Peru: Feliciano, a new guest of the “Hogarcito”

The mission of the “Chiara Lubich” Hogarcito, the Centre for the Elderly in the Peruvian Amazon forest, is to accompany the elderly and the ill. A place where service is motivated by love, where there are people who do good, able to put everything in God’s hands.

Halfway through last year a woman came to the Hogarcito to ask for help. She urgently needed support for her elderly brother who lived alone, far from the capital where she lived.

She asked us to welcome him into the “Hogarcito” and, after asking her to give us some time to explore the situation and our own possibilities, we put ourselves in the shoes of her brother and did not hesitate to welcome him. This is how Feliciano, 74, became a new guest of the Hogarcito. We welcomed him with great affection and with a welcome party. We discovered that he had lost the sight of one eye, that he had speech problems, you could barely understand what he was saying, as well as severe deafness.

He went around alone, using a stick, but one day, when he went back to his bedroom, he didn’t come out again. The staff found him lying on the floor, unable to get up. They called for help from the Emergency Health Centre. Feliciano had suffered a stroke and half of his body was paralyzed. The situation was very difficult. He was very reduced and looked very sad. He needed a nurse by his side and constant heart monitoring. Unfortunately, the staff of the “Hogarcito” is not prepared for such specialized care and so Feliciano had to be admitted to the hospital. We calculated that the hospitalization would have cost us about 2,500 Soles (620 Euros), including the treatments and therapies. We tried to get in touch with his sister but, having received no answer, we did not think twice: trusting in God’s providence we immediately hired a nurse to take care of him and a physiotherapist for the rehabilitation sessions. When we asked her how much she would charge, she told us: “Don’t worry about the payment, it will be my way of helping the “Hogarcito”.It was very difficult and risky to move Feliciano. We asked God to give us the strength to continue to support him and bring the situation forward.In the end, everyone’s love helped him get better every day. Suddenly, sometime later, he surprised us by getting up, taking up his stick and taking a few steps. What a thrill, we were all happy to see him walking!It was a moment of full happiness. An experience, that of accompanying those who are ill, which allows us not only to meet people who do everything to lend a hand,  but gives us the joy of entrusting ourselves together and putting everything and everyone in the hands of God.

Volunteers of the “Hogarcito”