Joy in the little things...

"He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury; and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins. And he said, ´Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had."

-Luke 21:1-4-

***Dear, dear, dear family and friends!

***Peace to you each of you! Let us rejoice in this day as the Church celebrates Christ the King! In celebration of this Solemnity, all the people who live at the foundation (children, teens, misioneras, crazy gringas, etc) walked from base to a pueblo a few villages away to celebrate the Mass, followed by a procession through the town. Lovely, hot, and so Ecuadorian. I was accompanied in the procession by two new little girls, one holding each hand, twirling the littlest one, Angelica, in circles as we walked...so that her little blue dress spun about and her sweet laughter was raised to the Heavens. A blessed Sunday indeed.

***Well, this week, I continued to update the records from the past year, as well as planning the weekly appointments with the doctor. I am learning to find new approaches to get some of the more reluctant patients to their appointments...some of the boys and young men here are just not interested...well, for the blood samples I understand a bit more. :) Also, as a notable highlight, I gave a talk on parasite prevention at 5:45am...that is a personal record. We received a donation of anti-parasite meds, and I helped the misionera doctora talk to all the groups about preventions before we gave the medications. Fitting into the kids´ schedule here can be a feat, so there I was, at the crack of dawn, talking about boiling water and wearing shoes and showing picture of parasites. What a life. In my world of nursing and medicine here, the other main development is that I was able to meet with another local foundation, Nobis, that runs a little clinic a few days a week a few pueblos away. When I have a bit more time in January and February when most of the kids leave for summer vacation, I am going to be able to devote more time to working in the surrounding pueblos (like La Rinconada); therefore, I am networking with at least this foundation to share ideas and resources.

***This week, the students of the elementary and high school hosted "Open House" days wherein local schools were invited and our students presented what they are learning in each course. It was really a neat thing. There was dancing, Ecuadorian food, math games, and more. It was a beautiful opportunity to see how the schools here function. The high school religion department did a beautiful and powerful presentation on abortion. Seeing those pictures and hearing those stories was a great reminder for me that we need to fight for those babies, advocating for the truth. In Ecuador, blessedly, abortion is illegal.

***As always, every day is an adventure. Maribeth and I celebrated our 2-month Ecuadorian anniversary on the 22nd, and we are thankful for what has been and look forward to what is to come. Being constant in my daily prayer is really the only way this life can be lived with joy and efficacy...pray that I live this truth!

***I love you all whole bunches...peace and blessings...

***En Cristo,
m

***PS: Jim Campbell, FUS alumus and missionary, returns today to serve with us here!

Here comes the sun, doo, doo, doo, doo...

Kindle in my heart the pure fire of Your love...

Dear ones...

***Peace of Christ from afar. Today I write to you from a little beach town called Salinas where Maribeth and I are spending our Sabbath day of rest. :) I hope to delve into St. Faustina´s biography from a chair on the beach after I finish here.

***It was a blessed week. I have realized my number one priority right now in the consultorio where I work is organization. I have the goal of having the medical files and consultation records in order by the end of the year. Then I will start in with new projects, such as little health classes/activities for the children, focused on prevention; I am constantly brain-storming ideas to make the healthcare more preventive rather than reactive. Meanwhile, I have truly become the base´s nurse...I cannot walk from one part of the base to another without having at least one mini-consultation with some dear one en route. Building patient confidence in their health care worker is a beautiful and challenging thing

***Maribeth and I had the blessing of meeting with the approximately 20 young women in the house for gals ages 14-20, I believe. They meet every night after Mass with their house mom (the missionary who lives and cares for them), so we had the joy of joining them for the evening. They are precious young girls, and Maribeth and I feel called to work with them in some way or another. So the other day we started by sharing our testimonies...how we came to give our Fiat to Jesus in our lives and in this mission specifically. It was a gift, and we shall see what comes of this ¨women´s group.¨

***In other news, Maribeth and I are English teachers. :) Our students are some of the missionaries here, and we teach for two hours every Friday. Wow. This will be a great adventure, I am sure.

***Well, for now, I shall sign off. Please know that I hold you all close to my heart in every moment as I live here what I am called to do, console the Sacred Heart of Jesus with my little offerings of love.

***LOVE,
m

***PS: We hope to post some new pictures the middle of this week.

PPS: Ah, the little song title to the blog refers to the gradually changing climate here...from rainy to sunny...here comes the heat!!!

PPPS: Special love to the Sanford family this week...especially in thanksgiving for their Monday Rosary! You all are amazing.

Lagrimas de Sangre

No hands, no feet on earth but yours

Yours are the eyes through which He looks

compassion on this world

Christ has no body now on earth but yours

-St. Teresa de Avila-

Well, hello there, dear ones...

