St. Patrick's Day 2007 in Juruena 3/6

At last we have arrived!

Paudie and his "namorada / girlfriend", or so he calls her. She is a immigrant of many years who came from Poland and is a lovely lady. Her grandson is joining the society this year as a clerical student.

Mother and two daughters. Rosa works in the chapel in Castanheira.

The boys were playing a loud but happy game of cards while waiting for the beef to cook on the BBQ.

Joachim {Lutheran Pastor}, Ursula and Andrea. and my class mates from language school now living and working in Juruena.

Derek, Paudie and our new Brazilian student Julian.

St. Patrick's Day 2007 in Juruena 4/6

Festa São Patricio / St. Patrick's Day Party is in full swing.

A slightly shy young guest.

The "Barracão / Parish Shed or Hall" all decked out in Green as everyone tucks into the BBQ.

More of the Festa / Party

The unlucky ones sitting out of the shade and in the sun.

Paudie caught tasting the beef from the BBQ. I counted four 2-metre long BBQs in action.

St. Patrick's Day 2007 in Juruena 5/6

The Entertainment after the food.

Paudie and the local Juruena Prefect / Mayor "Bernado". Unlike our "Prefect" in Castanheira who has given most of the good jobs to family members, Bernado has none of his family working for him in the local government and it seems to be working as it is obvious that the local infrastructure is "better" in our neighbouring Municipality / County than with us. Bernado shone in my eyes by the way he came to Paudie's aid when he was a assaulted a few weeks ago.

{Our Parishes are the same boundaries as the Civil Municipalities / Counties.}

Two "ould" boys TRYING to sing a tune.

Paudie TRYING to sing in Irish!

Is this young love?

One of the local youngsters with his bike all dressed up in Green. There was a competition for the best bike dressed up in Green. They had a parade in the street to start off the Festa.

St. Patrick's Day 2007 in Juruena 6/6

Time to say "Tchau / Goodbye"

Green is the colour of the day.

Paudie trying to teach Irish Dancing.

Two young ladies.

Two young lads??

Its a long way to Tipperary and Wicklow!

A spare engine for the bus!!

This gives new meaning to helping by peddling. In fact the exercise bike was a present for the nuns in Castanheira, we just took it along in the bus.

Wild West Cattle Drive Through Town

On our way out to visit a community the other day we were halted in our tracks as the "Gaúchos" {Cowboys} brought a huge heard of cattle through the town.

Very like the Western Movies.

Even the lorries have to give way.

Clearing the way for us.

Blowing the horn for the cattle to follow.

São-José-First-Visit 1of2

This was my first visit to São José. Since there are 28 communities in the parish and since we visit most only once a month, it will take a few more months before I will get to visit all of our communities. Derek and I try to take it in turns to visit each community.

I found this community very vibrant and active.

The "Spirit" was strong with them.

The chaps sitting outside on the well waiting for mass to begin. The big chap in the middle is a little simple.

The wooden church of São José with the parish hall in the background.

The entrance to the farm across the road had two huge tall bamboo trees coming together as an archway. It looked very impressive indeed.

The altar in São José with the new Mass kit from the Browne Family, brought out to me by Paddy in January. The choir mistress is writing the hymn numbers on the black board. There is often very little problem in getting the people to sing here. They even bring their own hymn books to Mass. The blackboard shows that the church is also used to teach the catechism in.

The women's side of the church.

Notice their new tiled floor, which they are very proud of.

More to follow from São José on the next blog ........

São-José-First-Visit 2of2

More views of São José ....

The men's side of the church with "Renata" our new novice. We were both new so we had to introduce ourselves at the start of Mass. This gave rise to loads of questions about our respective families and about Ireland etc..

After mass we sing happy birthday to the three people whose birthday will fall before the next monthly mass. It seems to me, that in one sense they let on to be embarrassed and in another sense they are absolutely delighted to stand up in front of the whole congregation to receive their "parabens" {congratulations}.

After Mass the Altar becomes the table for the Party. In this case the priest was obliged to try out five different cakes. So much for the weight!!

Three generations of one family leaving for home on the Motor Bike.

The mud and muck stops the journey home. the usual thing is to get out and inspect the road to see if there is a place to pass, since our jeep has 4 x wheel drive.

