Americans In Need
Missionaries spread the works of Christ across the continents
By Amelia Eudy, South Texas Catholic newspaper, Corpus Christi 

Off the coast of the small village of San Pablo, Ecuador, eight fishermen row their 12-foot, blue wooden boat out far enough to drop their huge nets into the surf in the early morning hours.

The scene could almost be Jesus’ disciples bringing in the day’s catch along the Sea of Galilee. They use no modern technology. Very few boats have motors.

The smell of wood-burning fires is constant and occasionally overpowers the stench of pigs, cow manure, and day-old fish. The cool ocean breeze is a welcome relief but stirs up the dust that irritates the eyes and creates a thin film on every surface.

Rail-thin dogs take refuge in the shadows of buildings, trees and broken-down vehicles.

In the summer, the temperature can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here, time seems to stand still. One day feels like three.

It is into this world that 48 missionaries from Houston and Corpus Christi entered in June for the second year of a medical mission to San Pablo, Ecuador.  The mission, although predominantly medical, had other goals of a physical and spiritual nature. In one week, the group from the United States crossed continents and changed the lives of the poverty-stricken, indigenous population. They found themselves blessed in return.

“Those of you here for the first time will find great humanity in their hearts, but they are suffering greatly,” Guayaquil archbishop, Antonio Arregui, said to the group of missionaries on their first morning in his country. “When you go down there and are helping, you are really living out the gospel values the Lord would wish. Your presence is not just humanitarian help, but carrying out the Lord’s commandment to love others.”

Dr. Johanna Alarcon, dentist and member of St. Francis de Sales Parish in Houston, was a unique addition to the mission team. She was raised in Ecuador and later moved to Houston for dental school at the University of Texas at Houston and continues to practice there.
 

“It was just by chance that I came here,” Alarcon said upon her arrival. “It feels good to come back and do my first mission trip here, helping my own people.”

The daily regimen was strict. The missionaries awoke at 6 a.m. for Mass at 6:30 and breakfast at 7. They boarded a bus by 7:45 for a 45-minute drive to the clinic. After a 12-hour day, the weary missionaries returned to the compound in Ayangue for a late dinner before heading to bed to prepare for the following day.

In five days, the clinic saw 1,609 patients. The dentists pulled 409 teeth and 43 cataract eye surgeries restored sight to the blind.   “They’re just so grateful,” Belinda Gonzalez, of Corpus Christi, observed after another 10-hour day. “This makes you realize how much we take for granted.”

While many needed medical procedures, some patients were content to receive medicine to ease their various pain and reassurance that they were in good health.  Corpus Christi pediatrician, Ernesto Lira, gave each parent pills to help with the “bugs” that ailed their children.

“It’s because of where they’re eating and what they’re eating,” Lira said. “They’re tired, anemic and not healthy because everything they’re eating is being eaten by (parasites). Every child complains that they don’t eat.”

In the dental clinic, patients wanted to take full advantage of the visiting doctors and the free services. They requested to have teeth pulled, whether the teeth were beyond saving or not.

“I hate to see so many extractions, but we like to help people,” Dr. Mike Masera, a dentist from Houston, said. “Sweets are the cheapest food they have and there’s no prevention,” such as brushing and flossing.  The children were having primary molars pulled too early. Some extractions meant leaving gaps in their gums for the rest of their lives.  They wouldn’t dream of complaining.

The mission doctors overcame various hurdles – mostly lack of equipment and malfunctioning machines. A container loaded with goods – including donated medical supplies, stretchers, lamps and an ultrasound machine – was due to be shipped from the U.S. in the spring, but due to restrictions of the Ecuadorian government, the shipping company, and customs, the container didn’t arrive until July 17, one month after the group returned home.

Any attempt to get a quantity of such materials into the country was a feat in itself, and the mission group relied heavily on the cooperation of the Rotary Club from La Puntilla, a suburb of Guayaquil, to bypass many of the governmental roadblocks.  “Here only a few organizations are given special consideration by the Ministry of Health to bring supplies to the poor because in the past people have abused [the system],” Ecuadorian priest, Father Vincent Aguila, explained.

One of the other major projects for the week was beginning surface renovations on La Escuela Técnica for girls in San Pablo. About 60 girls, ages 12-17, attend school in a 25-year-old, three-room building, learning how to sew on vintage Singer sewing machines.   “We’re so happy people have come to help,” Juana Rodriquez Suarez, 17, said.

Although 95 percent of Ecuador’s population is Catholic, only recently have many areas of the country had access to a priest and the celebration of Mass regularly. Not many years ago, some remote pueblos would go a month without having someone to minister to them. Ecuador still relies heavily on the dedication of missionary priests.  Although poor, they are still a faithful people, Welsh-born priest, Father Hugh Cullen, explained, “because they have a deep sense of the Lord in their lives. They share what they have with one another and that sustains them.”

Flies swarmed in the home of 96-year-old Avelino Vera who suffered from pancreatic cancer. On a pastoral visit, Matthew Westermann, a computer programmer from St. Mary Magdalene Parish, presented a prayer blanket to the man’s adult granddaughter and she wrapped it around his frail shoulders.  “He’s glad to have this,” she said to Father Hugh, who translated. “It’s beautifully warm.”

A collection is taken up every year in the United States for the Church in Latin America. According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, “monies collected are given as collaborative grants for pilot pastoral programs initiated by local bishops in Latin America. These grants assist in the formation of priests, religious, and lay pastoral leaders, missionaries and pastoral workers, catechists, and youth ministers, and strengthen the Church’s work towards peace and reconciliation.”

“It’s a real poverty-stricken area,” Dr. Arnold Villarreal, of Corpus Christi, observed. “It doesn’t seem to be getting any better, but the Catholic Church does seem to be making an impression. The new church, clinic and daycare are creating the nucleus. A beautiful basis is being started there.”  The  medical  professionals  planning  to  go  on  the  trip  consist  of  a  doctor,  an anesthetist, two dentists, four nurses, and an optometrist.  We plan to work in teams utilizing the skills of these professionals.  We are also collecting donated  medications  and  medical  supplies  to take with us.  They  will  be  given  to  the  two  missionary  priests  in  question  to  be  distributed  to  those  who  are  in  greatest  need  of  them.  Some  will  be  given  to  the  clinic in  the  village  of  San  Pablo.
 

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Thanks.

Fr. Hugh Cullen