“This simple and generous people of the Amazons share what they have with their fellowmen; do not know what stress is and smile to life: they have won heaven”

In the jungle, far from everything

Pauiní is an isolated city in the middle basin of the Purús River, one of the great rivers of the Amazon basin, which brings its waters from the Peruvian Andes and carries them to the Amazon River. It is the indispensable means of communication for people.

Everything comes from afar in boats that fill their warehouses in Boca do Acre, the last municipality of the state of Amazonas, connected by road with the rest of the country, or in the distant port of the great city ofManaus, the state capital.

The goods arrive several days later from the time they left to the dilapidated riverport. They unload manually and by wooden walkways, transport it to small vehicles. It is exhausting. In many parts of the world, that way of working leads you to remember past times.

Young workers must endure the tropical heat to earn their daily livelihood. Unloading building materials —sand, stone, bricks or cement— carrying large tonnage barges is a much heavier job.

Passengers of all ages take risks by having to get off boats or go from boat to shore, passing wet wood as walkways between the boat and the shore and, in many cases, get wet or muddy.

In Pauiní, we do not have a road, but in the urban part of the municipality, there are many motorbikes, which everyone drive, since cars are scarce. Now, at last, some of the city’s streets are being paved.

As for air transport, the runway is only operational for small aircrafts, and traveling in this way is expensive. Getting here is a matter of many days of travel and an adventure for intrepid tourists. We await you: you would not be disappointed by the experience of seeing the natural wonders of the jungle or the smile of the people here who live in harmony with nature.

How I got here when I was 66.

After the last Chapter of the Province of San Nicholas Of Tolentine of the Order of Augustinians Recollects, to which I belong since I professed in 1972, 47 years ago, everything in my life seemed to happen with normality and in peace of mind, and even more so after I reached the retirement age of 65 years old, which often marks a before and after in people’s life trajectory.

 

I was destined at the convent of the Augustinians Recollects in Marcilla(Navarra, Spain) for some years now.  On the 24 of May 2018, following the celebration of the important feast of Saint Rita, attended by people from all over the area, and in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the Provincial Chapter, which was held precisely in the convent, I met the newly re-elected prior provincial in the cloister. We were near the teachers’ room in the new part of the Convent. We sat down and he says to me:

“Let’s talk a little, Alfonso.

“Okay.

“Would you go to Brazil, to Pauiní?

Without a moment’s doubt, my answer was yes:

“Yes, I’ll go.

He gave me the first instructions on the necessary formalities for the trip and residence.

“So you’re going to Brazil?

“At 66, will you learn Portuguese?

Although I would have preferred that my new destination not be known until shortly before leaving, it did not happen that way, and those were the questions that I had to answer over and over again, especially to family, friends and acquaintances. I explained to my family that the decision was made and there was no going back. They accepted it.

I had to make two trips to Barcelona to get the visa at the Brazilian Consulate, since Navarra, where I had the official residence, falls within the geographical area of competence of that Consulate. Nor I missed the opportunity to see the incomparable shrine of the Sagrada Familia and other monuments of the city.

Also, before the trip to my new destination I had the opportunity to travel to the Canary Islands with my family and I saw a dream of my youth fulfilled: to admire and climb the summit of Teide, one of the most imposing volcanoes of the earth, which is not comparable to those I saw when I was in the Augustinian-recollect community of the Ciudad de los Niño’s in Costa Rica.

Leaving the past behind

I regret my pastoral and theological shortcomings, which I associate with my already long experience of religious life and the continuous formation and teachings of many teachers who left their mark on my long stay in the convent of Marcilla, which for decades was the Theological location where religious were prepared in their last stage of initial formation.

 I was at that convent three times during three different stages of my life, a total of almost thirty years, with the successes and failures that are part of life’s broad process at such different times of life. It was hard to leave the convent. There I developed as person and friar, left colleagues, friends and acquaintances. In addition, I was 160 kilometers from my family, not far away, if I compare it to the current distance or from my previous destinations. Those years endure in my heart along with the love andcomfort we offered to our brothers and sisters.

