By Sister M. Yvonne Nosal, Province of Latin America and the Caribbean
As I celebrate (on October 7, 2018) the anniversary of my arrival in Peru for the first time 42 years ago, I am most grateful to God for the many opportunities, life-giving experiences and challenges that have touched me and helped me to grow during these years.
I have been privileged to live in several countries and in a variety of international and multicultural SSND communities. Originally from Canada, I spent four years in Comas, Lima, Peru, and from there moved to La Paz, Bolivia, where I ministered for twelve years in the different social levels of the parish, particularly among the Aymara Indian people, making an unsuccessful effort to learn the Aymara language. I returned to Canada for a short time, then studied a year in Lima and moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil for a year and exposure to the Portuguese language.
Circumstances called me back to Canada for three years, after which I responded to the invitation to return for the third time to Peru and participate in the Rural Education Network, Fe y Alegría 48, which consisted of thirty schools in the rural area of Malingas, Tambogrande (Piura) in the north of the country. I spent five years coordinating the pedagogy area and then assumed the direction of the network for the following five years – a very enriching ten years, as well as a challenging experience in teamwork.
When the invitation went out for personnel to work in the Generalate in Rome, I responded and was accepted to serve particularly in the Portress area and in hospitality; however, I also had many opportunities to be supportive in other areas, such as in the outdoors and in the preparation of meals. With twenty-four in community, we were a multi generation, multicultural and multi-language group striving for unity in a quite unique setting, and with several of us also trying to learn the Italian language.
After five years in Rome, I returned to Latin America and was asked to be the Provincial secretary for the ALC province, with residence in the Provincial House in Porto Alegre, Brazil, another multicultural experience in which I lived and worked with the three languages of Portuguese, Spanish and English. Because of a vision problem, which arose unexpectedly, I left that ministry after serving just short of three years. I returned for the fourth time to Peru, where I am presently living and working in pastoral ministry in Lomas Altas, Jicamarca (Lima). We are five SSNDs in three communities in Peru now – three Peruvians, each originally from a different area of the country: coast, jungle and mountains – as well as a Sister from Poland and myself from Canada – once again a multicultural and multigenerational enrichment.
So, it is with deep gratitude that I say THANK YOU for all that has been during these enriching, growth-filled years, and as I continue to try to say YES to the new and unique surprises that will surely come my way in the future.