Yesterday I began the day by saying Mass at the Hogar San José which is a centre run by the Mother Teresa Sisters where they receive (mostly young) people with various types of handicap. In fact, as was very clear at the Mass yesterday, those who are received in the home have sever handicaps, both physical and mental. A great many of them are children. The reality is that their families simply can't provide for their needs. Already at financial breaking point, many of the poorer families find themselves to be simply unable to countenance anything like the costs involved in caring for a child that needs special care and attention, whether that be medical, psychological, or any of the many types of therapy that we tend to consider as normal in the more developed parts of the world.
Parents of children who have these very particular needs in Ireland find themselves in a state of constant battle to gain access to the necessary services, here the battle seems to be of a different sort - to be able to cater for the basic human needs of the child. The sisters provide care in a safe, clean, and well run environment and it is clear that the kids like them very much. Everything is very gentle and the place is maintained to a very high standard, unlike many of the public services that are to be seen around the city. I'm not sure that there is a huge emphasis on therapy, but, at least for the children who make it in to the centre, their lot is greatly improved.
After Mass I headed off to a Convivencia (Workshop) for young people in preparation for World Youth Day, due to be hosted by Panama, next January. I arrived to San Miguelito (once the most densely-populated place in South America, now surpassed by the famous Favelas of Brazil) to find a huge circular church. I have no idea how many people it can accommodate, but yesterday there were well over 600 young people from about 16 to 25 years of age, all preparing for WYD.
If anyone is thinking of coming to Panama for WYD then they had better be prepared for a very lively experience. I, certainly, have never seen 600 young people dancing and singing hymns, roaring with laughter, and having the time of their lives (dancing all the time, despite the heat at 34 degrees). I suspect that January's celebration will be one of the most lively ever held - and the hottest!
I felt sorry for the man who was asked to give a talk to these young people - Fr. Miguel Angel Keller, and Augustinian, has worked here for many years, but this was one of his most challenging talks, I imagine. These young people weren't really in the mood for listening to a talk, they just wanted to keep dancing and singing - I have to say that it was really lovely: a sort of organised chaos with a multitude of goodnatured, good-humoured people.
At two in the afternoon, as the temperature was continuing to soar, they headed off on a short pilgrim walk - about a half an hour, up the steepest hill I have ever seen, to gather at a statue of Christ where the bishop was to join them for an open air Mass at 3pm - all of this in the heat of the afternoon. As they were setting out, however, the heavens opened and there was an absolutely torrential downpour which drenched everyone in seconds. While this did have the advantage of lowering the temperature somewhat, it also meant that everyone was now soaked to the skin. I have to confess that I was quite happy that I had to get back home (my lift wasn't waiting for Mass) so I got out of the whole thing relatively unscathed, but, I heard later, that by the end of the Mass, the bishop and the priests had dried out from the sun and then ended up soaked again, this time by sweat - one person told me that it looked like somebody had turned a hose on to them.
The event was a big success, and well done to those who organised it, but it also reveals some of the challenges that organisers will have to take seriously for WYD - the heat, the rain, the availability of drinking water, sunburn, and food will all need to be planned for very carefully.
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