Mercado Chiriyacu By Jeanette McDermott, Mission Partner, Province of Mid-North America

Delegates to ICA traveled to local ministries to experience how Good Shepherd Sisters are ministering to the poor and marginalized people of Quito, Ecuador.

We were allowed to choose one ministry to visit from among five choices. I chose to experience the municipal outdoor marketplace Mercado Chiriyacu, where indigenous Ecuadoreans try to eke out a living wage each day by selling produce, meat and other marketable products. We had been briefed before visiting the Mercado that the market vendors are extremely poor and range in age from very small children to the elderly and infirm calling out for shoppers to buy their wares.

One woman that Sr. Nancy Pereyra and I met while walking through the Mercado told us that she has been sitting in the Mercado every day for 70 years selling her corn varieties and the corn flour that she grinds. Today she is 87 years old and the only life she has known since age 17 is the life inside the Mercado.

Inside the Mercado little children carry loads of tomatoes, pineapples and other fruits and vegetables that weigh as much as they do, with the hope that the shoppers they encounter will buy what they are selling. Little children sit all day shelling beans from large sacks. Babes suckle at their mother’s breasts, and teenage boys carry enormous sacks of potatoes, onions, carrots and other root vegetables on their backs, shuffling from one vendor to the other to deposit produce that the vendors will sell. In exchange for their back-backing labor the boys receive 50 cents.

Good Shepherd school

Mercado Chiriyacu has a long history. It is the marketplace where indigenous Ecuadoreans sell produce, meat, flowers and other commodities, including live animals. It is a marketplace where meat is grilled and food is served. Mercado Chiriyacu is a tradition in Quito and has been in operation for many generations.

Twenty seven years ago a Good Shepherd Sister -- Sr. Maria Augusta Arellano -- saw the Mercado through the eyes of the Good Shepherd Himself and was filled with compassion and a daring to make a difference for the children who labor inside the marketplace. She realized that the children in the Mercado were not given opportunities to play with other children. She was concerned about their welfare and said, “I cannot sleep if I don’t do something about this.”

So, Sr. Maria Augusta did something about it. She decided to come to the Mercado one hour each day to take small children to a small local park to play. In this hour the children laughed, exercised and learned the Our Father and Hail Mary. Gradually Sister built trust among the children, their mothers and families. Over time she increased the hours she spent giving children opportunities to play. Governmental authorities saw the work of Sr. Maria Augusta and donated a small building inside the Mercado to her, where she could provide more play opportunities for the children of the Mercado, and where she would one day build a school for them.

Eventually the work grew to be too much for Sister Marie Augusta. The demand had exceeded her capacity

to provide what the young children needed. That’s when Sister went in search of volunteers in Quito. She and the volunteers began a program for girls ages 10-12. When the demand for services continued to grow, Sr. Marie Augusta and her team of volunteers started a school. Over time they saw that more and more of the adolescent girls were coming to the school with younger siblings carried on their shoulders. The girls were not able to focus on their school work. So, once again Sr. Maria Augusta started a new project. She and the volunteers created a kindergarten for the younger children.

Another Good Shepherd Sister, Sr. Sonya, went to Canada and met with young adults who were wanting to do volunteer service. Canadians became the first international volunteers to serve at the school. Today volunteers come from Canada, the United States, Italy, Germany, England and the Netherlands to volunteer at the Mercado school. Last year the school welcomed more than 100 international volunteers. Volunteers serve for three months, six months or one year.

There came a time when the adolescent girls in the school had to graduate and move on. Sr. Marie Augusta wanted to provide the girls with opportunities that would allow them to earn a living without returning to the Mercado. This is when she began to teach the girls how to make clothes and other items through a program called CENIT. The hand-sewn manufacturing project is a Good Shepherd ministry that is housed in a secure compound just a few blocks from the Mercado.

Risk for mission

After the Sisters and volunteers had the school programs successfully underway, they began to focus on the family. Today, Monica, a social worker, goes with families to help them find schools for their children when they graduate from the Mercado school. She also goes with them when they need to visit the infirmary or need other support services. Sometimes Monica helps out in the school when needed.

The school and CENIT are non-profit organizations and receive funding from the Ecuadorean government. Because the Good Shepherd Sisters are responsible for the school and the government has trust in them, the authorities renew governmental funding for the school each year. In addition, many of the volunteers who work in the school return to their own countries and set up non-profits so they can raise funds to help support the Mercado school.

Children and youth come to the Mercado school in two shifts: form 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2-4 p.m. During the two-hour break the youth go back to the Mercado to sell. Also, many of the children in the first shift don’t return for a second shift at the school, and many of the children who attend the morning shift don’t return in the afternoon. Instead, they return to the mercado to sell. Currently, Good Shepherd Sisters are trying to introduce a program that fills the two hour break period with educational opportunities and sports for children and adolescents. They are also working on strategies to encourage the children to attend both school sessions.

This is a priority for Good Shepherd Sisters in Quito, as the Mercado has a lot of drug activity and violence. It is a dangerous place for children, as evidenced by two murders in the mercado last year. The more time children spend inside the school, the fewer dangers there are to them while they are inside the Mercado.

The school is rooted in a radical commitment to justice and the outpouring of blessings that come to us when we say “yes” to God. From the moment Sr. Marie Augusta heard God’s Call 27 years ago, she took the risk for mission.

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