Coming to Brazil and living here in Pauiní, in the Prelature of Lábrea, in the confines of the Amazon, was a challenge that I took on with hope and trust in the mercy of God. I am aware of age and health limitations; these are positive in terms of living experience, they provide serenity, they make us more tolerant and understanding of people.

Detached from the past, I have found in Pauiní people different in their way of life and their customs, who speak another language, and I do not mean only to the verbal, though incomprehensible at first…However, I can already say that despite the little time I’ve been here, I appreciate their kindness and making me feel welcomed as one more of their community.

I have found new possibilities to give of me as a person and as a friar. Our Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine puts at our disposal structures that allow us to carry out pastoral, educational, formative and social programs for the most vulnerable people, such as children and adolescents.

Our mission is to give them the means that will help them out of povertyand social exclusion, new perspectives, from the witness of the Gospel and the common life of the Augustinian Recollect.

Personal challenges

My greatest challenge has been —and continues to be— the language; also, to another extent, pastoral activity: the responsibility of proclaiming the Word of God, respect for the faithful and doing it in Portuguese implies for me a great commitment, which I gradually face with the help of friars and laity.

In addition, at my age, I have found a kind of godmother: Vivi, a lay young catechist who advised me in my first liturgy of the Word, to whom I thank very much for her help. I also accompany the parish Marriage Encounter and Elderly groups.

The main activity I perform is at the Esperanza Center, where I spend most of my time accompanying children and adolescents in their training and learning activities.

Ecclesial challenges

At the Esperanza Center, children, girls and boys, without distinction of creed, receive training in human and civic values, of which they are in great need. They learn in the classroom manual dexterity, drawing, painting, woodwork, plaster, fabrics or threads, making attractive artistic objects. The computer workshop is the most demanded by minors and by society.

The Esperanza Center of Pauiní and the two other existing in the Lábrea Prelature complement the poor training they receive in formal half-day school teaching. Pauiní does not have other institutions that procures the rights of minors and adolescents outside of schools.

Sports is fundamental and necessary for their physical and relational training: soccer, Volleyball and other sports are practiced with great benefit. The needs of the three Esperanza Centers are always in the resources they provide to sustain the training programs and daily food reinforcement the children receive, so important to avoid serious food deficiencies.

Local community provides a small part of the resources. The vast majority comes from outside. The support of the Augustinians Recollects, non-governmental organizations and institutional co-financers is essential.

Beyond the Esperanza Center, in Pauiní, although isolated, we are also part of this global and changing world. Consequently, we have to address the new challenges that people’s movement demand of us.

To the periphery of the urban area of the municipality families come from the interior of the jungle, from the banks of the rivers, looking for a better life that they will not find. Serving migrants is a challenge that the Catholic Church tries to solve throughout the Amazon.

We also find the most varied evangelical and neo-Pentecostal religions,very diverse and with numerous and growing faithful. Our relationship with them is respectful but sporadic. They limit themselves to their worships and songs, they do not commit themselves as our Catholic Church and Christian commitment ask of us: to work for the construction of the Kingdom of God, to fight for justice and to serve our brothers and sisters in the faith.

Many of these religions are not involved in human rights work or fighting poverty or the struggle for social integration of all. They are not in any danger, as Catholics are because of the word of God and the struggle for justice.

Popular religiosity

With regard to what I have lived in other parts of the world and as a consecrated person, the religiosity of this people of God is filled with emotional feeling, joy and gesture. The liturgical celebrations are very festive and musical; there may be some silence and reflection missing; it would be good to integrate more reason, faith, prayer and reflection, as a path to a more mature faith and personal and community conversion.

I have already had the opportunity to experience some great Catholic festivals, such as that of our Patron Augustine, this year also joined by the commemoration of the 70 years of existence of the Parish.

These solemnities bring together large processions, full of music and gestures that reflect a popular religiosity placed in the hands of our merciful God. This simple and generous people share what they have with their fellow men, they do not know what stress is and smile to life: they have heaven gained.

Women is the pillar on which our Church sits.  Women catechize, distribute communion and direct the liturgy of the Word; they are readers, care for, and prepare chapels with great attention.

They are also the more numerous in the Parish Council, where parish affairs are discussed and analyzed. They are, without a doubt, the maintransmitters of life and faith.