice every day and if lucky, an egg or beans. Last night (Friday) I bundled him into the truck without anyone as much as asking where we were going and off we went to a doctor-friend who kindly examined and treated him. An hour and a half later and after many tests and whatnot we made our way to the pharmacy to buy the prescripción, $6 it cost, an incredible amount to pay he remarked and away we went. Returning to the mucky, wet, mosquito-infested hut I knew we hadn’t saved the world that night but I like to think that even so, something of that God-given dignity that we all share was restored, that dignity that we have as children of God whether black or white, rich or poor, old or young, Irish or Ecuadorean. Pray for him as we try to find him a home.

Herlindas Story
Herlinda lives in this house, (pictured below, today is wash day) she is a charming lady, in her early sixties. She lives with Miguel, her husband, just around the corner from me where they have no running water, (notice the barrels) her bed lies directly on the earthen floor, surrounded by the remnants of a life spent in utter poverty. Last February she was diagnosed with “some” heart defect, (specificity costs money in these here parts) she was prescribed ‘some” form of blood thinner (again speciality drugs cost money in these here parts as in most parts) which she can barely afford excepto with the help of her extended family and people like you. I left in sadness one day, indeed I do many days, as they relate once again what it feels like to be dependant on a health system (disasterous as it is) that is founded on the principle that only the monied will survive, what it feels like to know that if you were born under a different sky, the treatment you needed would be readily available, what it feels like to read in the face of your doctors, “I’m sorry, but if you had $50, we would be able to do something”. The pain in her voice as she communicates the helplessness and abandonment she feels as she, from her own Calvary commends her life into the hands of her Maker. “Si Dios quiere” she says, “if God wants”.

Despite what “they” say. there is no shortage in our world but in the parish where I have the privilege of working in the slums in the north of Guayaquil, it is not so obvious. In a parish of 47,000 souls, the vast majority of whom live below the poverty line, some in extreme “absolute” poverty, at times you feel overwhelmed, at times helpless, at times downright angry and at times encouraged, encouraged by the inherent goodness of people and their willingness to stand up, be counted and say, “that’s wrong, what can I do to change it”. It is people like that that make the mission possible here in Ecuador. The Gospels tell us that the “ poor are the first ones to whom Jesus’ mission is directed (Luke 4,18-21) and ...the evangelización of the poor is the supreme sign and proof of His mission. (Luke 7, 21-23) To work among the poorest of the poor, to share their experience of abandonment while living in densely populated slums, to seek to offer hope to those in hope-less situations and find that you are the one who has gained is a extraordinary privilege, one that I pray we (you and I) will share for a very long time.

A brief word about the building projects, at the time of writing, we are busy with phase two of the parish centre which is to cost $85,000. It is a very necessary development which will be used by the doctor, and also to provide meals for the children and catechesis. Last month we started a soup-kitchen in one of the invasions areas of the parish called San Barnebé Apostol. There are 120 children feeding there everyday, Monday to Saturday. It costs between $5 and $6 dollars a month to feed one child. In another area of the parish we are, at present, working on a building which in January will become a medical centre, soup-kitchen and teaching facility (for kids and parents without the resourses to attend the schools in the city). That part of the parish is called Cerro Redondo. It is in a delapidated state, but given time, money etc. etc. The doctor (who treated Sixto) has agreed to come twice a week. His salary will be $120 a monthly. Now to find someone to pay him. A lot of time is spent now trying to source the funds to finance these projects and ensure that they become reality. Actually, these projects depend very little on me and almost completely on the generosity of people like your good self. Together we will continue to seek to improve the lives of those who live in extreme poverty in our world.