IN SEARCH OF NEW MISSIONS IN THE AMAZON
In our January Provincial Assembly, the communities of Ecuador and Bolivia were entrusted with the search for new missions in the Amazon, in the two countries mentioned above.
With enthusiasm, the two communities began the search, being very well received in the different places we visited. Concretely, Ana and Lola in Bolivia visited the Vicariate of Pando, after having had a virtual meeting with Bishop Eugenio Coter who presented us the reality and needs of the Vicariate and specifically of Porvenir and its rural communities, where he saw the greatest need for our presence.
With the desire to know the reality, we traveled to Cobija on April 22 and from there we moved to Porvenir where we met with the Bishop, the two priests of Cobija, a journalist who takes care of the parish and some local women. All of them presented us with different realities and problems that urgently need to be addressed: alternative education, human trafficking, youth reality, women’s groups, alternative medicine, health, accompaniment of indigenous communities…
They were a few days very well spent, but we both felt the need to return to stay and share with the people for a month, to get to know better the reality and the dispersed communities. With this in mind, we are planning our next trip.
We all agree that the most important thing in this search is our response as Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Rosary. In the month of the Beatification of our Foundress, we think that we should not only admire her but also imitate her in her availability and openness to the new and unknown, allowing herself to be led by the Spirit.
We invite the younger sisters, not only of the Province but also those of other continents, to maintain the missionary and itinerant spirit following in the footsteps of our Founders and the legacy they left us.
Ana Maria Ortiz and Dolores Priede
