Humanitarian Aid arrived in Catamarca

Last Friday 72 wheelchairs were donated to people in our city. They were distributed at our church and the mayor, the head of the local health department, along with other Catamarca city leaders, were in attendance. It was very touching to see these people sitting in chairs that had the name of the church - La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días - embroidered on the back of the seats, with other contributors.

This young man was very excited about his new chair.  His parents are with him.

Here are several of the recipients of the new wheelchairs.

                        Another photo of the same group with a few more recipients shown. 

The Church worked with the group CILSA, and these banners were at the back of the cultural hall, showing that we're working together.

Food was served at the end of the presentation and Doug was there to help along with the sister missionaries - Sisters Castro/Uruguay and Saez/Chile.

                            See the name of the church along with the other participants?

More wheelchair recipients. The missionary in the picture is Elder Chavarry/Peru.

 

Several people wrote notes of gratitude for what they received.

Springtime in Catamarca

It's actually still winter down here but it's feeling and acting like spring.  As we drive around we see many beautiful jacaranda trees in full bloom.  Some are white, others a bright pink, and a few a light lilac.  We ooh and ahh over how beautiful they are and occasionally, snap a few pictues, which we want to share with you.

 

Obviously we like the pink ones the best!

Catamarca Cemetery

Two church members recently passed away and we went to the cemetery when they were interred.  We've been past the cemetery many, many times but have never gone inside.  When we did we were surprised to see that it's like many cemeteries we saw in Buenos Aires, more than 40 years ago:  all caskets are interred above the ground.  We went back to the cemetery on our P-day and took some pictures.  The cemetery covers acres of land.

The families with more money have their own sections where the family members are interred together.  Some even look like little houses, have doors, and the caskets are placed inside on shelves.  Some of the doors you can see through.

 

Number 3799 is where dear Sister Paulina Rodriguez de Ceballos is interred.  She was one of the first members of the church, joining back in the early l970's.  She is already sorely missed and was dearly loved.

When we returned, the cemetery had already placed a medallion to mark the location of her casket. 

 

 

For those who don't have the family locations - and most don't - there are walls and walls of caskets.  Most have also added many treasures depicting what the deceased person loved throughout his/her life.  There are glass doors with locks on them to protect them from the elements.

This was a little baby girl and we thought was especially sweet.

                                                                                             And here's one a family made for their baby son.

 

 

In front of the cemetery was a section reserved for the Jewish Argentines, many of whom came here following both world wars.