In downtown Barquisimeto, a lively city of nearly a million inhabitants, some 230 miles west of Caracas, Venezuela, the Consolata Missionaries run a busy mission center. It has its doors open to children, young adults, and elderly people, who attend customized formative sessions and, every week, receive some aid in kind to help them cope from years of economic distress. An average of 1,500 people attend the center every month.
The economical state of the country is disastrous. In the shops, merchandise is extremely scarce; their cost increasing every day. All suffer; but, compared to people in the countryside, the ones dwelling in town bear a more acute pain, since those living on some land can, at least, benefit from its produce.
Missionaries in Barquisimeto try to relieve hunger and, at the same time, to uplift the spirit of those daily hit by it. Courses are given on how to make the best of the little one has, skills are taught on how to produce goods and hope is raised through common moments of prayer. Teenagers and young adults spend time at the center; healthy bonds of friendship grow among them: so precious, given that they have no places to go for sport activities in the neighborhood.
However, the center is plagued by the lack of a vital element: running water. The buildings have an underground tank connected to the city water system. The tank is essential since the city water comes only once or twice a week. But another issue is that, lately, the supply of electricity has become unreliable. When there is no electricity, the engines cannot pump the water through the building pipes and, as a result, toilets and sinks remain without water.
As a solution to the problem, Father Charles, the Consolata Missionary in charge of the Center, has come up with the following proposal – worked out with a local engineer: to buy and install five plastic tanks on the roof of the buildings and buy and install four pumps. When electricity is there, the pumps will fill the roof tanks; then, water will flow by gravity to the sinks, toilets and showers. The budget for this project amounts to US$8,000.