Scottish Catholic Observer

A group of nine pupils from St Joseph’s Academy, Kilmarnock, recently spent ten days in the community of Nueva Prosperina—a shantytown in the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil—and have returned home speaking of ‘life-changing’ and ‘unforgettable’ experiences.

The S6 pupils travelled to Ecuador in October with Fr Martin Chambers, the St Joseph’s school chaplain, who, between 2004 and 2009, spent five years in Nueva Prosperina as a missionary priest with the society of St James. The school group were accompanied by teachers Joe Sikora and Ann McDaid.

School ties

The school community has been involved in fundraising work for Fr Chambers’ Ecuador Trust and the link with the South American country goes back even further as they have also helped the mission of Fr Colin MacInnes, a priest of Argyll and the Isles Diocese, who is based in Ecuador.

During their time in South America, the pupils assisted at La Sagrada Familia School, where they worked with primary and secondary classes, and helped prepare lunches for 150 of the 700 pupils in the local school at a soup kitchen.

Louise Sloan, St Joseph’s head girl, recalled the group’s arrival in Guayaquil, after 22 hours of travel, where pupils and teachers from La Sagrada Familia were there to welcome them at the airport.

“Any of our initial fears were immediately banished by the warmth and smiles of those who had come to welcome us into their country,” Louise said. “From then on, whatever we were doing and wherever we went, we were met with only the happiest and most welcoming of people.”

Trip highlights

As well as helping out at the school and soup kitchen, the pupils visited many Nueva Prosperina residents in their homes and attended Masses at the local churches. They were also quick to point out how much of an impression Fr Chambers had made on the residents of the shantytown.

“He is treated like a hero out there,” the pupils commented. “We hadn’t fully understood the impact he had had there until we saw it for ourselves first-hand.”

At the end of their ten days in Ecuador, the St Joseph’s pupils had to deal with the toughest part of their trip—saying goodbye to their newfound friends.

“Not one of us had ever come across such kind, selfless and generous people before,” head girl Louise said. “Everything we did was enhanced by the wonderful people we were with. They made the trip what it was and so saying goodbye to them was, without a doubt, the hardest thing I, and many of the others, had ever had to do.”

Friendships

Fellow pupil Amy Muir spoke about how friendships were forged between the two communities even though they were speaking different languages for the majority of the trip.

“In that situation you learn how to read body language better,” Amy commented. “You know when the right time to smile is. Friendliness can breach the language barrier.”

Eilidh Muir added that, on her return from Ecuador, the experience has given her more of an appreciation of what she has in life. “When I think about moaning about something I try to stop and think about the time I spent with the people in Ecuador,” she said.

The St Joseph’s pupils are now looking forward to next year, when they hope to welcome some of the Ecuadorian school pupils and staff from Nueva Prosperina to Scotland, and are intent on ensuring they can reciprocate the warmth, generosity and friendship they experienced during their visit to South America.

In addition to Louise, Amy and Eilidh Muir, the St Joseph’s pupils who took part in the trip to Ecuador were: Shannon Barclay, Siobhan Connelly, James Green, Joe Hunter, Nicola Robertson and Kal Walker.