Corp's Visit

David Murphy (The Corporal) paid a visit here via Rio and Recife, here are some photos for you.

The Diocesan Hearse. Before the late bishop died he received complaints from parishioners about the prices that undertakers were charging for funerals and also the tactics they were using against bereaved and vulnerable people. On one occasion a man was charged the price of a (wooden) house to bury his wife and they demanded the money upfront. The bishop was horrified by other stories so he started his own undertaking service and the workmen of the diocese made the coffins. Strangely, the prices of funerals dropped considerably. The funeral jeep by the way is called "The Car of Hope".

On the day we brought David to the communities our way was blocked by falling trees and other obstacles three times.

Load up the jeep as we head out into the bush.

Sadly the forest is still being burnt, even today.

David trying out an alternative form of transport.

We paid a visit to Fr. Tony Terry's outreach programme to street children.

At the Christ Statue in Rio.

Another form of transport for our David.

Independence day in Rio.

Once an Army man always an Army man.

Welcome to St. Paul's High School from Bessbrook, Co. Armagh.

Welcome to St. Paul's High School from Bessbrook, Co. Armagh.

It is not often we get visitors here, so we were glad to welcome some students, teachers and school chaplain from Northern Ireland who paid us a visit this week. Here a few images of their stay among us.

Jeep Transport (In reality we had a loan of two other jeeps for their visit)

Breakfast, Dinner and Tea was in the newly and partially constructed parish hall. Many of the local women came to help and feed the gang including the resident clergy.

One of the days we paid a visit to some of the bush communities and stayed for lunch in one of the houses. since we had three jeeps and three priests we split up into three groups here are my group enjoying lunch in the community called "Sacred Heart". There was a slight problem in this community as they forgot about the monthly visit and mass but at least we got to make a visit to one of the families.

At the house we visited they had planted, over the years, many different types of fruit trees in their garden, and so we had an interesting lesson in the fruits of Brazil.


One of the students on horse back.



Cattle are kings here, hence the monuments on a cross road. In fact it was at the entrance of a huge fazenda (farm).

We took a boat trip on the river Juruena, which is a tributary of a tributary of the amazon. Here are some of the lads with Fr. Richard, a native of Nigeria.

Relaxing on the boat.

The boat had a "type" of upper deck.

Thank God for the hammocks.

One of the girls taking a hand at steering the boat.

An anxious moment as the engine broke down and we started to drift down river. At least our Captain knew how to fix it. We eventually stopped drifting when we got hung up on a tree and so had a opportunity to go fishing. We caught nothing!

A hilly entrance to a native Indian village. We secured permission from the Chief to dock at an Indian village and pay a visit.

The Indian women took the opportunity to sell their wares to the visitors. This woman made good use of her toes to make her Indian jewelry.

Group photo in the village. note the state school building in the back ground.

A few sweets and the youngsters will show you their skill in diving and swimming.

No sweets needed for our crowd as they enjoys a dip in the River Juruena.

One of the teachers teaching one of our sisters Irish Dancing.

Another sisters learns Irish Dancing from Fr. Dermot.

Another sister tries her hand at an Irish Dancing lesson with one of the teachers.

The final farewell.

Happy First Birthday Paddy

While on holidays at home in Carnew we celebrated Paddy's First Birthday a little early. Along with Eilish, James and I.

The full birthday gang.
Sand tastes lovely
The hammock tastes lovely too!

A Visitor from Ireland

It is not often we get a visitor in this neck of the woods. (Not sure if I can say "wood" as there is little of it left here now.) My classmate Chris made the long journey from Ireland to us here in Mato Grosso and he was here long enough to go on a few visits to the far away communities. All of the pictures were took by Chris hence he is not in most of them except the last one.

Crossing The Red River Bridge.

As I say there is little left of the "wood" in this "neck of the woods".

The motor bike is king here. Here is a family of four arriving for Mass.

Horse and cart is still a part of life here.

Much to the amusement of the locals Chris took a few pictures of the dust. Dust is an unhappy part of life here.

Arriving for Mass in the new church in São Cléofas.

Setting up the Altar in São Cléofas

Chris & Hat with some of the locals after Mass.

Sundown or dust - not so sure.

Sitting on my door step.

A view of the main road through Town.

Celebrating the monthly Mass (and a Baptism) in the community of Nova Canãa

The moment of Baptism, no fancy marble baptismal fonts here, a plastic basin has to do the job.

After the Baptism we were invited to a local house for a party.

The meat being taken out of the oven.

A local root plant, not too unlike the potato, is being boiled on an open fire.

Homemade sausages drying over the fire in the kitchen of the house.

Some of the wooden houses in the town.

The only picture of Chris is this one from a visit to the sisters house.