Some Final Thoughts

Paita is the 5th largest port in Peru, with a population of approximately 100,000 located on a rainless  coast which extents from the northern Ecuadorian border on the north to Chilean border on the south. With a much larger inland city, Piura, being 30 miles away, educated and professional individuals and families choose to live there. Even some teachers at Santa Clara endure the hard commute from Piura every day.  NO professional families send their children to Santa Clara--they don't live in Paita! There are 4 sisters in the whole community so all of the other teachers are hired.  This leaves Paita to be a city inhabited by lower middle and lower class families. Slums which go on for block after block seem to more prominent than any other form of housing.  The major industry is fishing. We gathered that the secondary industry is service, such as the infamous Mototaxi, and finally retail, such as grocery, local craft items, and prepared foods.

Homes with Electricity but without plumbing or water

 

Homes without Electricity, Plumbing or water

We saw two fish processing factories on the shore line where the Pacific Ocean meets Paita. On one hand, the sisters tell us that fish is expensive in Paita because the local fish is frozen on the shore and shipped in freighters (visible to us in port). Many people can't afford to buy the fish sold in the area. Yet on the other hand, the men and women who are hired to work in the processing plants or the larger boats have a job. Any hours they get helps feed their families. Unfortunately, much of the work is considered part-time. If they don't work "fulltime", the people don't get "social security", nor do they receive healthcare benefits.  Sr. Monica was talking with us about returning next year with a medical team. We are going to try to form a medical team and return to the area.

Two Fishing Factories in Paita, Peru

The School Sisters of St Francis built this school because the Peruvian government has not built enough schools to educate the whole population of children. The community asked the School Sisters to build the school so that their children could be given a good Catholic education. The sisters built the school, grade by grade and each year added on to the school, to what it is today. They received no government funding and have to rely on tuition from the families in Paita. 

The sisters are working with the government on a educational program called PRONOEI. It is located in the low-income and poverty stricken areas of Paita, where the homes have no electricity nor is there any water or plumbing. This program was formed in 1967 where the infant mortality rate was high and malnutrition was widespread. It has now emerged into a preschool program, to help prepare young children for school, run by the School Sisters of St. Francis.

It was sad for all of us to have Lisa meet some of the PRONOEI children and give them a brief physical. In most cases, she was not able to help them. There were sicknesses from diarrhea with fever, to dog bites (which could have been rabid),  and many skin diseases. Lisa refereed some to the doctor and treated a few with a dressing and ointment. Many of them can't afford a doctor or are waiting for the male, head of household, to bring home a paycheck after they find work. I'm sure many of those children will not be seeing a doctor.  

90% of the people of Peru are Catholic. Do you know the influence Catholicism has on each community? Even the public schools are named after a saint. For example, one of the schools is called Juan Pablo II or John Paul II. There is no separation of church and state. We passed one school that had a mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe on the outside of the public school. 

The Nuevo Sol is the Peruvian currency. 1 US dollar equals 2.7 Sole's (say Sol A). Families earn approximately 800 Soles monthly, equaling $296 US dollars. Tuition is around 120 Soles equaling $45 US. In addition to this monthly tuition, the children have one uniform and the parents are required to pay for it, lunch, and books for their children, and they do it because they value education, knowing it is the way out of poverty for their children.  It breaks the sister's hearts when their pragmatically limited scholarship fund cannot support a student whose parents cannot pay tuition due to lack of work. They know this student will not receive an education once they leave the school.

We shopped at one of the quite obviously few grocery stores in Paita. Although our grocery bill was lower than what we would have paid in the US, only the local produce and meats were of lower cost. The packaged items were comparable to our prices. It gave us a taste of the challenge that the Santa Clara families face.

Despite the economic pall, the School Sisters live their vow of poverty with joy and confidence, and keep the school thriving and alive with the Love of God via an active prayer life and very hard work. The children respond in kind to the love of the teachers, which was astonishingly extended to us in the most magnificent demonstrations.  I know I speak for all of us when I say that our hearts were overflowing with respect for the perfection of the work being done here, and with the spontaneous love generated by the community to receive us. I know I can also state that we were sorry to say goodbye to the children who gave us their hearts readily.  We brought back many heart gifts which will be displayed at Mass. We also look forward to speaking at all of the Masses. 

Lisa, Deb, and Sarah