Where Sisters of Mercy Minister: Bolivia (26)

This past week’s news has brought the tremendous tragedy of flooding in Pakistan and India to the attention of the world, and, as Mary Reynolds rsm points out in the lead article of this newsletter, climate change due to the impact of humans on the environment is a significant contributing factor. In another part of the world—the small South American country of Bolivia—many people are suffering from drought, which is another manifestation of climate change.

Sisters of Mercy have ministered in Bolivia since 1994 in a ministerial partnership with Maryknoll Sisters. They have been involved in pastoral work, especially in the areas of women’s literacy and religious formation. At present, Anne Connolly rsm, a Sister of Mercy of the Americas, Mid-Atlantic Community, ministers alongside Daisy Vargas mm, a Maryknoll Sister. They live and minister in Valle Alto, a small farming pueblo in the countryside outside the city of Cochabamba.

Valle Alto is normally a dry area, and therefore negotiating life with a limited water supply is an established way of life. The pueblo, however, has been dealing with a severe water shortage due to the lack of rain water. Anne writes about this reality in an article published in the July/August 2010 edition of ¡Viva! Mercy (see page 12 of http://en.calameo.com/read/000346091767ecb0c8de4).

For more information on the Maryknoll Sisters’ missions in Bolivia, see: http://www.mklsisters.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4&Itemid=2