Prayer with the homeless

Last Saturday Noemie (she helped at the Reforço Escolar during the holidays) and I visited Eric who had lived with the homeless in the streets of Salvador. After these experiences he got permission to use an old and abandoned church to house the homeless people there. They all sleep in the church, the men in the left and women in the right aisle. We had dinner together and afterwards we participated in a short prayer evening with songs from Taize which the homeless people prepare every Saturday. It was moving to talk with them about their lives and how they learn to live in a community again. They even invited us to stay overnight!

Igreja da Trindade

Cloths, food, books and other items are distributed here.

Walk through Salvador

Merry guided tour with Vinicíus, a history student, of the Centro histórico. I enjoyed it particularly - the continuous rain, the uneven, steep and bumpy roads and my two-year-old flip-flops turned the walk into quite an adventure and into an even greater enjoyment for bystanders.

View of the Port (Uruguai is situated at the right)

Ordem Terceira de Sâo Domingos de Gusmâo

Pelourinho

What a view...

...with a favela right behind.

Elevador connecting Cidade Baixa and Cidade Alta

Palacio Rio Branco (once the Governor's Palace)

Padroeira

On July, 7th 1980 Pope John Paul II inaugurated the church “Nossa Senhora does Alagados”. The parish celebrated the 30th birtday with a special nine day program which included all church groups. It’s quite normal to encounter some problems during such festivities : malfunctioning speakers, heavy rain, mass starting with 45 minutes delay...

"Nossa Senhora dos Alagados"

Procession through the district

Fidesco Volunteers

Evening for the Children

Praise and Worship

Offertory

Holy Mass with Dom Dominique

Dom Dominique (former parish priest) with parishioners

Holy Mass with Archbishop Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo

Concluding mass

... after the Agape

Copa do Mundo

Deserted roads, closed shops, supermarkets... usually one would be alerted but not here, not now because this is the normal "state of emergency" when the "Seleção" is playing soccer during the world cup. People get together and decorate the streets (the predominating colors are green and yellow), flags are attached to cars, houses and roads are painted in green and yellow as well and pretty much everyone is wearing a T-shirt of the national team. You can find detailed information on the internet about what closes when during the world cup. Rule of thumb: "When Brasil is playing, nothing's open". This is true for shops, shopping center, authorities, schools etc (O país para!).

Unfortunately the Brazilians find it hard to lose. Their reaction to a defeat is as emotional as to a victory (they scream furiously and throw glasses out of the windows).

Well I'm sure they will do better in 2014 when the world cup will take place in Brazil!

Brazil scored!

Long weekend in Aratuba

The three inhabitants of the presbytery - Uillians, Benoit and I - unanimously decided to leave the loud and dirty district of Uruguai behind us and to move (temporarily) to the island of Itaparica. Hence we bought three tickets for a 'lancha' (motor boat) which is cheaper and way more exciting than the ferry. The strong wind makes for a very shaky and rough ride, sometimes water gets into the boat. All in all the crossing was quite boring - last time more people screamed, two people who sat next to me vomited and children wanted to be taken on their parent's shoulders. From the port we took a station wagon to the village of Aratuba (quite an uncomfortable ride due to the "never-full-approach" which is characteristic of all forms of Brazil's public transport).

Island Itaparica

"Our" weekend home

Finally we made it to our residence which is owned by a woman from our parish and who generously let us use it for the weekend. Before we could relax we had to clean the house which was quite a task because the floor was covered with small pieces of wood (thanks be to the termites in the roof), not to mention the dust and insects. After that we could finally lean back and enjoy Caipirinha that Benoit had prepared out of sugar cane schnapps (which due to a whole in the bottle soaked all food we had brought with us). A local had also provided coconuts from the palm trees in our garden - we were unable to get them from the top without a ladder.

