(Editor’s note: Father Bill Hoffman, a priest of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and former pastor of St. John Vianney in Austell, is currently doing missionary work with the St. James Society in Peru. He presents some of his adventures in this weeks issue of the Bulletin.)

By Father Bill Hoffman

Andahuaylas, Apurimac, Peru (November 30, 1972) – My first article to the readers of the Georgia Bulletin was written while I was still in the language school in Lima. Since then, several months have passed and I’m in the place where I’ll spend the next four and a half years or so. Maybe you would like to know what led me to this town, as well as something about it.

There were three of us, members of the St. James Society, studying Spanish in our school in Lima from July to November last year. Any one, or all of us, could have been assigned to either Peru, Ecuador or Bolivia. The superior of the Society, Father Paul Mulligan, from Boston and the local superiors from the three countries met in mid-August to discuss many things, among them our eventual assignments. Each of us was asked if we had any preferences, and all responded that we would accept whatever they determined was the greatest need – although I did say that mountain climate was more to my liking than some other climates. I suppose my small comment about mountains was responsible for my being assigned to Peru. The other two were divided; Father Tom Ferris (from Pittsburgh) who went to Ecuador and Father Dick Dollard (from Richmond) who went to Bolivia.

But where in Peru? We have some 15 parishes in Peru. So, during the mid-course break I visited the only three parishes we have in the Sierra of Peru. They are all in the department (roughly equivalent to our state) of Apurimac, some 250 miles southeast of Lima. My flight took me to Andahuaylas, where I spent one night. Two American priests were in that parish, one from North Dakota, Father Al Allmaras – and one from Baltimore – Father Vic Galeone (we were students together in Rome). Then I went to Huancarama, to the east, where there are three Irishmen. After one night with them I moved on to Abacay, where there is one Australian, one Irishman and one Scot.

It seemed to me that Andahuaylas had many more needs and more serious needs than the other two parishes, so I requested to be assigned there. After consulting the others in Andahuaylas, our personnel board and the bishop, it was agreed that I should be assigned there.

When our course ended in October, I took a week off to relax and visit some other parts. A group of six of us from the course went south to Chincha Baja to visit with a group of Canadians – Oblate priests, Sisters of St. Joseph, Holy Cross Sisters and Daughters of Charity. Some of my friends will be happy to know that I found sufficient ingredients for some bouillabaisse for the whole group - they said they enjoyed it. I finally arrived in Andahuaylas the first week in November.

Andahuaylas (pronounced Ahn-dah-why’-lahs) located in a valley called the Chumbao Valley, at an altitude of about 10,000 feet. The town proper has a population of about 4,000, but two nearby towns bring the population in the valley to about 10,000. Our parish includes several pueblos, bringing our parish population close to 30,000. Most live above an altitude of 12,000 feet.

Religiously speaking, the vast majority would claim to be members of the Catholic church. But in town we have a small community of Seventh Day Adventists and a small evangelical group (their minister is an Irishman, a veteran of some 12 years in Peru).

The valley is a fairly fertile one. This time of year, summer, we receive a lot of rain and everything is green. The winter is dry and cold up here. Our livestock consists of pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, horses and mules. In the higher elevations are flocks of llama and alpaca. For the rural people, called campesinos, the sheep seems to be the most useful animal, providing meat and wool. Practically all the clothes of the campesino are wool and homespun. They use very little cotton or factory-made clothes. For produce we have corn, potatoes (the potatoes originated not in Ireland or Idaho, but in Peru), tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, carrots, beets, melons, apples, peaches and pears (but the fruit seems to be poor due to lack of a good dormancy period). Nearby, some valleys are low enough and warm enough to have sugar cane, oranges and bananas.

This high up we don’t have to worry about mosquitoes, but flies are to be found everywhere, and I’ve discovered that fleas are to be found very widely as well.

The nearest paved highway is some 16 hours away at Pisco, along the coast, where one meets the Pan American Highway. A lot of streets in town are paved – the bigger the town, the more is paved.

Here in the Sierra, about half of the people speak Spanish, the rest the language of the Incas – Quechua. Among themselves, the campesinos speak only Quechua. Although a good number of men also speak Spanish, a very few of the women do. But in the towns one can do all right with only Spanish. Anyone who has gone to school will speak Spanish, since that is the language of instruction and anyone who is literate will read Spanish. Since fewer women go to school than men, fewer speak Spanish. Which all looks like an unfavorable situation for the continuance of Quechua. But it has survived the arrival of the Spanish for many reasons: The Incas have a strong culture which has survived in many ways, the manner of living for the campesino is nowhere near the twentieth century level of, say, Lima – he lives more like they did in medieval Europe. They live for the most part outside a money market, doing a lot of bartering, which has all conspired to make a class society, based not on race but on language, education and lifestyle.

This should give you some idea of how I wound up here in Andahuaylas and something about the geography and society. In future articles I’ll relate more about my work here. God’s work requires God’s help too – so say a prayer for me from time to time.