Brother JosĂ© MÂȘ Viadero, director of Juan Ciudad ONGD, was at the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Mabesseneh (Sierra Leone) this week, on the occasion of the center's 50th anniversary, and from there he sent us this letter.
The two Fernandos: Brother Dr. Fernando AguilĂł and Dr. Fernando Rivilla, will be here the Doctor who sold the BMW because of "The monk who sold the Ferrari."
This photo could well have been taken in the shade of a mango tree, This is where conversations and meetings, both formal and informal, among locals are common. In this case, the witnesses are the dregs of a cup of coffee or tea at breakfast, and in Africa, when circumstances permit, these can become friendly, relaxed, and spontaneous conversations, where all kinds of experiences are exchanged, ranging from the final operating room report of an emergency C-section performed during the night or early morning toâwhy not?âbattles experienced from the deepest reality.
In a land known for its "Blood Diamonds," we have these two doctors. Brother Fernando AguilĂł, who has given not only his blood when the emergency that reached the hospital required it, but also a more important part of his life, and even his health. We can say that in his case, what the Word, the Bible says, is not fulfilled, at least not in its entirety: "They will take up serpents, and even if they drink something deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mark 16:18). Perhaps it is because the person transcribing the revelation missed the details of some recently discovered viruses.
Dr. Fernando Rivilla, a pediatric surgeon, whom I call the doctor who sold the BMWâand please understand this as an allegoryâbut what I want to emphasize is that at some point he has to decide to leave his comfort zone, where he lives, that's what we call a BMW, and trade it in for a 4x4, one of those used on the dusty roads of Africa; the Mission, the Cooperation, which also consists of these small, grand gestures that elevate it and make it something more than just a file number on a desk in the Projects Department of an NGO or other organization dedicated to these things.
By JosĂ© MÂȘ Viadero. Director of JCONGD