Uillians and his favorite hobby

Chef Benoit

Caipirinha (my glass was almost empty from the very start)

DVD-Session slash everyone ready to sleep

Waking up without mosquito bites

The next couple of days were very relaxing. We enjoyed the beach, the waves, ice cream and in particular the silence which we lack a lot in Uruguai where pretty much everyone has a weakness for firecrackers and megaphones. The three days flew by but Uillians and I are already planning our next vacation...

Benoit and moi

Beach in Aratuba

Looking from Itaparica to Salvador

Corpus Christi

It is common knowledge that the Brazilians like to celebrate in style and this holds also true for the Catholic feast of Corpus Christi. The open-air mass was celebrated by the Archbishop of Salvador in the center of the city. Several thousand people participated in the mass and the following procession, which has been taking place since 1549.

Homily of Archbishop Cardinal Dom Geraldo

People praying at the Praça Municipal

Procession through Salvador's center

Volunteer get-together

Each month all Fidesco-Volunteers meet up to have lunch together and to share their experiences of the past 30 days. For the first time the French couple Flore & Aymeric, who had arrived a couple of days before me, and I participated as well. The Fidesco-Salvador-Force is comprised of 3 French couples with 3 children, 1 seminarian from France, 1 consecrated sister from Portugal and 1 Austrian.

Mathilde & Sébastien Perrier, Anne-Thérèse & Pierre-Michaël Blanchard, Flore & Aymeric Warren, Angèle, Benoit, Moi, Ana Maria, Maguelone (f.l.t.r.)

Visiting Lucimeire

One day Uillians invited me to pay Lucimeire, the parish's cook, a visit. Of course I accepted. It is always very interesting to visit locals in their own four walls. I was particularly happy to see where Lucimeire lives with her five children because despite of her chronic illness that makes her legs swell up considerably she is always in a wonderful mood. When we got to her apartment (she left her husband who had turned violent due to psychological problems) I was kind of shocked: the toilet didn't work, no shower, not a single table nor cupboard and the whole place was very badly ventilated which would explain why her five children are sick so often. Although she sometimes doesn't have enough money to buy food for her children she insisted on spending some on coffee and bread for her visitors (it was quite difficult to accept this generous offer) and in addition she always readily pays the tithe.

Kitchen

Bedroom and bed for Lucimeire and her 5 children

Looking from the entrance to the kitchen

Lucimeire with 4 of her children

Her cheerfulness and her trust in God have made a big impression on me (even more after our visit) and I hope Uillians will be able to find money and furnishings to improve her living conditions (the workers are standing by).

Underneath the surface

Unfortunately the foundation of the chapel "Nossa Senhora Boa Esperança" was not as solid as we had thought. As a consequence the roof collapsed last december (btw the tabernacle was the only item that remained undamaged) and damaged the neighbouring "Centro Pastoral" in which the parish offers several courses to prepare students for the university entrance examination. In addition the building hosts the "Centro de Capacitação Profissionalizante" where women can learn to become hairdressers, cooks and tailors. I was asked to take some pics of the construction site and started to explore the underground:

Quite a mess...

...and provisional.

Yes, I was down there

Manuel Messias, our structural engineer

It turned out to be a wise decision to take the pictures that day because the next day it started to pour down for several hours which led to the flooding of the whole area beneath the Centro Pastoral. I don't think it's necessary to give a detailed account of the driving experience that day. Let me just quote Padre Rafael who sat next to me while i was driving: "Quick close the windows there is a bus coming!", "Slow down there is a speed bump beneath the water!", "Careful, not too far to the right there is a brick in the puddle that you can't say but I know it well!" ;-)

View from the surface

(the water reached the red post)

The first steps...

View from the presbytery

...in my new home were not easy because shortly after touchdown in Salvador da Bahia, I had to introduce myself in the church "Nossa Senhora dos Alagados" which was crammed with people who had attended sunday mass - I think everyone knows how much i love these public appearances especially when I have to speak a language I - let's say - didn't feel to comfortable with. I was also kind of knackered after a long and tiring day: I had left Austria at 5 am, a lovely airport employee asked to me to pay nearly € 300,- although i had already prepaid my excess baggage in advance, my flight was two hours delayed because of a toilet malfunction and an incredibly nice brazilian lady who was sitting next to me on my 11 hour flight from Frankfurt to Salvador thought she had to satisfy her incredible desire to talk with someone (in portuguese naturally).