Graças a Deus ~ Thanks be to God!

~~~~~~

The next visit to SãoJosé will be for their Festa on the feast of São José {St. Joseph}. This will be a whole day affair.

Assault and Robbery {& possibly Murder}

The big news this week is that the Murder Statistics for Brazil have been released. The statistics are about 3 or 4 years old. Two of the parishes of our diocese have the dubious honour of being the top two per head of population, in the whole of Brazil. Number ONE is “Colniza” about 6 hours north east of here and “Juruena” {3 hours north} is number TWO. I spent three months in Juruena {July to October 2006} and while I was there, there were SEVEN murders, so I’m not too surprised. Juruena is about half the size of Gorey. The notion of REVENGE is very strong in the Latin American Culture and with an ill-equipped or ill-trained police force it is often the only way people here seek their own justice.

Assalut & Robbery

Last Sunday week my neighbour Padre Paudie Moloughney was attacked and assaulted in his presbytery in Juruena, our neighbouring parish north of Castanheira. He was stabbed by two men who broke in during the early hours of Sunday Morning. Thankfully it was not too serious as he needed only three stitches. But it was a frightening experience none the less.

Paudie and I at the last Mass in Juruena as I handed back the parish on his return from his walking pilgrimage

Paudie, as some of you might remember is the “Kiltegan” Priest who walked from Ireland, through France and Northern Spain to the ancient Pilgrimage Site of Santiago de Compostela, Tomb of St. James. It was while he was on this walking pilgrimage that I was doing duty in Juruena from July to Early October of last year.

The two men who assaulted Paudie were part of the three men I had an encounter with last September when I was in Juruena. See Blog “A lucky Escape ~ September 2006”. These three men robbed our Parish Dance Hall of its cigarettes and sweets which were stored there for the parish dance the following night. I had an encounter with them the next day. And that night one of my neighbours called the police when she saw three men tampering with the windows at the front of the presbytery. These were the same guys who two days after my encounter with them, were to rob and tie up the priest in the neighbouring parish of “Cotriguaçú”, north of Juruena. They were soon caught by the Police and we heard afterwards they were sent to jail. But the other day the Judge released them after only a few months in jail.

ESCAPE or RELEASE
Their “legal” release coincided with the escape of 9 other men from police custody on the same day in “Juina” city, an hour south of my present parish.

And so last Sunday week Paudie had an unfortunate encounter with two of these three men who after stabbing and threatening him with his life, they robbed him of his laptop computer, a camera, a few dollars and euros and some clothes including a Tipperary G.A.A. shirt {not too many of them in this corner of the world} and they stole the parish Jeep to make their getaway.

Paudie who was bleeding from his wound, was tied up, gagged, blindfolded and locked into a small room in the Presbytery. He was able to free himself in some way so as to be able signal a passer by for help. The Doctor and Police were called and the search began.

Paudie was most surprised and thankful for the support the locals of all religion and no religion, gave to him after his ordeal. The thoughts on many peoples minds were, "would the priest leave after his terrible experience and then they would have no priest living in their parish with them".

THE WRONG PRIEST
Paudie tells me they were not expecting him when they broke into the house. They kept asking, “Where was the other priest?” ME, the one that they had met on the previous September! I only hope they don’t learn that I am in "Castanheira", and come a calling!!!

Photo taken of the

"Bandidos"

while in Police Custody last September.

One thing about our little corner of Brazil is that it is very difficult to get into it and as as a consequence it is equally difficult to leave, made more difficult by the present state of the roads. In that sense our remoteness saves us the worse excesses of Brazilian Violence.

THE DANGERS OF DRINKING AND DRIVING
Unfortunately for the bandidos, they also stole a bottle of Irish whiskey and duly got drunk and they must have lost their way a number of times as the parish jeep was seen on a couple of different roads that morning. Soon they got stuck in the ever present mud and had to abandon the Jeep on the road to “Aripuaná”, the parish west of Juruena.

ARREST
The abandoned jeep was reported to the police who raced out to search the area. On the way they spied a guy having a wash in the local river and recognised him and stopped to arrest him. He ran into the forest, and they gave chase and he was caught and arrested. He told them his accomplice was gone to Aripuaná. So they all headed out to Aripuaná, with one of the police men driving the parish jeep.

After searching Aripuaná he was not found so the police headed out to return to Juruena and on the way back the police man driving the parish jeep picked up a hitch hiker, carry a bag and wearing a Tipperary G.A.A. shirt. The hitch hiker did not recognise the jeep or the notice the police man driving it and he was duly arrested. All Paudie’s property {except the shirt} was returned along with the parish jeep.

Later when Paudie met them in the police station, they told him they were very sorry for what they did to him!

On a side note;

Paudie has two large German shepherd dogs that never made one sound on the night of the break in. When he went down to the police station to identify the robbers he brought the dogs with him for the walk. And when he was leaving the police station he discovered that one of the dogs was missing. So he went in search of his missing dog. Where was it found? In the cell with two robbers!!! I’m not sure if they got any food that day!

ESCAPE
After about two days in custody, we hear now that the two men escaped from police custody stealing a firearm in the process.

SAD RUMOURS
But now the rumours have started, some say they are in the forest somewhere. Others say that people are not to be worried about them any more, what ever that means!!!! And others say that they are not worried about them because they were taken out and shot and their bodies dumped somewhere in the forest. No one is sure, but what we do know is that both the Policia Civil {Detectives} & The Policia Militar {Traffic & Crime Prevention} are telling two different stories and don’t seem to be looking too hard for their escaped prisoners!

Such is the existence of violence and institutional corruption in Brazil that few will wonder or care where the "Bandidos" have gone!

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