|
|
|
Missions |
|
Reflections on El Salvador mission by Sister
Margaret Welch |
La Tenda di Cristo is a community, living as a family in an
environment of trust and companionship. It was established by a group that
wished to live the gospel in the reality of our time. It stands as an oasis
of hope in the lives of those forgotten by society, the poor, those who
suffer with AIDS.
In 1986 Brother Francesco Zambotti founded La Tenda di Cristo as a response
to the presence of AIDS and its affect on the community. Concerned with the
people whom society was rejecting, Brother Francesco began the project to
assist victims of AIDS, prostitutes and those addicted to drugs.
Presently there are sixteen Tendas: twelve in Italy, three in Brazil and the
most recent in Juarez, Mexico; La Tenda being the only one in Mexico. It
houses up to 35 men, women and children, offering mental, physical,
emotional, and spiritual assistance to many who have lived a life of chaos
and destruction.
Sister Barbara Jenkins, SC, is the Health Coordinator at La Tenda in Juarez.
On November 28, 2005, Sister Catherine Morrisett, SC, visited Sister
Barbara. She participated in this Border Experience to find out what it is
like to minister in a third world country. Her experience was humbling.
Sister Catherine shadowed Sister Barbara through her routinely busy work
days. Sister Barbara provides medical care and moral support for the five
families who now occupy the homes in La Tenda. These families have one or
more family members that have been diagnosed with AIDS. They have emotional
and medical needs beyond their means. They are so grateful for the homes
that are provided for them, for the faith that they are able to practice and
for the medical assistance that they are receiving. The La Tenda enables the
families to live together and to experience mental, physical, emotional and
spiritual assistance, which were never available to them before.
A project that the residents of La Tenda and Sister Barbara are very excited
about presently is the construction of a new playground located right
outside of the doors of the resident’s homes. As you can imagine, the
children can’t wait for its completion.
Sister Catherine observed, first hand, the admiration and faith these people
have in Sister Barbara and in the Sisters of Charity. She said that when
they see Sister Barbara, their eyes light up and they line-up with requests
for her help with situations that run the gamut.
Sister Barbara has many allies in El Paso that are all striving for the same
goals. There are other Sisters who work in detention centers and centers for
abused women. Migrant women are now eligible for help in El Paso if they can
show proof that they have been abused. There is also a hospitality center in
El Paso called Annunciation House. The guests at Annunciation House, who are
migrants, call this House (consisting of three large houses) their home for
a few nights at a time, or sometimes a few months at a time. They come from
as close as next-door in Juarez and as far away as Brazil in South America.
All of these people and resources that are available to the migrants, work
collaboratively to provide services, medical care and shelter for these
people who are trying to find a better way of life.
Sister Catherine commented, "It is so important for these people, whose
needs are beyond our comprehension, to have someone or somewhere to welcome
them when they cross that border." She also learned of the fortitude of
these people in trying to physically make it across the border. "The armed
guards are posted in their vehicles just waiting to seize the border jumpers
and return them back to Mexico."
In one of her many discussions with Sister Barbara, Sister Catherine says
that one of Sister Barbara’s main struggles at the start of this new year is
that the government has made it mandatory for all American citizens who
cross the border to have a passport. This makes it difficult for those
people who volunteer from El Paso to get to Juarez to help as they have in
the past. Most of these workers and volunteers do not have the funds to pay
the fee to obtain a passport and may have to stop the help they were
providing in Mexico.
Sister Catherine is grateful to have had the privilege of this Border
Experience. She admires Sister Barbara and those who work with her to
provide comfort for those who have migrated to the United States.
Sister Catherine recently celebrated her tenth anniversary as a Staff
Psychotherapist at Grace Counseling Center in Madison, NJ. She specializes
in marriage and family therapy; she also works with adults in individual
therapy, and has given numerous lectures and workshops for the Counseling
Center’s community education program. Sister Catherine also serves as
Director of Formation for the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth in
Convent Station.
If you would like to make a donation to our mission in Juarez, Mexico,
please contact the Development Office at the Sisters of Charity of Saint
Elizabeth at
Srcharity@scnj.org or P.O. Box 476, Convent Station, NJ
07961-0476.
Box 476, Convent Station, NJ 07961 973-290-5345
