News
The Oratory experience
Lima (Peru)
We want to share the experience of Katia Oliva Panta who tells us about her experience of Salesian animation. "I am a Salesian Cooperator and a teacher of early education and religion. I have worked as a sixth grade teacher with those who are preparing to be education helpers and in this area I work with the little ones. Actually, I have under my care 27 three year olds and they are very beautiful!
My pastoral work leads me to see the very difficult reality of some people who live in poverty and solitude and have lost faith and hope.
The Oratory in which I work can be seen in pictures and is named for Laura Vicuña. Here we work with children on Saturday morning and have meetings with their parents to complete the catechetical journey of the children. It is important to form the whole family in faith, and to involve them in experiences in which they can lend a hand. This is done at in a parallel manner with the CETPRO St. Mary Mazzarello of Callao in Perù. The students who come to the oratory are our recipients and become our collaborators in this mission. Here they apply all that they learn in formal lessons. We seek to understand the needs of the persons whom we encounter , with their joys and preoccupations. We gather the good that they have in their hearts and give them a message of hope and faith, even in poverty.
This oratory is found alongside the International Airport Jorge Chavez, and the parents of the children work as farmers. Some even work in the city. The children and their parents welcome us joyfully when we arrive and this fills our hearts, encouraging us to be ever more creative for this beautiful mission of infinite love.