Millhillmissionariesecuador: The motorway

A map of the location of the 7 Catholic Churches in the Isla Trinitaria

The motorway which divides the Isla Trinitaria in half.

A few of the photos show the motorway that was built through the original swamp and other views of the slum. There are a few slums in Guayaquil, apart from the Isla Trinitaria, Suburbio,Los Esteros,Las Malvinas, El Guasmo,El Fortin, Bastion Popular, Valerio Estacio, etc.THE FIRST PHOTO IN THIS BLOG IS OF THE SLUM OF SUBURBIO.ALL THE SLUMS LOOK ALIKE BECAUSE OF THE CLOSENESS OF THE SHACKS-. Everyone now seems to want to help to improve the social situation so that every family can enjoy a good quality of life.This is wonderful. Congratulations.
But years ago not many people were interested in improving the life of the poor.There are slums in big cities all over the world. Nairobi,Karachi, Rio de Janeiro,Sao Paolo,Lima, Calcutta,Khartoum,Darfur etc.,How they were formed is interesting and how they were accepted. The world seems to accept the existence of massive slums in which thousands of poor people live ,many surviving on one dollar a day.The Isla Trinitaria was formed by the poor flocking to a swamp which had a motorway built through it,claiming a piece of land,or better put, a piece of swamp, and building a bamboo shack on it. It was an extremely unhealthy place,and dangerous.It was known as the island of the condemned because of the criminals who sought refuge there. Some taxi drivers will not enter the isla trinitaria. for fear of being assaultedThen came the landfill thanks to the brilliance of the President Rodrigo Borja who filled in the six square kilometres making it solid land. Remember the old joke..God created the earth, but the Dutch created Holland.Well the President Rodrigo Borja created the Isla Trinitaria.!!President Leon Febres Cordero built the motorway through the isla trinitaria.May he rest in peace. The Mayor of Guayaquil Jaime Nebot is achieving miracles embellishing the city of Guayaquil and the Isla Trinitaria but not all of it though I am sure he intends to do so eventually.The Missionaries built bamboo chapels at first and then concentrated on looking for help to build the brick churches. .Through the Archbishop Juan IgnacioLarrea Holguin we contacted Cardinal Better of Munich and Monsignor Dieter Spelthahn of Adveniat.Their response was fantastic.
They knew Ecuador.,they knew the poverty of the isla trinitaria. They gave the money to build six Catholic Churches in the isla., and three presbyteries.This was extremely generous. Their money comes from the taxes and contributions of the German Catholics. The Bishops pool the money and then distribute it to pay for worthy projects throughout the world…so the Mill Hill Missionaries are very very grateful to ADVENIAT and MUNICH for their fantastic help..The Churches built were STA ROSA DE LIMA, SAN CAMILO, SAGRADA FAMILIA, DIVINO NIÑO,SANTA EUFRASIA, AND STA TERESA DEL NIÑO JESUS. Three presbyteries were built too.A seventh church was built by the Somascos Fathers of Venice founded by St Jeronimo Emiliani in the 16th century. It is called St Charlos Lwanga the name of one of the Uganda martyrs.The Somascos Fathers came to the isla trinitaria in 1998 to help out.Below you will find several photos of the first chapels and communities of the isla trinitaria BEFORE the landfill and after the landfill.the people on the photos have now grown up ,they have their own families and are still members of our communities. THE IDEA OF THE MILLHILLMISSIONARIES IN ECUADOR HAS BEEN TO FORM BASIC CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES and to train leaders men and women, boys and girls ,to help with the formation of the Catholic Communities. This has been a very slow progress. It is now almost eighteen years since the Mill Hill Missionaries began working in the Isla Trinitaria..Archbishop Juan Ignacio Larrea Holguin had asked the Superior General Maurice McGill mhm to send missionaries for the slum of the Isla Trinitaria in 1991 and Father Maurice had agreed. At first the General sent two priests Father David Murphy and Father Frank Smith . He later sent Father Brian Ahern mhm,from Dundee Scotland, Father Wim van Gastel mhm,from Holland, Mary Kilcoyne mhm,from Southport,England, Anne Harrrison mhm, from Tyne and Wear,England, and Ildi Dunai mhm,from Budapest,Hungary This was a fantastic generous contribution to the evangelisation of the Isla Trinitaria by the Superior of the Mill Mill Missionaries of Mill Hill London England. The Missionaries have now moved their headquarters to Maidenhead near Slough and Windsor. The present Superior General is Father Anthony Chantry, and his councilors,are Father Brendan Mulhall,Father Michael Corcoran, and Bro.Jos Boerkamp.Tremendous work was achieved in this period amongst the youth.by the Mill Hill Lay Associates and Narcisa Medranda. Catechists were formed and also community leaders. We had reunions so that all the communities could get to know one another, and to feel they belonged to one huge community.Our Lay Associates, Mary Kilcoyne mhm,Anne Harrison mhm, and Ildi Dunai mhm achieved wonders. We had visits from Father Maurice McGill mhm,Father Bill Tollan mhm ,Father Jac Hetsen mhm and Brother Jos Boerkamp mhm.Their visits were ones of support and encouragement. We had visits too from the archbishops of Guayaquil, Cardinal Bernardino Echeverria, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, Juan Ignacio Larrea Holguin, and Antonio Arregui Yarza who is the present Archbishop.The Mill Hill Missionaries were founded in 1866 by Cardinal Herbert Vaughan of Courtfield,Ross on Wye,on the Welsh Borders.He established St Josephs Missionary Society, and sent missionaries to BALTIMORE USA to look after the Blacks.He sent missionaries to AFGHANISTAN ,MADRAS,KASHMIR AND KAFIRISTAN,to BORNEO ,and to NEW ZEALAND. The Mill Hill Missionaries work in some twenty one countries throughout the world. In order to collect funds for his missionary seminary,Cardinal Vaughan visited SOUTH AMERICA.He visited Guayaquil on July 14th 1864.
He expressed his opinion that Ecuador was too poor a country to beg in. Did he think that his missionaries would eventually evangelize a massive slum in Guayaquil.? Yes I think it was within his vision. The Mill Hill Missionaries did come to South America ,to Chile, Peru,Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela,Bolivia, to Uruguay and to The Falkland Islands, and the Dutch Antilles.

The Motorway which runs through the isla trinitaria is called the PERIMETRAL. Very heavy traffic pass along it every day and all night long.There are no pedestrian crossings but some traffic lights have been installed.Nevertheless many people are killed attempting to cross the perimetral. The road is notorious for accidents. The people now call it the Perimortal. ..because so many have died on it. May they all rest in peace.
The police are now launching a campaign to teach the Highway Code in all the schools to try to cut down the number of tragedies.

I enclose a photo of one of the bridges crossing the perimetral ,and a couple of photos of the city of Guayaquil,which is becoming a popular tourist attraction.The Mayor Jaime Nebot has achieved miracles in Guayaquil. He has given the city dignity and pride.

May be you would like to visit Guayaquil and see the Isla Trinitaria for yourself.
You will be very welcome and the mission team will show you around.They also act as the bodyguards. I am trying to encourage my sisters to come to Ecuador for a holiday which would also include seeing the isla trinitaria. May be this blog will encourage them.