Both Sharon and Steve continued on to Libano for a week and visited the
Barrio (joint project of Libano and Mission Viejo Rotary)) which Brian
and the Rotary Club distribute food and supplies etc to keep 25 poor
families going. Brian also saw to it that some of the children were
registered in the public schools in Libano (schooling in Colombia is not
mandatory like in Canada or USA) and Brian through donations from
friends and family is footing the bill for enrollment and supplies. A
couple of kids were given scholarships to Brian's school which is a
Parochial school which has had a terrible drop (25%) enrollment because
of the severe economic conditions in Colombia. Very sad.
School starts next week so Deacon Brian will be teaching English from
the 5th Grades to the 11th Grade.A real challenge! Brian also makes a
trip monthly with food in to the country side and all know him so he has
had no problems as they appreciate what he is doing.
Bendiga,
Editor
February 5, 2000 San
Francisco, Bogota and Libano
Greetings from Libano!!! I have returned to Libano after working in the
University of San Francisco Med Center as a Hospital Chaplain. This was the final seminary
course I needed in
order to be ordained a Deacon. The Deaconate ordination took place in Bogota on January
22, 2000 in the Viatorian Parish of San Basilio Magno.
The ordination ceremony was beautiful and I was delighted to have my
parents George and Margaret Cooper present as well as helping me to vest during the
ceremony. My brother
Michael was present and read the first reading, while my sister Sharon brought up the
gifts. My friend Rev. Steve Gavit also came down for the ceremony. It was wonderful to
celebrate
with the Viatorian Family that included our Provincial Mick Egan CSV, the Colombian
Viatorians, Bishop Jose Luis Serna of Libano-Honda, and the Libano families of Garces,
Osorio, and
Henao. It was a beautiful, sunny day and I could not have asked for a better celebration.
There were many tears of joy as we all celebrated this moment together. Many thanks to all
who
came down and shared in this special moment.
Afterwards Sharon and Steve traveled over to Libano accompanied
by Sandro Osorio, Diego Osorio, and Diego Garces. They were able to experience a little
bit of the Colombian life
from the point of view of our "pueblito" El Libano. We visited the Barrio Santa Rosa where
we discovered that the children were not registered for school. The average cost of
registration for the grade school is a mere $5.00. For high school the cost is around
$50.00. Both of these costs cover the entire year for each student. But many of the
families cannot
afford the fee because then they would have to go without food. We immediately formed a
list and spent the next week registering all the children. We met children who had the
desire to
study, but not the means. We also purchased notebooks and pens for each child. We ended up
registering 21 students for grade school and 7 for high school. We could not have done
this without all your help and support. The Barrio Santa Rosa extends it's arms to you
with a warm smile and a heartfelt thanks of appreciation.
Que Dios los bendiga!!! Love, Brian Cooper CSV
April 30, 2000
BARRIO PRIMERO de MAYO...The
Rotary Club of Libano, Colombia is dedicated to helping a second barrio in Libano which is
named "Barrio Primero de Mayo. It houses 30 families living in severe conditions.
SANTA ROSA BARRIO HOUSING PROJECT IN
LIBANO, COLOMBIA SA
Rotarian Brian from the Rotary Club of Libano, South America, reports on the Santa Rosa
Barrio Housing Project being devoloped between clubs in District 5320 and District
4290. This is the continued story about a remote Rotary Club serving humanity deep in the
heart of the Andes Mountains in Colombia and how with the Rotary Club of Mission Viejo,
California USA, is establishing a Housing Project to help 25 families living in poverty in
a barrio on the outskirts of Libano (Population 20,000).
June 17, 2000
Living Conditions in the
Barrios and in Libano
I cannot believe how quickly the time passes especially when there
are so many projects in the works. If there were enough resources we probably could begin
a new project everyday here in Libano.
Just today I visited the Barrio Primero de Mayo to see the new roof that was put on one of
the homes. The family was very happy to receive the materials and this was made possible
through all of your donations. The family did all the work themselves. I also visited
another home we provided the bricks and mortar and they re-constructed a wall so that the
mud would stop sliding into their home.[ Photo shows original
conditions of the homes.
I also helped take a mother to the hospital as her 1 year old baby
has broken out in a terrible skin rash and they have no funds to take the baby to the
hospital. The hospital visit cost $5.00 and the baby is being treated with medication.
Another family had not eaten all day and so we purchased groceries from the store. They
are cooking with a make-shift wood burning stove as they have no funds for the gas.
Other families are living in very dangerous homes that are ready to slide down the
hillside in any given rainstorm. There is a bank in town that would like to sell us homes
at a price of $1500 each so that we could move these people out of their dangerous
situation. If anyone is interested in helping us out with this
project please let me know.
We are also progressing on the Santa Rosa Barrio as the town of Libano is leaning towards
annexing the new property. This would give us the green light to begin building new homes
for that Barrio.
We also have a couple of students who cannot go to the University due to a lack of funds.
The cost is about $1500 per year per student. Please let me know if you are interested in
this project as well. They are good students and come from wonderful families, but food
comes before education in their households.
Well that is about it for now, I hope everyone is doing well and know that I keep you in
my thoughts and prayers.
