Hajja Salesjana July September 2018

6 For years, my husband Shawn and I, had been dreaming about living abroad. First, we had wanted a working experience somewhere in Europe. But as the date grew closer we realised we wanted to be of greater contribution to society. Therefore, we decided to embark on a year trip to South America, during which we would move between different countries and engage in various voluntary work projects. Our first mission saw us in hot, sunny, beautiful Brazil. Shortly upon our arrival we visited a place called Crackolandia. Here, people severely addicted to crack lived in shacks close to railway tracks, far away from the rest of society. It was such a touching and humbling experience to be able to spread some joy amongst these saddest of souls, as we listened to their stories, distributed food and drink, sang songs, gave them hugs and played with their little children. We then continued our journey to central Brazil - into the midst of a forest - where we spent 3 months working on a Salesian Project aiding a tribe of indigenous people called Boe Bororos. Our job was to work with the children and youth of the tribe, in order to instil in them a sense of initiative and pride in their culture through crafts, activities and games. We also taught them basic English language, along with basic technological skills, since the first computers had just arrived in the tribal village of Meruri! As volunteers, we participated in the village life as well. Indeed, we helped the women to plant crops, took part in rituals like funerals, and visited the poorer, neighbouring villages to distribute food. True to our Salesian spirit, we helped the Salesian community organise oratories every Sunday. Watching all the community coming together to play games, have fun and finally even pray together, were joyous moments that we cherish deeply. We are forever thankful for our experience in Meruri, w h i c h allowed us to immerse o u r s e l v e s in a culture so different than what we are used to back home. It taught us more about the reality of indigenous a young couple's epic journey of a lifetime by Shaun and Chantelle Xuereb Shaun and Chantelle dressed up in the local costume of the Bororos Tribe