*Peace of Christ to all. Ah, as another week of the vida gringa has passed, I write to you on the day after a great celebration of the association/foundation that we are working with. Yesterday we celebrated the 17th anniversary of the day a statue of Mary the Mystical Rose that they have here cried tears of blood. The misioneras from around the country came to the Santuario as well as other friends of the foundation and people from the surrounding pueblos, and it was indeed a beautiful thing to partake in this special day. In addition, on Saturday my dear fellow missionary pal, Maribeth, turned 23-years-old...and my nephew/godson back home turned 2-years-old! What a weekend. :) For me personally, it was a blessed weekend to be in prayer and to recommit myself to my work here.

*Last week, we arrived back to our home on the peninsula just in time for this little nurse to help with the traveling surgeon foundation that comes three times a year for three days to perform charity surgeries. It really is a well-run operation. They have one surgical suite in a semi-truck, and they used another surgical suite at the local hospital. Mostly gallbladder removal and hernia repair this trip. Monday they consult the patients recommended by the clinic the foundation runs then Tuesday and Wednesday they operate. I spent Tuesday in surgery, and Wednesday I was the post-op nurse. A world away from the post-op units I experienced during nursing school but a post-op unit nonetheless. I took a few pictures that I will post next week. It was brilliant, really. Great group of docs and a well-organized foundation. If you would like to read more about their foundation, they have a website: http://www.cinterandes.org/. They also have opportunities for foreign medical students.

*The other day, our missionary friend Fatima introduced me as "the nurse in charge of the health of the people here at the base." Wow. I have been learning bit by bit from the missionary health care worker who I am taking over for, and I have been brainstorming new ways to improve the health of the people here, but the other day, the great and beautiful responsibility of it all struck home. We are about 300 people living at the base, children, misioneras and other workers such as professors and cooks. There are certain things expected of me, such as attending to those who are sick and planning the well-child check-ups, but there is definitely potential for new projects to improve the health here. Please pray for me as I focus in on new and old ways to promote the health of these dear ones, to give to my work the compassion, efficacy, and energy to provide the quality care that they deserve.

*It is a such a joy to become more and more a part of this community. The misioneras continue to be incredibly loving and inspiring...to the point that they very, very often tease Maribeth and me about becoming misioneras. Also, I have been blessed to get to know the older children who live at the base a bit better, such as the lovely high-school age ladies who get a kick out of their gringa nurse whom they call "Papaya." (Johanna, wild, right? Maribeth started calling me Papaya, and I remembered it is a good way to teach the pronunciation of Mariya...so I started using it when introducing myself. So funny.) I would love to work with these gals more, perhaps a women's Bible study or something of the sort.

*Well, dear ones, I hope each and every one of you are doing well. May you live each day as a consolation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

*Love and prayers,
m

Heading back to the coast...

"Let the peoples renew their strength...you who I took from the ends of the earth, and called you from its farthest corners, saying to you,´You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off.´" Isaiah 41:1, 9

Happy Sunday Eve!

Peace to all. Well, after a week in Quito, in just under two hours we will board the bus to head back to our little coastal home. Blessedly, I completed quite a bit of research...but, of course, there is always more. My research highlight of the week would probably be that I got in touch with the local office of Pan American Health Organization (the Americas regional branch of the World Health Organization), and they gave me a stack of literature on the health of the Americas and Ecuador specifically. Now, I have some reading to do...in Spanish nonetheless. Also, I revised the survey form the doctora and I use for our health census in Rinconada. And I prepared a bit more for the English classes Maribeth and I will be teaching to a few of the misioneras. This and more...

Well, included in all this excitement, Maribeth and I were able to enjoy a bit of Ecuador cultura. We stay with a dear family here in Quito that showers us with generosity. They are incredibly sweet. So not only did we experience our first Ecuadorian soccer game in the Quito stadium, we also learned of the celebration for El Dia de los Difuntos (November 2nd, All Soul´s Day). There is a thick fruit drink called “colada morada“ and a special bread in the shape of a baby (“guaguas de pan“) that are consumed in abundance during these days. No one seems to know the exact story (I´m still researching that one), but from what I understand thus far, it is a mixture of Catholic and indigenous traditions. Apparently, traditionally the family makes this drink and bread and spends the day at the cemetary. Then some of the food is left for the dead as while, in indigenous tradition. Masses are also celebrated in the cemetaries and the catacombs of churches. It is interesting...and delicious. Also, Maribeth had never experienced the joys of the Ecuadorian speciality “cuy“ (guinea pig), so we went with our Ecuadorian papi and grandparents to a special place to eat cuy today. I tell ya, nothing like a roasted rodent on your plate. Really, the meat is delicious...and you get an great study of anatomy at the same time. Ha. Oh, my. Check out the pics in my web albums, if you like.

It has been a lovely week here...studying up, resting, enjoying the culture. But it is indeed time to head back. The Lord has renewed my vision of the work I have been called to with the foundation, and it will be good to be back.

Until next week, all my love and prayers...

Besos y abrazos,
m