Heading for Juina

Today we are travelling to Juina, the diocese where Fr. Paudie is based here in Brazil.   It is 2700km from Sao Paulo to Juina.   It makes you think again in terms of distance and the size of Ireland.   We are so small a country compared with the enormity of Brazil.   We got a flight this morning from Sao Paulo to Cuiaba..   As I write this update, we are currently in the seminary here in Cuiaba.   This is a small seminary comprising of an amalgamation of three diocese.  Currently there are six students training for the priesthood here.

We got here around 12pm and had lunch before siesta time!!   We will be on the road again this evening at 7.00pm to catch an over-night bus to Juina.  The bus journey takes 12 hours to our next station where we will be met by Fr. Sean Deegan. From there it is another three hours journey to Juruena where Fr. Paudie is based.    

The blast of heat as we disembarked from the aeroplane was overwhelming. The temperature here today is C35 (in the shade).   Fr. Paudie was explaining to us that Cuiaba is renowned for its heat.   It is like an oven as it is surrounded by mountains and a perfect catchment for the sun. It has a furnace effect.   I will update again as soon as I can.   We are all in good form and enjoying the experience. 

Castanhiera Tree

We finally arrived in Juina at 7.30am this morning. Fr. Sean Deegan was there waiting for us as planned. After loading all our luggage into his truck, he brought us to a cafe to sample a refreshing local fruit drink - cupucuacu. From there we made the short 35 min trip to his parish town of Castanheira. The town takes its name from the castanheira tree which literally means ¨`The Brazil Nut Tree¨`.


As we were travelling throughout the night, most of our journey was in the dark. However, towards the latter half our trip, we were able to see the countryside and get out first impressions of the Mato Grosso region. The 3 main tillage crops up here are soya beans, cotton and sugar cane. The part of the journey that we passed off in the dark was mostly large plantations of these crops. Closer to Juina the land seemed to be mostly divided into large ranches.



What initially stand out are the large deposits of tree cuttings scattered across the fields. The explanation was rather obvious in hindsight. We are now in the Amazon region so this entire area was covered in trees. In fact, the town of Juina where we got off the bus did not exist 30 years ago. Basically, in order to make grazing land and to create these large ranches, (known locally as Fazenda´s) literally thousands of acres of trees were cut down or burned. The town of Juina and many other towns gradually emerged to service the new inhabitants of the area. As they say, the rest is history.



Crossing the bridge over the river Juiruena just as dawn breaks.



Nelori Cow

 Although there were a few fresian cattle here and there, the majority of the cattle were nelori. To be honest, they looked quite anorexic to our own "bull" Liam!! As we are at the end of the dry season, pickings were lean but the foliage will start to grow in the coming weeks and months during the rainy season.  


Fr. Sean Deegan came here to Castanhiera in 1999 and has lived through the growth of this town and region from forest to small urban settlements. Up to five years ago, most of the bus journey that we make last night was on dirt track and took double the time to get here. Needless to say, we were glad of the tarmac to get us this far!!! However, literally at the edge of town, the tarmac comes to a sudden end. The final leg of our journey to Juruena will be a three hour road trip on dirt track to Fr. Paudie’s parish of Juruena.

Parish Hall in Juina

The parish hall here certainly gives a new dimension to our idea of what a hall is!! It is difficult to capture the size of it in one picture but it is absolutely massive. it is used for all kinds of functions such as weddings, dances, parties etc. It is equipped with a large kitchen, bar, service area and so on. As the weather is always warm here, there are no windows. It is an open plan in every respect!! To the right of the picture you can see a small enclosed structure. As this is a large cattle area, much fundraising for the church is done throught the auction of animals. Hence the need for an "auction ring" where the animals can be viewed. This parish hall is just one exmple of a project that was funded by Irish aid in Brazil.



Fr. Sean and his dog Oisin.

 On Fr. Sean’s recommendation we are staying overnight here in Castanhiera. It rained quite a lot here yesterday so the dirt road is not in great shape today. Out about the town of Castanhiera with Fr. Sean and his dog Oisin was an unusual experience. Although there were long wide streets, everything was so quiet. There was virtually no traffic apart from a few teenagers riding around the town on motorbikes. It did not matter what side of the road you were on or if you cut a corner exiting a junction!! As Fr. Sean describes it, "It is like being on the edge of civilization in some respects". But the community is vibrant and works away as normal. It was probably the first time in the history of the town that 7 Irish people were in the towm at the one time.

Mary and Stella went on a walk about in the evening and met with some locals playing football on the soccer pitch. The locals were intrigued that anyone would be visiting Castanhiera. When they heard that they were heading even further north, they were totally amazed.