Reforço Escolar in the presbytery

Flore & Americe de Warren

After the relatively exhausting trip I was positively surprised during the next couple of days. The people in Uruguai, one of the city's poorest districts, are extremely hospitable, laugh a lot and love to talk - in addition they are extremely concerned that one - meaning me - does not eat enough (I get to hear this pretty much every day). The parish youth was also very welcoming. Some young people invited me to go to the cinema with them though they had never seen or talked to me before. You can clearly see the African roots of the people of Salvador (their ancestors were mostly slaves which the Portuguese brought over from Africa). Looking at their skin color one might think we actually are on the black continent. This becomes also quite obvious during mass in which the participants clap and sing with a lot of joy and enthusiasm.

Looking from the presbytery to "Nossa Senhora dos Alagados"

Fortunately I also get along with the other Fidesco volunteers - three families from France. I already visited Sébastien and Mathilde Perrier a couple of times since there were a few birthdays on the agenda which demanded Brazilian style celebrations. My portuguese skills were quite limited but fortunately one doesn't need to talk a lot when playing Uno. The other couple, Anne-Thérèse and Pierre-Michaël Blanchard, invited me to dinner at their place and they drove me to the airport so that i could register at the Polícia Federal. That first encounter with Brazilian bureaucracy turned out to be a very enlightening experience. After I had filled out all necessary forms which were available in portuguese only (goes without saying), paid the fees, made copies of my documents, I got a totally different 'foreigner's id' than Flore de Warren who had arrived a couple of days earlier and that despite the fact that we went to the same police station and even the same police officer. Btw this is only a temporary id, one can collect the final one four to five months later (which means it is already half expired). The car trip was further enriched by spontaneous vomiting of Maguelone, the three year old daughter of the Blanchards (in the car and at the police).

Maguelone, Mathilde, Angèle & Susanne

Birthday party at the Perrier's

Kelma, Cristiana & Sébastien

Mathilde & Moi

My future 'boss', Padre Rafael, is also a very patient and pleasant person. Shortly after my arrival he let me drive his car and get acquainted with Salvador traffic and I have to admit that I kind of enjoyed it: the countless potholes (i already had a flat tire while driving with the French seminarian Benoit), the evasive manoeuvres, cars cutting each other and the use of the horn as a means of communication. Granted after this experience i was quite shattered and Padre Rafael is looking into extending the insurance to cover me as well... The public buses are by no means less exciting...

Padre Rafael with the birthday girl Angèle

My accommodation is surprisingly comfortable. My room is situated in the first floor which also includes our bathroom, kitchen and Benoit's and Uillians' room, a Brazilian student who has a lot of patience with me and my Portuguese skills (or rather the lack there of). Concerning my work, I help at the 'Reforço Escolar', teaching seven to eleven year old children from the favela to make simple calculations, read and write (with my dictionary i manage to stay one step ahead of them). By doing this I think I learn almost as much as the children themselves.

Home sweet home

Our bathroom (no cockroaches - extraordinary)

Movie night room

After having spent a couple of weeks in Salvador I can honestly say that I am very happy to be here. I could already make new friends, I am in good health and the parish has a lively and active community. There are of course also some unpleasant things, the security situation (recently there was a gun-fight between two rival drug bands in our district; the leader of one of the groups is the son of the local police chief), there are many alcoholics and drug addicts and girls who got pregnant at the age of 13 are not unusual. Compared to this having no warm water or sometimes no water at all (without warning), huge cockroaches, the mosquitos and the constant noise are hardly worth mentioning.

I hope you are all at least as happy as I am here. Take care & God bless!

Rua Luis Régis Pacheco