Didsbury to Bolivia: 2002 to 2020
The story of our support for poor communities in Latin America
Chance meetings can lead one into places you could only dream of. This is our story of how St Catherine’s Parish, The Barlow RC High School, St Cuthbert’s in Withington, our family, and lots of friends came together to fulfil the hopes and change the lives of some of the poorest communities in Bolivia!
In 2002 we were invited by our friend Sr Josephine, to visit the orphanage which she had founded, Rosa de Anze, in Bolivia. It seemed that everyone wanted to participate in our journey by raising money and donating gifts. So, In November 2002, laden with 4 bags each weighing 32kg, filled with clothes, tooth brushes, medicines, creams, school equipment, to name but a few, off we set for Bolivia, one of South America’s poorest countries. It is landlocked, by Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Brazil, but as we were to discover, it is rich in tradition, in music, in culture and in celebrations.
First visit, we went for only three weeks, but since then have generally stayed for just over four months each year, sometimes visiting the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in Peru on their missions in Ilo and Moquegua and offering some financial support.
In the early years, our work comprised of working with Sr Josephine and her wonderful Bolivian staff supporting the 28 children and teenagers, many with special needs, in the orphanage, joining in all their activities. The goods we brought were invaluable, and back home we only had to mention a need for support to be provided. Maybe the most moving example being the two youngsters with incredibly uncomfortable, failing wheelchairs. Pupils and staff at The Barlow High School came to the rescue with funding to buy two new wheelchairs, plus physio equipment!
Aware of the social needs outside the Hogar (literally a home or fireside), Sr Josephine set up a school, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, now catering for up to three hundred children, run by a Mexican order of Sisters. Each year we have given the Sisters $1000, funding which has been used for a security gate, a water tank, and always for classroom equipment. A bakery has been built and this gives work to local people and enables the community to buy bread at reasonable cost. Grants have been given to local people to enable them to study. A library was built which doubles up as an after-school club. Your generosity has contributed to all these projects.
When the Hogar was forced to close, the school and bakery continued to thrive. Some youngsters went to other homes and others now live independently. Many now see themselves as our extended family, and we continue to pay rent including for a mother and her four children and pay for hospital fees and medicines. One girl, the youngest of eight children, orphaned many years ago, has just qualified as a Doctor thanks to money donated by a local GP friend.
With the closure of the Hogar, we thought our work in Bolivia had come to an end, but no, when Sr Emma, who visited us in here in Didsbury, personally thanked so many for the help given to the families of Bolivia, she invited us to stay with the Sisters of Bethania, with houses also based in Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala and Colombia. Every year we are made to feel part of this community. From funds raised, we give the Sisters $1000 each year, some of it used to establish a small nursery. When there, based in the parish of St Ildefonso and the Shrine of Our Lady of Urkupiña, we visit small communities in the outback, providing medicines, gifts and children’s clothes bought with your funds. We assist at religious assemblies for young people, many of whom walk for up to six hours to attend these reunions on feasts such as Pentecost.
In this desperately poor region, we were able to gift $1000 for medical treatment for a priest going blind, enabling him to continue his work in the hospital. Another priest who walks many miles in the mountains visiting outlying communities was given funds to support local children and to buy good shoes for himself!
We are associated with two orphanages, Hogar St Martin, run by Shoko an amazing Japanese woman, caring for eleven young people with special needs, and Salomon Klein, a home for 170 orphaned and abandoned children aged from birth to 7 years. Emma the Director has been based there for over 36 years, caring for, nourishing, loving and educating them. We support this extremely challenging work, participating in their fiestas, providing clothing, and funding milk supplies, medicines, and hospital fees.
The generosity of so many enables us to support others. A special mention for Joan Dillon RIP from St Catherine’s whose afternoon teas raised funds for children and families of Bolivia. With help from friends this became an annual lunch at St Catherine’s, bringing our community together and supported by the young St Vincent de Paul group from The Barlow High School. Hopefully, this will recommence. Talks in parishes, cake sales, individual donations, a most generous donation each year from The Barlow enables us to carry on this work. Every pound, every penny, goes directly to those in need. We started by simply visiting our friend, but God works in mysterious ways and this has become part of our lives for which we are so thankful. Today baggage allowances have been reduced but we still take three 23kg bags of supplies plus money donated. Prior to lockdown (clearly, we cannot travel this year) we managed to send funds to the Sisters and for two youngsters for medicines and rent. We are in regular communication with the Sisters and with our Bolivian friends. What can we say but “thank you”? We are blessed to have Bolivia as our second home, and as Desmond Tutu said, “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
With many thanks for your generosity in the past, and in the future.
