Hajja Salesjana Apr-June 2019

8 H AJJA S ALESJANA Our lives in Iquitos, Peru became increasingly interesting when we started conducting teambuilding sessions for residents of Talita Kumi, yet another of Fr. Ray Portelli’s homes. This home provided a drug rehabilitation programme for men, and getting to know these individuals was a life-changing experience for both my husband and myself. As we heard story after story of how they became addicts, either due to life’s circumstances, lost loves or bad company, we understood better how every person is vulnerable to temptation and that nobody should be judged. Rather, we were awed at how much these men were willing to give up to get rid of their addiction: their freedom for a year, their families and their free will. Moreover, the community support they were given, for example during a parade against drug addiction, was something remarkable. I believe that our community back home has a lot to learn from this society hailing from the Amazonian region of Peru. The Peruvian Adventure (part 2) by Shaun and Chantelle Xuereb Together with a couple of volunteers, we also started helping out in an afternoon school programme, held in the very poor area of Belen. Here people live so close to the river that houses are on stilts, since when the tide comes in, it reaches the lower levels of the wooden lodgings. The children of Belen were a boisterous, happy bunch, with no reserves whatsoever to jump and swim in the extremely polluted river! The level of education was also, unfortunately, very poor. As a teacher I felt highly responsible that at least during my months there, these children would learn skills like counting, writing their names and basic Spanish and English grammar. Needless to say, the lessons were done in a Salesian spirit, where we focused on loving the children and teaching through fun, games, crafts and songs. In turn, this attracted the children to come to mass when Fr. Ray visited Belen every Sunday. Of all these wonderful experiences in Iquitos, undoubtedly our absolute favourite was when Fr. Ray would hire a pekepeke (a