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Benefactors honor blessing of hope at Peru mission
archived from: 2009-10-26
by: John Franko

Annual dinner raises money for diocesan efforts in Chimbote

Bishop David Zubik said that experiencing Chimbote, Peru, is in one clear sense to be overwhelmed.

Dirt floors in houses, contaminated water that serves as both drinking water and sewage, malnourished barking dogs and insects everywhere, and a 70 percent unemployment rate.

The temptation is to despair, he noted, and yet among the poorest of the poor he found laughter, especially from the children.

“What you sense is the very real presence of Jesus Christ in and among the people of Chimbote,” he said. “Chimbote is not a place of despair. It is a place of hope.”

At the root of that hope are the efforts to support the Social Works Center sponsored by the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

The diocese celebrated that long-standing labor of love at the 44th Annual Peru Mission Dinner Oct. 15 at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel on Pittsburgh’s South Side. Some 600 people attended the dinner, which has through the years raised some $2.1 million for the mission.

The dinner also recognizes the efforts of clergy and religious serving in the Chimbote region, including Msgr. Jules Roos and Dominican Sisters Margaret Mary Birchmeier and Lillian Bockheim.

Bishop Zubik recounted his July visit to the mission with 10 seminarians from the diocese. He spoke of how the people welcomed them, and how grateful they were for the help they receive from the diocese.

“Your work is a blessing,” he said. “You give hope where otherwise there would be no hope.”

Seminarians Anthony Sciarappa and Michael Ackerman reflected on their mission experience.

Sciarappa spoke of the connections made between the seminarians and the people, despite language barriers.

“They really are our brothers and sisters,” he said. “They’re not that far away.”

Ackerman related his surprise at seeing how little frustration the people displayed in light of the conditions in which they live.

Gifts that would be barely noticed here, such as rosaries, brought great joy to the children, he said. It made him realize, Ackerman noted, how the church is universally alive.

“In Chimbote it’s alive largely because of what goes on here,” he said.

The July visit was documented in a video, “A Journey to a Mission that Become a Home,” which was produced by Dr. Dennis Woytek, a journalism professor at Duquesne University, and narrated by Mike Clark, WTAE anchor, who served as master of ceremonies for the evening.

Accompanying Woytek on the trip was student Mary Jacquel. She spoke of how the trip impacted her faith and how the kindness of a young girl changed the world as she knew it.

“Her smile somehow reached the deepest part of my heart and removed the blindness of my eyes,” she said of the experience.

Jacquel spoke of how the little girl did what God asks all of us to do — to love a stranger.

She also noted that she saw first-hand how materials and resources we take for granted are critical to the survival of the people in Chimbote.

“I stand here a different person because of what I experienced,” she said.

At a reception prior to the dinner, student representatives from eight schools displayed projects they initiated as part of the Chimbote Ambassadors program. The program asks each diocesan school to designate two student leaders to act as ambassadors to raise awareness of and financial assistance for the Chimbote mission.

During the 2008-09 year, students raised more than $75,000 through a variety of events. In all, more than $430,000 has been raised in the past 10 years.

The Social Works Center — or Centro de Obras Sociales — is a multiservice health and educational facility that includes a maternity hospital, outpatient clinic, clinical laboratory, and education and specialty care programs. Each month, an average of 17,000 patients receive treatment and some 300 babies are delivered at the maternity hospital.

Chimbote is a desert town of 350,000 people in Peru. It is located on the west coast of South America, approximately 250 miles north of the capital city of Lima.

More information on the mission is available through the Chimbote Foundation at 412-456-3085, on the Web at www.chimbotefoundation.org, or by e-mailing stewardship@diopitt.org.

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