Jovens ~ Youth Leaders Training Meeting

At the moment the schools are reopening after the Summer Holidays {Dec-Jan} and there is a number of training meetings being held in the parish. Two weekends ago the Christian Youth Leaders had a training meeting. I am pleasantly surprised how Christian and Prayerful the "Joven" {Youths} are! Sadly because of the rains and conditions of the roads only a small number were able to make it in from the far away communities.

A little helper at the parish cooker. One thing the Amazon has is plenty of fire wood. This wood fired cooker is used for boiling the obligatory rice and beans.

The long dinner table is the Barracão {Parish Shed}

Another view

Washing up afterwards. {Priest included: When ever there is a gathering in the Barracão we don't have lunch in the priest's house but rather we join the gang at their lunch.}

A quiet time, notice the motor bike sheltering out of the rain and sun!

Project No 1: New Kitchen

"Operation: Nova Cozinha"

{New Kitchen}

The parish has two dormitories, male and female, which are used almost every weekend for gatherings of one kind or another. They are used to give a bed for a night or two to the "Knights" of the road. Last week with the roads and bridges out we opened up the dormitories to parishioners stranded in the Town while they were waiting for the water levels to drop.

The eating area outside the Kitchen and the Women's Dormitory on the right.

This area is to be tiled.

Travel is long and expensive here, so when we have a Parish Assembly or Training weekend or a Baptismal Course or a Youth Gathering, the participants from the communities outside the town stay over {Free of charge of course}.

So with people staying over we also provide food.

Food Storage at present ~ more like an ant hill if you ask me by the number of occupants!

An amusing side note:

Where do we get the food?

Last week the collection at one of the Masses came to just a little over ONE Euro, two bags of rice, a mineral bottle full of dried beans and four homemade yard brushes. So the rice and beans will be used to feed our guests, and maybe afterwards they can help sweep the floor with our new yard brushes???

Kitchen View

The wooden walls and earthen floor don't lend themselves to cleanliness.

That brings me neatly to the first project I can help with since arriving in the parish. The Kitchen at the dormitories needs to be upgraded to a suitable hygienic state. The wooden walls are to be demolished and brick walls built in their place. Then the floor and walls are to be tiled for easy cleaning. Proper windows, doors and storage facilities installed.

And the eating area outside is to be tiled.

Kitchen View

In the climate here wood takes a real battering from weather and insects, that's why the women who use the facilities want tiles, especially for ease of cleaning.

Thanks in advance to our Sponsor in Ireland

Namely: Fyffes

New NEPHEW or NIECE

ANNUNTIO VOBIS GAUDIUM MAGNUM: HABEMUS ..........................
I announce to you a great joy:

We have ......................

{nearly} a new Nephew or Niece.

[By the way, that is Latin not Portuguese!]

Congratulations to Sean & Pauline who are expecting MY new Nephew or Niece next July. Prayers and Best wishes for the next few months and thereafter. Denis.

Cristo Rei {Christ The King} Community 1 of 2

Last Wednesday myself and Sr. Ivone and Renata set out to the "Assentamentos" {Legal Settlements}. The going was very rough, especially with the condition of the dirt road after two months of unending rain. This was the our first visit since before Christmas, as masses in January were cancelled in the outlying areas.

The following pictures are from The Cristo Rei {Christ The King} Community. This community will have a big meeting at the next monthly mass to decide and vote on where to start building their new church. At the moment we celebrate mass in the parish shed {for want of a better word}.

I think this is the bridge our Jeep went off of and thankfully no one was hurt.

A shy young parishioner in mammy's safe arms

A curious young parishioner

Singing our hearts out

The Altar and the Master of Ceremony. Notice to my "Browne" cousins in Carnew I am using for the first time, the new "Mass Kit" that you gave me for Christmas.

MA NY THANKS

Cristo Rei {Christ The King} Community 2 of 2

A young parishioner on his bike

After Mass the local bar/shopkeeper's wife invited us to lunch. Especially since we had to wait a few hours to go and visit another community in the afternoon in the same area. It took us over 3 hours to get out here, so we make good use of our travel.

Notice the curtains used as decorations to cover the wooden walls. By local standards this would be a well off house. The kitchen was next door and open to the world and it had a dirt floor. The floor here is painted concrete.

A view of the shop and its produce

Another view of the shop and products

Just two shelves of products. The basic necessities is all people can afford here.

The local bar owner {and Church Community coordinator} resting on his pool table. This is the bar by the way, the hatch on the right is where the drink can be bought from the shop. What makes this a bar is that he has a generator to power a fridge and so he can sell the obligatory cold beer.

Parish Workers Planning Meeting 1 of 2

Now that we were all back from our holidays, we closed the parish for the day and headed out to an unused "Sitio" & house {small farm} for a full days meeting to plan our work priorities for the coming year.

January is the holiday month here. It is like our August with schools closed etc.

The "Sitio" is built in a most beautiful place. It has its own wood, stream, small water fall and a man made lake. The owners are members of the parish and they loan it out to the parish for various uses, especially retreats and encounters, such as a vocation encounter that we held here before Christmas.

Here we go! Setting out through the muck again!

L-R: Sr. Ivone, Renata {Novice}, Sr. Casilda {Superior}, Sr. Rose, Dora {Parish Secretary} Derek {PP} [& me behind the camera]

Making Lunch ~ frying big healthy chips!

Feeding time.

The stream at the bottom of the garden. Beautiful and peaceful. {The only thing I was very restless sitting there I was on the look out for snakes and alligators, no such worries at the river at Balisland Bridge.}

Parish Workers Planning Meeting 2 of 2

After lunch when all went for their siesta I went for a spot of fishing

{caught nothing!}

Caught napping ~ should have went for that siesta!!!!

Sister Ivone & New Novice Renata

A view of the outside of the house ~ it was a lovely breezy day

The house showing covered patio and BBQ

Rio Vermelho {Red River} Bridge and The Muck 1 of 2

The "BR" {Official name ~ pronounced "bay~ae~hee"} is the main dirt road through the region and when it becomes blocked or closed the local area can close down. I am told that last year it was closed down for 15 days during the rainy season. It is a bit like closing down the N11 between Wexford and Enniscorthy and there are no other roads to take. And so in June - August 2006 gone by the state raised two wooden bridges leading to the main bridge over Rio Vermelho. The trouble today is that the floods have washed away the dirt road between the two small bridges and the main bridge, so it is back to the drawing board.

I brought out our stranded guests to see the condition of the road and bridge to see if they could continue their journey home and this was after two nights in the parish house. They did not have a 4-wheel drive but a rather small VW.

Rio Vermelho {Red River} Bridge and The Muck 2 of 2

Cataratas do Iguaçu 1 of 5

Waterfalls of Iguaçu 1 of 5

After a few days in the not so exciting city of Sao Paulo we headed off to see the Waterfalls of Iguaçu.

They were brilliant, magnificent, one of the things one must do when visiting Brazil.

The river Iguaçu is the international boundry between Brazil and Argentina.

Picture of the falls from the air

Again from the air ~ a nearer view

Upper falls on the Brazil side of the falls.

Jim & Sean

Paddy & I

Cataratas do Iguaçu 2 of 5

Waterfalls of Iguaçu 2 of 5

The Main Waterfall called "Gargtanta do Diablo" {The Devil's Throat}

The viewing platform on the Brazil side of the falls

A close up view of the above platform halfway up the falls

Waterfalls on the Argentina side called "the Three Brothers" Note: the boat.

Another view of "The Three Brothers"