Remember Haiti?

Haiti comes up in the prayer cycle in a couple of weeks, and we'll post more about what they are going through then, but can you believe it's been 6 months since the earthquake there?  It seems that many Americans have long since moved on to other topics. It's striking that one of the requests from Peru was that they were still struggling to rebuild from an earthquake 3 years ago.

A Response from Peru

Prayer request from a friend of Joan's.  Can anyone translate?

Querida Joan, comparto esta nota sobre un tema que pienso requiere la reflexión de todos, y por lo tanto de la oración.

Considero que si la iglesia en general, y en particular la católica, supera tensiones internas, como la que trata este asunto, su intervención se vería potenciada.

Gracias por el contacto, en la web del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias CMI, hay un directorio de miembros en los diferentes países, lo mismo en la web del Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias CLAI, y pueden además anotar datos de la web de la Conferencia Episcopal de cada uno de los países de la reión.

Finalmente, está terminando el Decenio para superar la violencia, promovido por el CMI y que desarrolla acciones masivas de oración internacionalmente, a las que se podrían sumar las que promueve Jeff.

Un abrazo.

Oscar
PD.- Hoy hablé con un funcionario de la Defensoría del Pueblo por lo de las pensiones y la deuda con los Vencedores del 41. Mañana habrá un evento en Villa El Salvador, sobre las pensiones no contributivas, y espero se puedan incluri algunas palabras sobre lo del 41.

Peru, part 5

More from Joan:

Just received a note from Italy, where a dear friend and parishioner of Fr. Alfonso is having a well-earned vacation; I’d copied her thinking she might also have some views in case he didn’t get to read his own mail quickly enough.  She is a wonderful Vincentian volunteer and leader of a program assisting older people, an organization started by Fr. Alfonso to assist destitute and hungry seniors in the area of Miraflores.

What she says is that she confirms my wish for prayers for a non-contributive pension and supports this issue as one of crucial importance and social justice to older people in Peru.  Says the Vincentian volunteers will add their prayers to  yours and mine.

Peru, part 4 (and Bolivia and Chile)

Joan is something else!  She also copied an Anglican priest she knows, who sent this along:

Jeff,

not waiting to hear from you, here is a website to check on the Anglican communion, or the office of the bishop to inquire, I am rushing, but I think  they are part of wcc, so there prayer concerns shsould be listed

and via the anglican connection, you should be able to go to Bolivia and Chile.

http://www.peru.anglican.org/esp/anglican.html

for Chile obviously earthquake related issues.

later today I will double back on this and see if I am correct re issues

for the Anglicans and Roman Catholics in Peru a major concern is supporting the many small communities in the hills around the capitol that are struggling to survive and starting interesting economic initiativies.

Peru, part 3

Joan also sent a link to an article in HelpAge's newsletter on the need for a pension for elders in Peru and other developing countries.

Here's the note she sent as explanation (what's the emoticon for blushing?):

As I translated your note to Oscar and Father Alfonso it occurred to me that I needed to THANK YOU sincerely for doing this.  It went unsaid, but is very heartfelt on my part.

I would also like to add a specific request of my own:  prayers for the Peruvian Congress to, once and for all, sign off on the proposed law that would provide a ‘social pension’ or a ‘non-contributive pension’ to seniors in Peru.  To this date Peru does not have such a pension (such as an age-related SSI payment) while countries poorer (such as Bolivia) have been far more advanced and illuminated in making this possible for their older citizens.    This has been a UN and World Bankrecommendation for a long time now; it is an unbearable burden for seniors and families for elders to reach old age without any form of assured minimal protection for survival.   (See enewsletter from HelpAge International forwarded separately).   Some of us consider it a case of ‘institutional elder abuse’ since this was a focus of many world conferences, and was on the agenda even in 1999 with the UN.

I’m sure you will concur with, and understand, this particular need for our Peruvian elders. 

Peru, Part 2

One of many times I wish I'd actually studied Spanish:

Subject: Oraciones para el Peru

Mis queridisimos Padre Alfonso y amigo Oscar,

Acabo de recibir una nota muy especial de un colega y amigo de AARP (la anterior “Asociacion Americana de Personas Jubiladas”), Jeff Johnson.    A continuacion traduzco su nota porque pense en Uds. dos para los efectos de su proyecto de oracion internacional.   Es de cierta urgencia y dice:

Estoy trabajando en un proyecto sobre oraciones para cada pais que se realiza durante un anho.  Estoy utilizando el ciclo de oracion ecumenico del Consejo Mundial de Iglesias, que podras ver en www.oikumene.org. y los paises para esta semana son Bolivia, Peru y Chile.

Lo que estoy tratando de hacer, para que este proyecto sea mas real para mi, y para cualquiera que desee unirse, es pedir necesidades de oracion directamente  de la Iglesia en ese pais.     Es decir, que cosas quisieran agradecer, y que cosas necesitan para la Iglesia y para su nacion.   

Si bien es cierto que soy Catolico, estoy procurando entablar comunicacion con la Conferencia de Obispos de cada pais, y ciertamente que agradeceria saber de las necesidades de las iglesias de cada pais.

Asi es que, pense que deberia preguntarte si tienes conexiones con las iglesias de tu pais y estarias dispuesta a pasarles mi pedido de intenciones para oraciones por ellos.  Sino, no te preocupes.

Pienso que esta es una linda y muy especial oportunidad que nos da Jef, y les rogaria que si tienen en mente intenciones especiales para esta semana que puedan ser el foco de estas oraciones, se las hagan saber a drays720@yahoo.com.  Si me copian a mi, puedo hacerle la traduccion necesaria.  He avisado a Jeff que estoy escribiendoles a Uds. dos, y a la Rev. Maggie Gat, de la Iglesia Episcopal/Anglicana.

Por mi parte, creo que voy a pedir como intencion especial para el Peru que las autoridades del Congreso de una vez aprueben una ‘pension social no-contributiva,’que es lo que ciertamente tengo mucho en el corazon para los adultos mayores del Peru.   

Con el recuerdo y el afecto de siempre para ambos, y tambien para Pilarcita que seguro todavia sigue en Italia, pero quizas desee responder a nombre del Padre Alfonso si lee esto pronto!

Joan

Peru, part 1

From a good friend and volunteer colleague, who really took my request and ran with it!:

I have a very dear friend, a Vincentian Priest, Father Alfonso Berrade, head of a major church in Lima, whom I see every year and was the head of the church that was destroyed in the 2007 earthquake, where 200 of their parishioners perished.     

I believe they are still having a hard time rebuilding that Church and we did a lot of fundraising for soup kitchens and small business loans, to aid his parishioners at the time.  I was there last year to see rebuilding efforts, and there was still much need....and enormous thankfulness for the help they’ve received from all over the world.     (Just FYI, we presented a poster at 2008 American Society on Aging Conference as part of our efforts to document the resiliency of older adults-- couldn’t help add this, for our ‘aging connection’.   As a result of this research project with UNCC’s School of Gerontology,  there have been a couple of articles published in aging journals also.)

And another dear friend (Oscar Bravo) is the Latin America Representative in Peru, for an affiliate of the World Council of Churches called Mision Urbana y Rural (MUR); Oscar is working extensively with the elderly and disabled in Peru and am sure he would have some good ideas for you. 

And then she (Joan) went and e-mailed these and others for me!  You'll see the results.