Yapacani

Hello family and friends, how are you? I am doing well and am settled into the way of life here in Yapacani. After my tiresome and frustrating bus trip from Riberalta to Trinidad I spent my first week in Yapacani following Chris, the other SLM volunteer, and getting to know the area and the people I will be working with here. Padre Arturo is the parish priest of Yapacani, he is a Salesian from Italy, and is constantly on the go even at 78 years old. We also work with the Salesian Sisters who have a small community here.
Chris and I live about a block behind the church and next door to where the Sisters have their convent and vocational school. We each have our own room and bathroom and they´ve converted one of the other rooms into a small kitchen. We are pretty much on our own for meals, so we have begun to cook. I have also been washing my clothes by hand in the sink on the side of the house. I haven´t had to wash like this since my volunteer experience in Loma Alta, Bolivia back in 1998-99.
I really like our schedule which is keeping me rather busy compared to the work I was doing in Brazil. Here we generally get up around 6:00 a.m. or earlier depending on if we have to drive out to one of the outstations or not. We can go to mass about 5 times a week and have morning prayer with Father and the Sisters twice a week. In the outstations we are teaching catechism classes. Usually it takes anywhere from an hour to two just to get out to some of the farthest communities. When we are in town we help out at the parish office with the sponsor child program called Chalice. Chalice is out of Nova Scotia, Canada and here in Yapacani they sponsor about 550 of the neediest kids. Chris and I do all of the translations from Spanish to English and English to Spanish for the program. We are also visiting the families in the program to make sure the kids are receiving and using the food and materials purchased by the Padrinos (Godparents). Right now I am also coaching the high school boys and girls volleyball teams at the local Don Bosco school for their upcoming district games. I coach for 2 hours a night 3 days a week on the court next to the church. We also have an oratory program on Saturdays for the kids to come and play and to receive catechism classes. There are also basketball and soccer tournaments going on all of the time and Chris and I help out with those events as well. As you can see there is plenty of work and with special events at night we can easily put in 12 to 14 hour days. We are hoping to get another volunteer or two in August to help out. We have Sundays off and sometimes Saturdays to do laundry or go into Montero or Santa Cruz to buy supplies or just relax and visit with other volunteers in the area.
Last week we visited a remote area on the Ichilo River with Padre Arturo to make contact and hopefully establish frequent visits and evangelization of the Yuracaré tribe. The Yuracaré are a river people who live in thatched roof mud homes and use dug out canoes. They fish, hunt and plant along the river and seldom come into the nearest Bolivian settlement of Puerto Villarroel. Padre Arturo, Chris, Sr. Mildreth, Leny (Chalice secretary) and I got to Puerto Villarroel in the morning after an hour and 45 minute truck ride on the road to Cochabamba. We were met by a couple of the tribe´s elders who came into town to help us arrange transport down the river. The first and closest of the 7 Yuracaré settlements is about an hour downstream by motorized boat. The farthest would take you two days just to get there. During the rainy season it is impossible for us to get there so Father would like for us to get things rolling now during the dry season. Arriving at the breakfast hour we were offered monkey meat by one of the community leaders, whose husband had hunted and killed a monkey the day before. Reluctant at first we all took some of the meat and started eating eat. For my first monkey I have to say it wasn´t too bad, the only disturbing image was our driver, Don Pulga, gnawing on the little arm bone tearing off every scrap of meat with his teeth. With breakfast finished and the boat waiting we all got into a little launch and proceeded down the Ichilo River. We saw many people fishing along the banks and other boats out on the water. There were plenty of water fowl as well and the views along the banks were quite spectacular. We were greeted at the first community and led to their school which consisted of a small boarded building and school desks under a zinc roof. The local houses were made of mud and thatch and within a few minutes the children and their parents were coming to the school to meet with us. We talked about the possibilities of having catechism classes, about registering their children with the Chalice sponsorship program and in general having more frequent contact with them. They seemed enthusiastic and receptive to the idea but they also wanted to have a larger meeting with their other settlements to make sure everyone was in agreement. As of now we are awaiting word from them. It would be amazing to be able to help these remote communities on a permanent basis and both Chris and I offered to help out in any way that we could.
There have been plenty of religious activities going on as well at this time with Pentecost and the Feast of Mary Help of Christians. Following the mass of Pentecost there was a procession around the main plaza in Yapacani with a band and traditional dancers. For the eve of the Feast of Mary Help of Christians we had a serenade with masses following the next day. This week is also Mother´s Day in Bolivia so many parties and celebrations will be taking place.
Chris and I will be leaving for a spiritual retreat next weekend in Villa Tunari which is about 2.5 to 3 hrs away going toward Cochabamba. Neither one of us has gone on retreat since leaving the States and we are allowed 2 to 3 a year, so that will be a good chance for us to get away, see some more of the beauty of Bolivia and recharge our batteries.
Please continue to pray for us here and all those whom we serve. Good-bye and God bless!!

Steve