May 2008 Update

May 2008

Dear friends and family,  

When we started a new letter about things here for us in Ecuador, it was April, but clearly now it will be a May 2008 update.   

At the end of February, on the last day of the Latin American Council of Churches (www.claiweb.org) board of directors meeting in Panama, the general secretary Israel Batista, along with several others, resigned. If you would like to know more about this, I am attaching here a draft copy of the latest Latin American Ecumenical News, which we just finished working on and also has a lot of other interesting information. The resignations were a big surprise and very unexpected. Our work continues in CLAI, though it has been an adjustment in the office here in Quito and within the organization throughout the continent.  

Also, in the last diocesan convention at the end of February, Bishop Wilfrido Ramos announced his retirement June 2009, inaugurating the process of a search for the next bishop of the Diocese of Central Ecuador. This will certainly be an interesting time for the diocese as it continues to rebuild while also looking at the needs of and vision for the diocese and who can best serve it as the next bishop in order to continue to build upon the incredible work that the bishop has accomplished. (As of this moment, please also keep Bishop Wilfrido in your thoughts and prayers as he is quite ill and will be having a surgery in the next week.)  

We were invited to work with CLAI through Israel Batista and with the Diocese of Central Ecuador through Bishop Ramos. It is unclear how our own work will be affected by these changes, if at all (though the change in CLAI has already happened and the change in the diocese is still over a year away). We will just wait and see. At this point, though, there is more than enough work to keep us busy.

After over two months in the shop for repairs, the truck (which flipped over in the beginning of February) is now fixed and back in our hands. This is very good timing and the truck is being well (heavily) used.   

January through April brought unusually severe and continual torrential rains and flooding to much of the Sierra and Coast. With over half the country severely affected, a State of Emergency was declared. The most serious effects of the rains have been overflowing rivers, submerged homes and crops, displacements and fatalities, and the death of livestock. Also, there is a high risk of dengue fever, malaria, respiratory infections, and skin diseases. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. On behalf of the diocese, Chris applied for emergency aid from Episcopal Relief and Development (www.er-d.org) for the subtropical area of La Maná. ERD gave the diocese generous emergency assistance to help with the primary needs of food, water, water purifiers, clothing, blankets, mattresses, mosquito nets, and medicines and medical care, as well as some help for boots, burials, and emergency housing repairs.   

Chris has made a couple of trips to La Maná as part of a team from the congregation Cristo Liberador in Quito and the congregation in La Maná. A team from La Maná has visited near and remote communities around the area to assess the needs and distribute the aid. A medical brigade from Cristo Liberador also spent a weekend there to address general medical needs. Even in the midst of their own difficult situation, people from the Episcopal congregation in La Maná say that they themselves have been changed by the experience of visiting and accompanying outlying communities that have been so severely affected by this crisis.   

In addition to another trip or two to La Maná, from June to October we will be doing a lot of travelling within the country as we accompany groups from Atlanta, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and ERD in New York as they build relationships with communities here.   

After her surgery in the beginning of March, Trish has continued to recuperate very well. She now feels great, and has continued to be heavily involved in work with Colombian refugees in Quito. Last month, the refugee program hosted a dinner for refugees where they were able to speak about their lives and future, information that will be used in thinking through how best to proceed with the program. Although there is still a serious need for more funding, gratefully from places like Minnesota, New Jersey and Ohio people and churches have visited, supported and collaborated with the refugee program. Apart from this, just last week Trish finished a three months-long work on the diocesan library  

One last note: The Diocese of Central Ecuador has two schools, one in Ambato (2 1/2 hours south of Quito) and one in Quito. The schools are open to all, regardless of religion. Both serve many children that come from families with very minimal resources for schooling and who desperately need scholarships in order to pursue their educations there. The cost of schooling is not high (less than $500 a year) but still unattainable for probably about 1/4 to 1/2 of the students. An additional need is resources to nutritionally supplement the lunches that the school provides. If anyone would like to know more about how to help support these students, or could recommend the schools to your church or organization, we would be very happy to talk with you more about it.   

Much peace,

Trish, Chris, Claire, and Isabel

We have photos, updated tomorrow, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/morck.

And our updates and things, including a sermon preached today at Advent St. Nicholas in Quito (www.asnquito.org), are at www.stjames-cambridge.org/morcks

Iglesia Episcopal del Ecuador

F. Sarmiento N39-54 y Portete

Quito

Ecuador