Hajja Salesjana October - December 2018

6 After a wonderful three months in Brazil, it was time to say goodbye to the welcoming indigenous community of the Bororos and head to Peru. Since it was Easter time, Shawn and I started our Peruvian adventure by getting the sweetest surprise: a Maltese traditional figolla, brought to us by two friends from Malta who came to visit us. Together with our friends, we then hiked to the majestic world wonder of Maccu Piccu. The view of the old Inca village nestled high upin the Andes Mountains, amongst the soft white clouds, truly touched our hearts. We felt connected to God, the artist at whose Hands such picturesque sceneries were created. As we parted ways with our friends, we continued to travel to Iquitos, a city amidst the Amazon jungle. In Iquitoswe had the honour to work in the parish of San Martin de Porres, run by the Maltese missionary Fr. Raymond Portelli. Fr. Ray, who is also a doctor, has opened a hospital for the poor, terminally ill people of this city. However, the hospital Algo Bello was quite in a run-down state when we arrived. And thus, we started learning how to do manual work, in order to help Fr. Ray in his aim to create an environment in which the patients could reside with dignity. Throughout our months there we worked with other Maltese volunteers to remove the rust from beds, and repaint them with anti-corrosive paint. We refurbished one of the hospital rooms, laying its tiles and painting it. We also worked in the water works of the hospital shaft and painted its walls, which immediately gave a brighter appearance to the hospital. Moreover, we befriended the patients and frequently organised outings for them. Our favourite must be when we visited a natural The Peruvian Adventure (part 1) by Shaun and Chantelle Xuereb