There was much conversation today between the UK officers and those of Paraguay - how we work similarly and differently, how we can learn from each other, possible funding and service opportunities.
The activities today commenced with time at Capiata Corps education programme: classes attend in morning or afternoon before, or after, their formal attendance at school. It is helping with their development. They sit attentively while being taught.
We got them to play Jenga then Catherine and I did some mask work with them around the story of the two builders. Lots of laughter, lots of fun.
Our afternoon community visits were to two areas in the San Raymon Refuge. One focused on nutrition - a seven week programme with a strong food element and spiritual challenge - the second focusing on health issues. We were there for the fourth element of the workshop: parasitic infestation. The previous three classes had focused on Family Planning, sexual health and vaccinations.
A group of about twenty women and children gathered in the shade of a tree with a 61 year old grandmother of 28 grandchildren occupying the central seat. As the nurse from the clinic explained the causes of and prevention of parasites and intestinal worms the group looked on attentively. A small dog wandered around the group sniffing at ankles as he went. A woman left the group, seemingly disinterested, only to return moments later with a pen and paper to take notes.
The nurse walks through the community every day, as often as she can. This physical presence on a daily basis has build trust in the community. The Salvation Army programme is not seen as a threat in any way. The outcomes are clear: when the offer is given a five day course of oral medicine is given for everyone requiring it from 2-13. Adults are given capsules. This will rid them of parasites for approximately 6 months during which time better hygiene and food preparation can be strived for. The hospitality shown by this group to us as visitors is extraordinary - incongruity being the order of the day - officers who speak a different language in pristine white shirts are brought seats by those whose life is full of chaos and tragedy: but the Paraguayan way is the way of hospitality.
One of the questions raised privately is about personal resources. The clothing is well worn and full of holes. Much of it is just the right side of decency. The consensus is that it is gained as a result of scavenging predominantly but some people in the refuge do have jobs and therefore an income - government support for those in need is not even a subject for conversation so alien is it for the people here. Recycling is the main industry for those living in the refuge and so they spend their days rooting through piles of rubbish in order to find anything worth recycling. Plastic bottles are a favour it not only for selling (a bale which measure four foot square by six foot long will take about a fortnight to collect and will sell for about £10 - that's an hourly rate of about 7p) but also for decorating the home. We have seen bottles used as lampshades, hanging baskets, windows, plant pots, brush holders - and as they were intended as bottles.
The people of the refuge are resourceful in the extreme - in the face of the widespread disease and endemic abuse this is nothing short of miraculous.
God turns up to these people in the person of a local Salvationist nurse, quiet, unassuming, reserved but with the authority of medical knowledge and the Holy Spirit.
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