Source: Aid to the Church in Need
Water, water, everywhere... Relentlessly, the Rio Solimões snakes its way through northwest Brazil, from the Peruvian frontier until it merges with the Rio Negro, close to Manaus. From this point the river is definitively named the Amazon – a river with many names that has produced a quite unique wetland region, ringed by luxuriant tropical rainforest. In several places the river is miles wide, featuring many interwoven streams and vast lakes.
On the banks of the Solimões thousands live, some in permanent settlements, many others, however, in small clusters of just a handful of huts. The people are poor and generally live by fishing. They are of the most varied origins – some are native Indians, some the descendants of plantation workers, drawn here at the time of the rubber boom at the beginning of the 20th century. Fr Gino Alberati, a Capuchin Father, knows them in detail. "There are 14 different ethnic groups living along the river", this Italian born priest explains, during a visit to the headquarters of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). "They are simple, honest people", adds Fr Gino, who after over 30 years now looks on the Rio Solimões as his home.
This 69-year-old priest currently ministers to 27 riverside communities from his mission centre at Santo Antônio do Içá. It is a town of 35,000 souls, situated at the point where the Rio Içá joins the Solimões. But Fr Gino is not only familiar these two rivers, for his mission territory covers hundreds of kilometres – along the Rio Solimões, the relatively densely populated Iça and the Javarí, a river that also forms the frontier with Peru.
Since 2004 Frei Gino has had at his disposal a 50 foot motor launch, the “Fraternidade Itinerant”“, which roughly translates as "travelling brotherhood". ACN was able to fund the purchase of this boat for him, thanks to the generosity of its benefactors. This costly investment of over $140,000 has more than paid off by now, for it has given an enormous boost to the pastoral care among the riverside communities here in the upper Amazon region.
In his “Fraternidade Itinerante”, Fr Gino often spends days on the water. More recently, and so that he can reach the faithful at low water times as well, he has also purchased a 12 foot speedboat, which he has registered in the name “Father Werenfried”, and which travels with him as a shore boat. Via this boat apostolate, Frei Gino is able to visit the communities, as he has done for years, baptising children and adults, celebrating Holy Mass with them, conducting weddings and hearing confessions. He is also very much involved in the youth apostolate and in marriage preparation. For the catechists who support him in his work he offers regular training courses. Many of his activities, including celebrations of Holy Mass, take place on board the “Fraternidade Itinerante”, which has now served this missionary for years as his "presbytery".At the same time, Fr Gino is much sought-after as an advisor in all life issues, from agriculture through to natural family planning. Everyone who turns to him receives an answer, and no one is turned away, even if he has only come to ask a favour – such as a lift to the next town for example. Fr Gino regularly carries passengers who simply cannot afford the expensive commercial ferry operators. And he is also there to help in emergencies. Just a few weeks ago he was able to get a child to hospital, who had been bitten by a snake. Without this opportunity of travelling by boat, the child would not have stood a chance.
Given the growing workload on the Solimões, Içá and Javarí, his boat is now to be extended and a second boat built. The “Fraternidade Itinerante” has an aluminium hull, making it light and yet strong enough to withstand the half-submerged logs floating downstream, but it is also a little on the short side, as has become evident with daily use. At higher speeds, the powerful motor pushes the bow of the boat too far out of the water, making it less stable and so hindering progress. To overcome this defect, the boat will therefore be extended by some 4 metres. The second boat is already being planned with a length of 19 m (about 63 ft).
Once again, ACN has been asked to help fund the cost of this second boat. Once it is built, the boat will be used by the Capuchin Fathers of Benjamin Constant, a town on the Solimões, right on the border with Peru, for their pastoral work in that area. It will assist them greatly in their task. From Benjamin Constant they travel out to visit the communities on both the Brazilian and the Peruvian sides – on the Peruvian side at the express wish of the local bishop.
If Fr Gino’s wishes are granted, the “Fraternidade Itinerante” will be refitted as quickly as possible, and the new boat will also be available, perhaps even by January 2011. If so, then the Capuchin Fathers will be able to launch their “Projeto Javarí” – a 40 day mission outreach that is being supported among others by the Italian diocese of Assisi. It all began when the bishop across the border in Peru asked the Capuchin Fathers to minister to the Catholic faithful on the Peruvian side of the Rio Javarí, and especially to those living in the “Islandia“ settlement, a stretch that represents around eight hours journey time by motorboat. The “Projeto Javarí“ will involve not only catechists but also dentists and doctors in a preventative medical programme to cut the incidence of malaria among the local population. The bishop of the diocese of Alto Solimões, Dom Alcimar Caldas Magalhães, who is himself a Capuchin, is supporting the initiative.
Since its earliest days, ACN has helped with the provision of transport for pastoral work. In 1947 Father Werenfried van Straaten, the founder of ACN, first purchased motorcycles, with the help of his benefactors, for priests ministering to the refugees in postwar Germany. Soon larger vehicles were being converted into "chapel trucks" to serve in areas where churches had been destroyed or were otherwise lacking. Later, priests and religious in Africa, America and Asia were supported with, cars, bicycles and motorcycles. And in the 1990s ACN helped for the creation of "chapel boats" to serve isolated communities on the Volga and Don rivers in the former Soviet Union.