Lynda and Peter Wain
Chance meetings can lead one into places you could only dream of. This is our story of how St Catherine’s Parish, The Barlow RC High School, St Cuthbert’s in Withington, our family, and lots of friends came together to fulfil the hopes and change the lives of some of the poorest communities in Bolivia!
In 2002 we were invited by our friend Sr Josephine, to visit the orphanage which she had founded, Rosa de Anze, in Bolivia. It seemed that everyone wanted to participate in our journey by raising money and donating gifts. So, In November 2002, laden with 4 bags each weighing 32kg, filled with clothes, tooth brushes, medicines, creams, school equipment, to name but a few, off we set for Bolivia, one of South America’s poorest countries. It is landlocked, by Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and Brazil, but as we were to discover, it is rich in tradition, in music, in culture and in celebrations.
First visit, we went for only three weeks, but since then have generally stayed for just over four months each year, sometimes visiting the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in Peru on their missions in Ilo and Moquegua and offering some financial support.
In the early years, our work comprised of working with Sr Josephine and her wonderful Bolivian staff supporting the 28 children and teenagers, many with special needs, in the orphanage, joining in all their activities. The goods we brought were invaluable, and back home we only had to mention a need for support to be provided. Maybe the most moving example being the two youngsters with incredibly uncomfortable, failing wheelchairs. Pupils and staff at The Barlow High School came to the rescue with funding to buy two new wheelchairs, plus physio equipment!
Aware of the social needs outside the Hogar (literally a home or fireside), Sr Josephine set up a school, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, now catering for up to three hundred children, run by a Mexican order of Sisters. Each year we have given the Sisters $1000, funding which has been used for a security gate, a water tank, and always for classroom equipment. A bakery has been built and this gives work to local people and enables the community to buy bread at reasonable cost. Grants have been given to local people to enable them to study. A library was built which doubles up as an after-school club. Your generosity has contributed to all these projects.
When the Hogar was forced to close, the school and bakery continued to thrive. Some youngsters went to other homes and others now live independently. Many now see themselves as our extended family, and we continue to pay rent including for a mother and her four children and pay for hospital fees and medicines. One girl, the youngest of eight children, orphaned many years ago, has just qualified as a Doctor thanks to money donated by a local GP friend.
With the closure of the Hogar, we thought our work in Bolivia had come to an end, but no, when Sr Emma, who visited us in here in Didsbury, personally thanked so many for the help given to the families of Bolivia, she invited us to stay with the Sisters of Bethania, with houses also based in Venezuela, El Salvador, Guatemala and Colombia. Every year we are made to feel part of this community. From funds raised, we give the Sisters $1000 each year, some of it used to establish a small nursery. When there, based in the parish of St Ildefonso and the Shrine of Our Lady of Urkupiña, we visit small communities in the outback, providing medicines, gifts and children’s clothes bought with your funds. We assist at religious assemblies for young people, many of whom walk for up to six hours to attend these reunions on feasts such as Pentecost.
In this desperately poor region, we were able to gift $1000 for medical treatment for a priest going blind, enabling him to continue his work in the hospital. Another priest who walks many miles in the mountains visiting outlying communities was given funds to support local children and to buy good shoes for himself!
We are associated with two orphanages, Hogar St Martin, run by Shoko an amazing Japanese woman, caring for eleven young people with special needs, and Salomon Klein, a home for 170 orphaned and abandoned children aged from birth to 7 years. Emma the Director has been based there for over 36 years, caring for, nourishing, loving and educating them. We support this extremely challenging work, participating in their fiestas, providing clothing, and funding milk supplies, medicines, and hospital fees.
The generosity of so many enables us to support others. A special mention for Joan Dillon RIP from St Catherine’s whose afternoon teas raised funds for children and families of Bolivia. With help from friends this became an annual lunch at St Catherine’s, bringing our community together and supported by the young St Vincent de Paul group from The Barlow High School. Hopefully, this will recommence. Talks in parishes, cake sales, individual donations, a most generous donation each year from The Barlow enables us to carry on this work. Every pound, every penny, goes directly to those in need. We started by simply visiting our friend, but God works in mysterious ways and this has become part of our lives for which we are so thankful. Today baggage allowances have been reduced but we still take three 23kg bags of supplies plus money donated. Prior to lockdown (clearly, we cannot travel this year) we managed to send funds to the Sisters and for two youngsters for medicines and rent. We are in regular communication with the Sisters and with our Bolivian friends. What can we say but “thank you”? We are blessed to have Bolivia as our second home, and as Desmond Tutu said, “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
With many thanks for your generosity in the past, and in the future.
Lynda and Peter Wain
