Outreach Mission To Peru

The Parish in which Fr. Derek Leonard ministers in and which I had the privilege of visiting, is called "El Resucitado", which means the Resurrected One.

It is in the Diocese of Chosica and situated in an area called Ate, Vitarte, Lima, which was originally a training ground for a Terrorist group called “The Shining Path.”  It had a history of violence and distrust, so beginning a new parish here has been a great challenge.

The parish was founded by Bishop Norbert Strotman on February 1st, 2006 when Fr.David Coatello, another priest of the Diocese of Limerick, moved to the area and the new boundaries were drawn.  The parish was officially inaugurated as a parish on February 4th, 2007 when Bishop Donal Murray travelled from Limerick for the celebrations.  They proudly celebrated the anniversary of the parish last Easter Sunday with open air-mass followed by music and dancing.
A sad reminder of the past violence here, was the death of a young boy last year who was accidentally killed by a discarded grenade.

The population of our parish is 100,000 people and it is growing, as more people migrate into the parish.  They have 10 different communities, with 6 churches. Where they don't have a church, the priests celebrate mass and the sacraments outdoors.

As well as administering the Sacraments, they are committed to improving the standard of living for their parishioners by helping them with their educational, medical and financial needs. This takes many forms including sponsoring young people going to college, buying school books and uniforms, helping with hospital visits and the buying of medicine, building houses etc.  Each day brings new challenges.

They have also built three "Comedors", which are kitchens that feed children from the ages of 3 to 13 every day. The biggest Comedor feeds 180 children daily.  These children are from the ages of 3 to 13 years of age and from extreme poverty. In the parish they have employed a social worker from Lima to help them identify the families most in need and the children most at risk. 

The Priests also organize visits by doctors to examine each child.  Many suffer from malnutrition and Tubercolisis.  The children are monitored to make sure they are putting on weight and their health is improving.  At the moment, some of the kitchens don’t have running water in the premises and mothers have to carry buckets of water to the Comedor each morning so that it functions, but they  are hoping that in the next few weeks, running water will be connected to the building.

Many of the children have not been attending school, so Fr. Derek has been visiting local schools and enlisting them in classes.  It is necessary for them also to buy uniforms, books etc for these children.  All this is thanks to the generosity of friends at home in Carrickmore, Limerick and further a field.

In the life of a poor person in Peru, two things are vital for day to day survival - health and a daily income.

With this in mind, the Priests recently had an opportunity to try improving the lives of the people in our parish with the opening of a clinic.  
The Clinica "San Miguel" consists of a doctor's consultant room and a Dental office.  In Peru, the Government is obliged to provide medical care to the poor but this often does not happen.  Many of the poorest people are turned away from clinics because they cannot pay and are subject to racism because of their background.  Many others have never been registered when they were born and are not in the system.

Their Clinica "San Miguel" provides basic medical care for many of the parishioners who would otherwise have no-where to turn.  Each patient pays the equivalent of 50 cents, which goes to pay the wages of our doctor and dentist.
One of the first things they did in the clinic was to vaccinate more than 200 children from the “Comedores” (feeding Kitchens) and later their parents and families.  The sounds of crying children can still be heard in the valley.

Fr. Derek has also opened an Industrial workshop, to train women to make clothes.  The Taller "Sagart" will give local women a new trade and also help them to bring in a daily income through the making of clothes, bags etc.
The workshop is currently making t-shirts for the children in one of the “Comedores”.  As many women in the community are the sole bread-winners for their families, it means that these women may be able to start a small business from their own homes in the future.

I hope that this gives you a glimpse into the lives of the people of the parish in Ate and the ministry of Fr. Derek.  As I said at the Masses last weekend, he and the people of Ate would like to thank you again for your kind donations and especially your continued prayers.
It was a privilege for me to be a part of their lives for a short while, to be welcomed with open hearts and to share in their lives, their faith and above all their hope and joy for life, despite their circumstances.  But I felt that they are the ones who are rich!!  They proved to me that the spirit of God is very much alive in our world, our people and our Church.

Thank you for taking the time to view the images of my trip to Peru and I ask you to continue to keep Fr. Derek and the people of the parish in your prayers.

Every prayer and Blessing,
Fr. Malachy Murphy