Every day promises excitement and thrills
The Supreme Electoral Court files criminal charges against the head of the Peruvian electoral authority. Piero Corvetto was lying in bed when the doors to many of Lima’s polling stations remained locked. The reason? Thousands were unable to vote because the ballot papers were not delivered in several districts of the capital on Sunday. As so often in Peru’s history, the majority of the 10-million-strong metropolis voted to the right and the south to the left. The ugly word “electoral fraud” is back in the air. Nobody knows the final details.
At the bottom of our street, I knock on the door of the last mototaxi in the queue. Inside, I see a mother with her young son. “Which one of you two would take me to the hospital?” I ask jokingly. “I’ll do that!” The cab driver understands my joke. And off we go, somewhat jerkily, in the direction of the Diospi Suyana Hospital. The boy is 2 years old and tied up with a sling – a safety belt, so to speak. The vehicle stops at the driveway to the hospital. The woman jumps outside and makes her way under a hood in the back. Then she reappears. “What was broken?” My question is answered immediately: “I just had to fix the fuel supply!” I think it’s all great and a few minutes later I pay the new fare of three soles in front of the main entrance. (75 cents) Yes, unfortunately the fare in Curahuasi went up by 16%.
While people all over Peru are still waiting for the announcement of the top two candidates, the festival preparations on the Diospi Suyana grounds continue apace. At around 10am the first tarpaulins are erected at lofty heights and I am filled with hope. Maybe everything will be ready before April 26th after all. – Only a few details are still missing in the guest house and tomorrow the first furniture will be carried into the “hotel”.
Many are working hard so that the festival can begin in ten days’ time under favorable conditions. The final spurt has definitely begun. Optimism is growing and registrations are increasing. The rainy season is coming to an end. At last.
In the afternoon, Yesenia Castillo conducts an in-depth interview with singer Sarai Rivera. She is probably sitting in her house in San Diego right now. The connection is good and the mood during the interview is great. On April 27, she will be singing and playing with her band in front of a hopefully full amphitheater.
The festival feels like a monumental mountain that we want to climb. Of course, the work of the hospital continues. Queues in the morning, a full waiting room and surgical procedures on the operating tables. Today, Thursday, we will meet again in the hospital church for prayer.
I remember one of my first talks about Diospi Suyana a good 20 years ago. I was sitting in the conference room of a German hospital waiting for my presentation. In front of me two doctors were talking about our mission’s leaflet. “You can help the work by praying for it!” They folded up the flyer and laughed. How unworldly these “weirdos” from Diospi Suyana must be if they believe that prayers can actually change circumstances. My talk in that hall two decades ago was more of a declaration of intent, because there were no finished buildings in Curahuasi yet. There was also a lack of funds, staff and the necessary equipment.
I wish I could show the two colleagues from back then around the Diospi Suyana buildings today. And if they were to ask me in amazement how all this became possible, I would refer them to our leaflet. The initiator, the mastermind and the protector of our project was and is the Most High. That is why we are still praying. /KDJ
