Publisert: 12.03.2020
Tuesday 10.03.
At 10 o'clock we had 2 appointments at missions. One here in Asuncion and one about 40 km away. For this we divided up. I accompanied the mission here in Asuncion. It was the San Rafael Foundation. It was founded by an Italian priest, whom we also met, unfortunately now sitting in a wheelchair. Severely disabled children are cared for here, among other things. There is also a station for elderly people who have serious illnesses and do not have long to live and are accompanied here until death. There is also a school attached, where children from poor families are taught and also receive school uniforms and meals. In 2015, Pope Francis visited the facility spontaneously during a visit to Paraguay. This had not been planned before.
In the evening, the further plans were changed due to the road conditions between Paraguay and Bolivia. We are not driving, as originally planned, through the Chaco in Paraguay, but through Argentina to Bolivia. In addition, we have now received the news that the Italians in our group have had their return tickets from Paris to Rome suspended due to the lockdown in Italy. As the number of infected people is slowly increasing here in South America as well, we are concerned that the borders may also be closed here and that we may potentially get stuck in Bolivia. Therefore, we may only pass through Bolivia to be in Peru for now, as our return flight to Europe starts from there.