Que Dios los bendiga!!! Love, Brian
August 11, 2000
"Esperanza"
Yes, "Esperanza" means "Hope" in Spanish. Through your generosity you
have given "Esperanza" to many of the people here in Libano, Colombia.
Because of your donations, prayers, and support we are able to continue with the many
projects that we have going. This past week went a little bit like this:
45 families received food packages last Friday out in the countryside. Each family must
have their children studying in the Zaragosa School. It is very typical for a family to
spend $1.00 a week on groceries and try to secure the rest from their farms. This is a
very difficult task. You have given "Esperanza" to each of these families.
We finished putting two new roofs on homes so that they could sleep without the rain
pouring in on them. We have a list of 30 more homes that have the same problem and we are
going to start working on 5 of them in the next couple of weeks. You have given
"Esperanza" to these families who need more shelter.
We are currently helping two young men to secure a college education. They began their
studies this past week with one in Bogota and the other in Ibague. They have the ability,
but not the resources. You have given "Esperanza" by planting seeds for a better future
for these young men and for Colombia.
Two or three high school students stop by for breakfast or for supper as they often go
without. Imagine being in high school and not having the energy because of the lack of
food in your body. Daniel goes to school from 7:00 am until 1:00 pm, works from 2:00 pm
until 7:00 pm in his father's metal shop in order to receive lunch (Lunch is his pay), and
gets home around 8:00 pm. He usually doesn't get to eat breakfast nor dinner. He started
this when he was 11 years old and is now 15. You have given them "Esperanza" by giving
them the opportunity to eat and have energy to continue with their studies.
Many thanks to all of you (I hope i didn't miss anyone on the thank you page) for all the
"Esperanza" you have given to many wonderful people inthis part of the world.
Que Dios los bendiga!!!
Bro. Brian Cooper CSV
Journal Entry
September 02, 2000
The Biggest Hearts
Today was another unusual day in Colombia as we made another run to
the countryside with the food packages. We are helping 47 poor farming families with the
all the support that you are sending us down here. Each family must keep their children in
the local school and must attend the gathering that we have each month.
I went with a young man by the name of Daniel who was a great help. We also visited a few
farms where the people were too sick to come to the gathering. We brought their food
packages directly to them and spent some time just talking and getting to know them. We
also met a farmer who is in desperate need of cement blocks, cement, and sand in order to
process the coffee that he grows on the farm. We are assisting him so that he can process
and then sell his crop. The total cost to build all this is about $125.00. He barely has
enough money to feed his family and maintain the horse
which is his mode of transporting his crops to the market. It takes about two hours to
ride his horse into town. Your support will help him to keep his farm running.
In the midst of all this we still encounter the smiling shy faces of the young children
who are always happy to receive visitors. There is always food that we take back to Libano
which we end up distributing to some families who are very poor. It is amazing to see the
amount of generosity that can be shared by people who have so little in material wealth.
They truly have the biggest hearts.
Que Dios los bendiga!!! Brian
September 24, 2000
Homes in the Barrio
Greetings from Libano, Colombia!!! We have been busy at work with a very poor barrio here
in Libano which is called Primero de Mayo (May 1st Barrio). We have a list of 40 homes
that need roof repairs, retention walls, and floors. Many of the homes have only dirt
floors and sometimes the people must sleep with plastic over their beds so that they don't
get wet when it rains.
We have begun a project with our Rotary Club of Libano inorder to help repair some of
these homes. Shown is a a Rotary visit to the home of a 90 year
old woman whose roof was repaired and now she does not need to sleep with a plastic over
her bed to repel the rain.
We have completed work on 7 homes at this point and we hope to be able to continue with
another 5 this coming week. There are at least 50 more homes that need work. The Rotary
Club of Mission Viejo, California has been a great catalyst in helping with this project
as well as many other individuals. The people of Libano extend a great appreciation to you
for all your help you have done and for all that you continue to do to help a number of
people in need. Que Dios los bendiga!!!
Shows the type
A family that lives in the barrio
Some of the Rotarians visiting
of work that needs to
the barrio along with a mother
be done on a roof
whose home was repaired
November 22, 2000
Mud Slide and Flood Alert
I don't know if you heard or not, but for a few days I was unsure if I
would have been able to leave Libano this Sunday on my way to Bogota to catch a flight to
Chicago for my Ordination*. There was a mudslide that
caused a natural dam in one of the rivers and we have been on "orange alert" (one step
below red) as the dam could break and flood out the entire area. It was a similar
situation to what happened in Armero 15 years ago this month. But engineers have opened up
part and the water is beginning to flow somewhat and they have re-opened the road to
Bogota. There was also a helicopter that crashed in the same area yesterday and 8 people
died, mostly engineers from Bogota who were looking at the river situation. Libano has
been in the national news all this week with the two situations.
Tomorrow I head to Mariquita with other rotarians and I will present the International
part of our Club at the District Governors meeting. We will pass the river site so I know
that it is now open. They are talking about dynamiting to open the rest.
* Brother Brian is to be
Ordained as a Roman Catholic Priest on Saturday December 2, 2000 at his former
parish of St James in Arlington Heights, Il. He will be returning to Libano on December
27th after spending time with his parents in California and time with other members of his
family in the Chicago area as well as visiting the Province Center of the Clerics of St
Viators in Arlington Heights, Il USA
BENDIGA
JOURNAL Journey of a Missionary
Email
