Floods And Snow
By Sister Victoria Lerin FMM
Floods were three meters deep after four days of ceaseless rain in Santiago, the capital of Chile, in June 2002. The worst hit areas were poorer sections of the city and nearby farms. Eleven people died and many suffered from diseases the floods brought in their wake. Farmers lost livestock.
A similar flood occurred in 1926, perhaps the worst in the country’s history. Chile has developed since then, much more in the cities than in remote rural areas. Those who buy the fine wines and fruit the country exports are probably unaware of the many poor people who live behind Santiago’s imposing commercial buildings. As a foreigner, I don’t understand the complexities of Chile’s business life but I don’t think that the well being of the people is an overriding priority of those engaged in ruthless competition for the world’s markets. The politics are like those at home – dirty. And the rich still get richer and the poor poorer.
and it has just emerged from a series of military dictatorships which were very destructive and corrosive. At present it is faced with an entirely new danger: many Muslim areas wish to introduce Sharia Law, the
law based on the Koran, into daily life. Naturally the Christians are against this; for example a woman (not a man!) caught in adultery will be stoned to death. Being on mission in Nigeria today is no easy task though Fr Eusebio, in his story below, rightly looks on the bright side of life, as indeed a Christian should.
