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Santa Cruz, 18th November 2007
Sunday welcomes us today with a little bit cloudy and muggy weather, but the sun sometimes breaks through the clouds so it is warm as well. The summer has just begun and it can be noticed everywhere. Our internal viridary, till now a little bit dry due to lack of water, has become green again. The trees are green and there are plenty of blooming flowers. Water means life. And life means insects, ants and other bigger or smaller creatures living here. Yesterday, for example, my room was visited by a... tarantula. How did she get there? It is a mystery for me. As you can see, these creatures have their own ways. And sometimes they can give us a surprise.
As long as there is nothing in your bed... life is to withstand.
Only when you leave the town you can see how the nature has woken up. I have been travelling around our vicariate for the whole week. Roads here are various. As long as you are on a main, asphalt road it is not so bad. But when you pull off the main road... then it may be differently. Sometimes you can lose the whole chassis. Holes, stones, ruts and rifts in the asphalt are something special for tourist, but for us it is the grim reality. Our cars which are often ancient "suffer" and the drivers feel bad as well. But the nature compensates all these inconveniences. There are no burnt meadows and steppes anymore. A few days of intensive rain were enough for the nature to become clothed in green. As it is the beginning of summer, everything starts blooming and smelling. Everything is really beautiful. Every part of our vicariate is different. You can see flat lands near the great river Rio Grande. These are usually farmlands where corn, soya, sunflowers and sesame are planted. There are also rolling and mountainous lands near San Javier and Concepcion. San Antonio de Lomerio, on the other hand, is the land of bushes, mixed forests and huge pastures for cattle. The terrains are wonderful, especially in places where rocks formed various structures. Here you can also see huge herds of cattle, buffalos and flocks of different kinds of parrots flying over your head. And Guarayos... the green lands with beautiful palm groves. Each place here is unique. When you leave the town from time to time you can admire things which are something usual for the local people. However, the journey through the vicariate is not meant to be leisure. There is always a specific reason which combines many different matters. The car is usually loaded with letters, parcels, goods, spare parts for machines and many other different things we were asked to buy for people who live in the most remote parishes of our vicariate. Don Francisco, a worker of our Caritas, who is partly responsible for administration and accountancy in the vicariate, accompanied me in this journey. Our aim was to find out more about the economic situation of each house, parish, hospital, Sisters’ Convent etc. And this year the situation is difficult. It is not only because the help we receive has shrunk considerably. The whole political and social situation of the country is unstable. The prices of all goods, from food to building materials, have risen recently. For example, the prices of rice, which is the basic product in Bolivia, have increased two or even three times, from 3 bs to 10 bs (it is more than 200 %). But the prices of all other products (meat, fruit, vegetable) have increased as well. It is not due to the lack of food. It is connected with the lack of fuel, especially diesel. The costs of transport rise and the prices rise as well. Every family, every person feels it. We feel it as well. People come to us and ask for help. And we have less and less capabilities to do it.
There are also more and more problems in every house, parish etc. I learnt about it while talking to many missionaries and Sisters who began to worry about our future. I am sure that we will get more "surprises" from the Bolivian government.
Such a trip is also an opportunity to meet almost everybody who works in our vicariate. As usually, the doors of every house and every mission were wide open and the hosts are hospitable and kind. This is so great in our vicariate. Wherever you go you feel as if you were at home. It does not matter if you are at home of Bolivian or Polish priests, Bolivian, Brazilian or European Sisters or our Franciscan fellow-brothers. You feel great everywhere. You can rest there, stay the night etc. The vicariate is like a big family: everybody knows each other. You know that wherever you go, you always will be kindly received.
Sometimes you can luck upon a "party". In El Fortin for example, we celebrated Fr Stanisław’s (Felix) and Brother Felix’s birthdays. When we arrived to Brechie, to the Bolivian Sisters’ Convent, we could celebrate the birthday of one of the Sisters. They spontaneously shared the food with us although they had no idea we were coming. It is really difficult to contact them because of the lack of telephones, electricity or radios but also because of difficult conditions of travelling. This visit was also a change for the Sister because they are rarely visited. So it was a double joy.
During the last day, on our journey back to Santa Cruz, we stopped in San Ramon. There we met other Franciscans who work in our vicariate. Apart from our Bishop Anthony, our provincial from Cochabamba - Fr Martin, and the econom of our province - Fr Ignatio also took part in this meeting. It concerned many organizational issues, connected also with economy. The form of help for our vicariate will change. It will probably be even more reduced. All of us are a little bit worried because of this but I am sure that with God’s help and with the help of good people we will still be able to carry on our work.
You cannot leave San Ramon without drinking the best coffee in our vicariate which is freshly brewed, with the whole "ceremony", by our host, priest Kazimierz. On Friday evening we were on our way back home. The last 200 kilometres went on forever. The trip by night is very difficult. Many cars blind because the drivers do not change the lights and many cars are poorly lighted or are not lighted at all. Moreover, there are many people and animals on the road, which means that you have to be even more concentrated. When I approached our only bridge over Rio Grande and I saw where the last car is, I was sure... there were many hours of waiting in front of me. Nevertheless, I came back home safely. Every time when I get back to our vicariate I am happy and I thank God for my safe return.
All the missionaries I met were in their element. It is the time when the school year finishes. So there are Holy Communions, Confirmations, last preparations, last catecheses. Everyone is very busy. Our Bishop Anthony, for example, took part in Bolivian Episcopal Conference in Cochabamba. Then he left again to dispense the sacrament of Confirmation. I don’t know when was the last time he was in Concepcion... but it was a long time ago. Our Bishop’s residence is his whole vicariate. The shepherd is on his way all the time.
The situation in our country is still very tense. The politicians, the government and the opposition attack themselves all the time which really makes the everyday life difficult. There are many blockades and strikes. Last Wednesday, for example, communication did not work for the whole day. Nothing else functioned either, because people could not get to work. The international airport in Santa Cruz struck as well. No plane left the country. One day this tension which compounds all the time will explode again. But what will be the consequences? Let’s hope that nobody will die again. Please, pray for peace in Bolivia.
I wish you a peaceful week. With greetings from the other side of the ocean
Tarsicio, ofm
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