May 2013 Update

This year 25 people from churches in the UK, Ireland and the USA will be visiting Paraguay.

During July 2013 a group of Mission Paraguay volunteers will be based at Roque Alonso on the north eastern outskirts of the capital Asunción and visit different communities in the Asunción area.    They will involved in a variety of projects  including work with children; assisting with the toy library organised by FEISA; distribution of spectacles; assisting with the sewing workshops and serving local families in need.  They will also spend 5 days in Concepción working alongside Northern Ireland missionary Claire Holmes.

In August another group will be based entirely in Concepción working with Claire and the team from San Pablo Church. They with travel to different communities in and surrounding Concepción to be involved in a range of evangelistic events and activities particularly focused on children and young people.

Another August group will be based in the Chaco where the indigenous people live in some of the most deprived conditions in Paraguay.  They will be working alongside local people on a variety of building projects under the supervision of missionary Chris Hawksbee.

Projects being funded in Paraguay during 2013 include:

General items:

  • Supply and distribution of spectacles to communities in Asunción and Concepción (last year 1,015 pairs were distributed);
  • providing materials for the sewing workshops which have operated for the last 6 years in locations in Asunción, Concepción and occasionally at Rio Verde in the Chaco to encourage self sufficiency;
  • supplying a limited range of medical items;
  • providing consumable materials and equipment for work with children and young people;
  • supplying teaching materials for use by the Anglican Church;
  • supplying materials for self help home improvements for needy families;
  • support for the mobile toy library operated by FEISA the Anglican Early Years Teacher Training College;
  • assisting to fund various improvements to buildings used to promote the work and mission of the Anglican Church;
  • supplying clothes, blankets, toys and other items for distribution to people in need.   Some clothes are sold for a nominal sum to raise funds for work with children and to operate the Saturday meal for children in various communities.

In the Chaco:

  • construction of a new church at La Paciencia an isolated village in the La Patria community;
  • building two large underground water storage tanks for rainwater for use where there is no piped water supply;
  • repairs to an existing water storage tank damaged by tree roots;
  • construction of up to 10 homes built of bricks with sheet metal roofs and concrete floors to replace overcrowded homes built of palm logs, plastic sheets and other discarded materials.   Families are supplied with a plastic drum to collect rainwater from gutters;
  • building of 5 long drop toilet cabins to supply to families without facilities;
  • supplying a number of solar powered battery chargers for use where there is no electricity supply;
  • assisting to fund the employment of local expertise to work alongside Chris Hawksbee to promote self sufficiency projects among the Indian communities.

For further information upon any of these projects please contact the coordinator, David Orritt.  Email: davidinparaguay@hotmail.comMission Paraguay