St. John Vianney Catholic Parish`s Work in San Juan de Limay

St. John Vianney Catholic Parish’s Work in San Juan de Limay, Nicaragua January 20161 Imagine that you had to live in a 1-­‐room house built with a wooden frame, roofed haphazardly with several pieces of metal, covered on 3 sides with black plastic trash bag sheeting and on the fourth side with a row of sticks to vent the smoke from your wood fire. How safe would you feel from rats, starving dogs, thieves, and violence? How would you deal with the incoming dust in the dry season and rain in the wet? House made of sticks and trash bag sheeting
1 © 2016 Text: Dianne O’Leary. Photos: Tim O’Leary In January 2016, 12 people representing St. John Vianney (SJV) Parish traveled to San Juan de Limay in the mountains in northwest Nicaragua to visit our sister parish there. Every 6 months, a delegation goes down to bless the new houses we have funded and to discern needs. Tim and I were part of the January group. Jim, Padre Rigoberto (pastor of the local Catholic Church), Brigid,
Ruth, Marvin, Marlucie, Don, Bebe, Liz, Dianne. Not pictured: Tim,
Darrell, and Father Peter Daly (Pastor, SJV).
It is a stunningly beautiful area, much like New Mexico or the Sierra Nevada. Outside Limay There are about 7,500 people in town and about the same number in the surrounding hills. The more prosperous farmers raise cattle, goats, pigs, and a few crops. They keep horses and oxen for work. Many people raise chickens, even in town. Town of San Juan de Limay
Limay is reached by a road, only partially paved, from the city of Estelí, 30 miles away. A river and large flood plain often isolates the city in the rainy season. Then, the town can only be reached by a zip-­‐line basket strung high above the water. The road can also be cut off by rockslides, mudslides, and erosion. People get around the town by horse, oxcart, bike, bus, and foot-­‐powered taxi. Cars, motorcycles, and SUVs are rare, but are becoming more common as the gravel road is replaced by brick pavers embedded in a sand base, with deep ditches to channel flood water. Artists in the city are known for soapstone sculptures, including “gordas” erected around town. “Gorda” sculptures depict well-fed women, often holding symbols of
plenty.
The people of Limay are just like us, with the same hopes and dreams and needs. We noticed small miracles, born of relationships between the sister parishes: • A girl who lost her leg after being hit by a bus had been encouraged on a previous visit to get surgery to receive an artificial leg. On this visit, one of our parishioners gave her a bike. Her face glowed as she zoomed down the road. Father Peter Daly, Padre Rigoberto, Albita, Don
• A boy had broken his arm so badly that he couldn’t even scratch his head. An SJV parishioner paid for surgery for him, and now he can throw a baseball. • A shop owner paralyzed from the waist down cannot afford necessary medical supplies. An SJV parishioner provides them. • SJV gave a promising student tuition money to go to agricultural college in Estelí on Saturdays. These are small miracles, but important ones, made possible by parishioners of SJV. SJV provides training for catechists in the 10 districts in the parish. Some areas are 4 or more hours from town, some accessible only on horseback, so catechists provide spiritual leadership in between visits from their pastor. Father Daly is a mentor to the pastor, Padre Rigoberto, and bought him a dirt bike so that he can travel to each district on a rotating basis. Padre is a loving pastor who knows his people by name. He gives them spiritual advice and guides them to access the material resources they need. But without our support and Father Daly’s friendship, the Padre’s life would be very bleak. But the main focus of the SJV project is housing. Our parish has funded the building of over 200 houses meant for the poorest of the poor: simple houses, smaller than a 2-­‐car garage, but sturdy, built of brick and rebar and watertight tin roofs. They cost only $2,600, but they provide dignity and security for the families who live in them. “You are the salt of the earth,” and they are sprinkled like salt among the houses in the town and surrounding hills. On this trip we encouraged the local committee to double the construction rate to 40 new houses per year. They are given to needy families without regard to religious or political affiliation. A new SJV-funded house
One single mother had waited years for the new house that we funded for her and her 8-­‐year-­‐old daughter Sophie. Sophie had severe brain damage (caused by hydrocephalus) that would have been prevented had she been born in the US. We celebrated the blessing of the woman’s new home as we cried with her, because Sophie had died in December. We visited one family of 4 waiting for a new house. In the kitchen they had only a few rotting plantains, and the husband and 9-­‐year-­‐old boy returned empty-­‐handed from hunting iguana. The next day, on our way home, we brought them our leftover food, and the 4-­‐year-­‐old was excited to see Coco-­‐Puffs! Waiting for a new house. And Coco-Puffs.
SJV parishioners also purchased land for a 50-­‐home subdivision for teachers, police, doctors, and other professionals. 22 families have already moved in, and this building project is now fully supported by “rent-­‐to-­‐own” payments from the residents. It gives a huge incentive for professionals to stay in the community. We met one teacher who had won a $500 award as the best teacher in the district. (That is 2 or 3 months salary!) Did she decide to move her children to the city? No, she immediately ran to the pastor to give him the money as a deposit on a house in the subdivision for her family. She is so grateful for a safe place to live! Esperanza (“Hope”) Village housing for the middle class
The SJV housing projects have also provided work for over 120 residents, with full-­‐time jobs for over 35. We make it possible for families to stay together and not need to flee north or to big cities in order to survive. Brickmakers
House under construction
So what did Tim and I learn in Nicaragua? • None of us here won the Powerball drawing, but all of us won a huge lottery just by being blessed to live in the US. • A relatively small amount of money, well managed, can make a huge difference in the lives of people living at the margins, people whom Jesus would have befriended. • We met some living saints, some from SJV and some from Limay. Don Leonidas, Project Manager
• As a parish, we fund housing in Limay, we provide jobs, and we bring soccer balls and used clothing and stuffed toys for the children. But we bring much more – hope and love. And we do it in Jesus’ name. Donated by the parish of St. John Vianney Catholic Church, USA
References: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2012/0326/In-­‐
Nicaragua-­‐teachers-­‐make-­‐only-­‐half-­‐as-­‐much-­‐as-­‐market-­‐
vendors https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Juan_de_Limay