The 2012 St Anthony’s Charities Project will be realized in Pariacoto, at an altitude of 1,200 metres surrounded by a chain of bare mountains in the Peruvian Andes.
In this place, located about 60 kilometres from the Pacific Ocean and about 500 kilometres from the capital Lima, the centre «Centro pastoral social san Antonio de Padua in Pariacoto» will be erected. As the name suggests, the centre will give flesh to the solidarity of the great Anthonian family.
At the urging of the friars of the Peruvian mission, our objective is to transform the current school, which is falling to pieces, into a safe haven for the poorest children and young people in the area.
The area in question, a block of land measuring about 20m by 30m, is located inside the village, not far from the Franciscan mission.
In this area we plan to construct three small buildings of two stories each.
Once we have demolished the unsafe school rooms, the corrugated iron and pressed-earth bricks will be replaced by cement and cooked bricks which are much sturdier than the materials used previously.
The first building, whose construction has already begun thanks to the Adveniat Association of the German Bishops’ Conference, will contain the classrooms on the second floor while a multi-purpose hall will occupy the ground floor, which will be used either for meetings, lessons or as a canteen.
Next to this building a smaller construction will house international volunteers or those from other areas of Peru: these people will teach computing skills and hygiene, as well as providing further training to the teachers themselves.
Father Jarek, the companion of the two martyred friars, is now general secretary for the missionary animation of the Conventual Franciscan Order. He says, “We need to train the teachers who work in the Andes: only in this way even those children who live far way from Pariacoto will be able to receive qualified education, and thus break free from the downward spiral of ignorance.”
This explains the third building, which will house a library on the ground floor, and a computer room on the second floor with ten computers. The toilets and a few outdoor games will complete the infrastructure made available for the activities of the centre.
To build and furnish the «Centro pastoral social san Antonio de Padua in Pariacoto» will cost €100,000. But we will face this new challenge together, in the name of our Saint.