10th April, 2006

Dear Fr. Peter,

Greetings from Santiago, Chile where the Andes mountains majestically stand as a backdrop to the city. Initially they appear as a watercolour painting with hues of grey, misty blue & mauve. I can see them as I sit on the hillside of Renca, taking a moment to collect my thoughts & share something of recent events & happenings here.

I am high enough up the hillside to also see down to where I live in the poblacion of Huamachuco. It`s called a “población “ because it is one of the many basic, poorer areas, highly populated around the city fringe. An area definitely not visited by tourists!

Huamachuco (pronounced “wharmachooko”) is a triangled area bordered on one side by a newly opened motorway & surrounded on the other side by heavy industry sites & factories.

Sounds rise….the hammering of metal, manoeuvring trucks, voices of children & adults….thousands of people below in the heavily populated area, with the sounds somewhat muffled by the Autumn trees & leafy vegetation among the roof tops which are held down by stray bricks, stones & wooden planks. There are no Wellington gales here! The hillside around me is burned black & ugly at the beginning of Summer. Controlled burning is carried out by the local fire brigade as the hillside turns brown & dry very quickly & becomes a potential fire risk.

Down to the right I can spot the local ‘bazaar’, called Don Pepe’s, a shop that sells everything one can think of. It’s always full of people buying zips, ribbon, school utensils, there’s students & some parents looking for articles for homework assignments…& always someone buying an antibiotic or anti inflammatory tablet, I swallow hard when 1-2 antibiotics get sold over the counter & I think - “That’s a theme we need to discuss at the next Health Volunteer’s meeting.”

Another jolt is encountering babies being fed with Coca Cola! Then there is the need to discuss strategies on how best to confront the problem of excessive drug addiction by the youth of the area & resulting in frequent robberies ...or the reality of chemical fallout into the air caused by some of the nearby industries at weekends…& so it continues…

Last year the Health volunteers completed a five month course in Reflexology (a type of foot massage & therapy to treat hypertension, stress & chronic diseases). These 12 local women proudly gained their certificates & now have afternoon spaces in the local Health Clinic & a nearby Cultural Centre to attend patients / clients recommended by the dietician, social worker, psychologist or myself. This has been a real achievement for them! Every Monday at the Health Clinic there is a line of people seated, patiently waiting their turn for attention. From time to time the health volunteers themselves need to be on the receiving end & to benefit from what they have learned.

From my position on the charcoal covered hillside I can see the Public Hospital of the Municipality…a notorious place as far as I’m concerned! Recently I was there with Clementina, accompanying her for a specialist appointment. She is illiterate & still angry that she was taken out of school as a young child, to work in the house. There are no programmes in literacy available locally at present but that’s another challenge for the year!

Clementina is prepared to put her anger into learning to read & write as soon as she can. I understand her frustration too well after this recent hospital experience when I accompanied her. She couldn’t read the bus signs or the hospital notices & directions.

We had set off at 7am! Firstly to take a micro bus then a river crossing by bridge in a dangerous, isolated area (if she was alone ). Arriving early did not make much difference. The ordeal started with 40 minutes in line to receive a number, another 45 minutes to get her papers stamped before she sat outside the specialist’s room. On receiving the papers & test results, the doctor “barked “ at her, the specialist’s attitude aloof & derogatory, she was splattered by the specialist nurse & spoken to sarcastically by the secretary. Another wait until she got attention, then to be redirected to another non moving line…& there she remained until 1.30 pm! It was her free day from her housemaid’s job on the other side of the city!

Why this experience? Clementina’s test results hadn’t been completed. Twice she had attempted to attend appointments & twice she had made the same trip to find that the doctor & specialist were not there for various reasons. There had been no notification or apology given. Back she had to go in line & then was told – “We’ll phone you.” She is dealing with possible Cancer, the frustration & injustice of the system & the insecurity & low self esteem of not being able to read or write.

I can just see her roof visible over by the railway line heading north. Next week we’ll investigate a literacy programme ‘by hook or by crook ‘. Unfortunately she is not alone, there are many women in her situation who have come to Santiago seeking work as housemaids, later marrying, bringing up families & always working….then there are all those subject to similar hospital treatment who don’t bother to return….& then it’s too late!

Don Luis’s house & roof top is just a block away from where I live. His wife died 3 years ago & now he’s cared for by their only child, Iris, an albino woman with poor eye sight. She does not keep good health but she manages. Two months ago Don Luis returned home from the same hospital after a leg amputation. While hospitalised, I visited him one afternoon. I found him very uncomfortable, sitting in a soiled bed…& he’d been like that for several hours! There was no sign of a staff member anywhere, just occupied iron frame beds with crank handles & not even a bell on the wall for the patients.

Since this hospital episode Don Luis´s leg wound has healed but the hospital staff either forgot, or were not bothered to care for his good leg. As a result he came home with a huge pressure sore on his heel. With the help of a local health volunteer & New Zealand Manuka Honey, progress is gradually being made with the healing of this wound. Even so it will take weeks & months of regular treatment before it is healed! In the meantime he is practising to stand a little assisted by a walking frame (a NZ donation ). Unfortunately, he did not receive any physio either & he really cannot straighten his leg out properly. It seems, at this point, that his future mobility will be dependent on a wheelchair.

Now it’s time to leave this hillside space & return to some day to day realities...I need to see Blanca & tell her the good news about a leg prosthesis being donated by a group of Catholic Hospitals on the West Coast of the States. After Easter she can begin a process of being fitted for a new leg & start her rehabilitation to walk again. Blanca lost her leg to Cancer & was amputated a year ago. There will be a number of bus trips to the hospital & extra transport costs but thanks to your generosity, she will manage this challenge & be able to walk again in the future.

For Blanca & her family, Easter will truly be a new life experience of Resurrection!

MUCHAS GRACIAS!

With love & blessing, Margaret

Easter Blessings!

PS. Mum told me that you had made a deposit into my ANZ Account. Thank you so much for your interest & support! She also told me that the Parish would be aware of my ministry & presence here on the outskirts of Santiago over Easter in Miramar. She has some photos & I have been able to gather some extras to send as well. Muchos Gracias..this is all really appreciated! Sincerely, Margaret

Street party in Huamachuco, with Sister Margaret & Children