The Lopez Perez Family
(Miguel y Catarina)

Recent Events & Update

Life is improving for Catarina and her children.  Her in-laws Mariano and Maria are doing better now and there is food and water to go around.  Catarina and the women of the village no longer have to carry thousands of gallons of water over hundreds of kilometers over the course of the year.  There is now more room under their single roof with her sister Marcela now married and having left to Chenalho, and Jose and Rosa in their own home.

Her children are eating and sleeping better and now in school, and their hygiene is greatly improved with the abundant water.  They can drink safely chlorinated and filtered water and thus suffer less from disease.  They have big goals and dreams.  We recently asked what they would like to do when they grow up.  Manuel and Jose both replied they want to be politicians, surely to some day influence the release of their father from prison. No doubt their aunt's husband, Jose, and their grandfather Mariano are excellent role models as community leaders.

Miguel still has 25 years remaining on his sentence for the Acteal Massacre.  However, she recently received news that the new President's administration may be releasing all the Acteal prisoners in 2 years in response to international pressures.  While she refuses to believe this after so many let downs, she is praying that it's true.  The local Agros team believes the probability is very good.

Miguel has not given up hope.  During Catarina and Maria's last visit a few months ago he asked to send his greetings to the Cross Sound team, letting us know that we are in his thoughts and prayers and that he hopes to someday meet us.  We have never met Miguel as we are not allowed into the prison to visit him, but are prayers are with him.

Immediate Needs & Next Steps

Catarina and her children still have far to go.  She does not have land and she does have any skills she can apply to a cottage industry.  Without any source of income she continues to rely on Mariano and the community, and has no hope of having her own home.

Catarina's skin disease continues to spread despite expensive medications.  She is in need of qualified and regular medical care but does not have the necessary funds for proper diagnosis and treatment.

She has not seen Miguel in months and does not have the necessary funds to visit him bi-weekly, nor for her mother in law, Maria to accompany her for translation and assistance.

While her spirits are improved, it is still very difficult for Catarina to smile or laugh or say much anything at all, thus making it difficult for her to integrate better with the other women.  She is being left behind as the other women of the community excel in various activities and industries.  We are very concerned for her emotional and mental well being.

Prayers for the Family

That Miguel may be soon released from prison and be reunited with Catarina and their children, and relieve her father in-law Mariano of his enormous burden.

That Miguel’s health may continue while in prison and that he may use this time of suffering to know the Lord our father and his infinite love, mercy and forgiveness.

That Miguel may know that he is not alone and that he is in our hearts and prayers.

That Catarina may receive the funds to help her visit Miguel fortnightly and maintain and build his spirits.

That Catarina may regain her health, physcially and emotionally, and the Lord may rid her body and heart of her illnesses and lonliness.

That Catarina may find a trade or skill that will contribute to her self esteem and self worth and contribute to her’s and the community’s economic well being, and relief her father-in-law Mariano of his burden.

That her newborn child may fully recover from his recent illness. That he remain healthy and fully develop as a child with all the opportunities that he and the rest of the children of San Pedrito deserve.

That Catarina may find a reason to smile and laugh together with her community and that the next service team me see he happier during the next service trip.

Their Journey

Catarina has been without her husband, Miguel, for eight years, ever since he was imprisoned, along with Jose Ruiz' two brother's Lorenzo and Agustin, in connection with the Acteal massacre. She has five children (some of them conceived during past conjugal visits) to take care of, and has had to depend on the generosity of her in-laws, Mariano y Maria, for food and shelter. They all live in the same one-room house.

Catarina has had a skin disease on her nose and lips for the past several years, and it has now begun to spread to the other parts of her body.  She has not been able to afford to get it diagnosed nor properly treated. She has tried various remedies that her mother-in-law buys when she can, but they have not helped.

Her parents are deceased and she has no other family to go to back in Chenalho. Having no where to go, little hope of seeing Miguel again, and no income to care for her children, her sister and her illness, she and her children still seem to be the st vulnerable members of the community right now.

Catarina’s children are very bright and mature for their age. Catarina is doing everything she can to take care of them on her own, but it is very difficult and she feels very alone without her husband.

Their Dreams

Catarina's dreams are simple - that her husband be freed some day and that she can some day no longer be a burden to her Mariano, Maria and the community.  Her children have bigger dreams, and that is an amazing new beginning for them.