The Holy Spirit is Present in Ciudad Juarez
The theme for this issues of Not So Far Afield is short-term service/immersion experiences. We begin with this piece by Joan Cruz. In the center is a reflection piece by Matt Rousso. We invite you to share your own thoughts in our discussion forum on our website.
As a Maryknoll Affiliate from Long Island, New York, I believe we are all called by our baptism to be missioners. I am a mother, grandmother, teacher, social worker and neighbor to those in need, not only in my local neighborhood, but to our closest neighbors to the South in Mexico.
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| Children playing at the Holy Spirit Center |
For the last nine years, I have traveled by bus from New York to the Holy Spirit Center in Juarez, aross the border from El Paso, Texas, bringing duffel bags filled with day care supplies. I look to the Holy Spirit Center as my home away from home because this Center is a center of hope. There is much violence in the city, but in this center overlooking Juarez and El Paso, there is peace and compassion for all.
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| Joan Cruz with the children at the Holy Spirit Center |
The day care center is filled with children from 5:30 AM until 5:30 PM, serving families who earn about $50 a week. I don't think I've ever pushed so many swings, washed so many hands or wiped so many noses. I am exhausted at the end of each day when I am there.
The women work well with the children but have few materials to help them learn and play. The last time I was there for three weeks, I worked with a woman who was responsible for the three and four-year-old children. I helped her set up a routine for activities for this age group.
The dining room is amazing. I wish you could all be there when 100 school children come to eat breakfast and lunch together. I am sure Our Lord is present and the miracle continues. The big walk-in refrigerator can be empty for long periods, but there is always food for all the children. I have gone at night with Gloria to receive donated prepared food from one of the American factories in Juarez. This helps feed the children for the next day. The sick and elderly are also fed on a weekly basis and I have observed the older children coming to the center in the afternoon to receive an education.
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| Meal time at the Holy Spirit Center |
This center is the living gospel of today. People are fed, clothed, healed and cared for here at this center of the Holy Spirit and I feel blessed and thankful to be part of this living gospel.
