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John McDonough and his group from Sacred Heart and St. Mary of Mount Carmel parishes in Gloversville walked into the home of a family in the small Central American country of Belize for dinner.

They crossed the tiny house's dirt floor under a single light bulb that hung from the ceiling to provide light. The dinner's main course was beans and rice. 

Mr. McDonough called it the "most memorable meal I've had in Belize. That meal came out of some part of their need; that's something I'll always remember."

That was the image Rev. Richard Broderick envisioned when creating the "Pueblo to People" program in 1997.

"What is really important is the way we approach another culture," said the priest, who also fills in as a sacramental minister at parishes. "We want to see a relationship of mutual respect and sharing of faith and resources."

Pueblo to People links faith communities in the Albany Diocese with "sister parishes" in Latin America. Volunteers often travel to visit their sister parishes and provide funding for churches or schools, medical supplies, school supplies, toiletries and more. 

The main motive, however, is to connect spiritually.

"'Accompaniment' is an important word for us," said Father Broderick. "We want the opportunity to walk with, learn and listen to each other."

When the program began, St. Bridget's parish in Copake Falls was the first to sign up. Parishioner Bruce Gardiner recalled some of the kinks that needed to be worked out with their sister parish in Malpais, Nicaragua.

Stumbling block
"We went down in 2001 and the farmers came to us and asked for help," he said. 

"All their local banks had failed, so we set up a fund for all the collateral they had to give for their land or their homes."

In 2004, the Copake Catholics realized the directors at the sister parish were stealing the money and moving to Miami. However, the group did not give up. In 2005, they were permitted a legal foundation charter to create a fund much like the original one. 

The new fund is still in the beginning stages, but in 2008, the group bought an electric piano for a parish and funded the building of a classroom.

After St. Bridget's, a handful of other parishes signed on for the program. Pueblo to People now has 11 parishes involved, along with The College of Saint Rose in Albany, which assists an orphanage in Honduras. The program reaches Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica and other countries.

Pueblo to People is funded by the volunteers who sign up, and by donations from other parishioners. Volunteers also pay their own airfare to visit a sister parish. For Mary Wichtowski of St. Mary's parish in Crescent, the investment is worthwhile. 

In touch
"It's a marvelous thing," she stated. "It renews my faith that we can get out of suburbia here and feel that we're kind of in touch with people from a different world who share our faith."

Margarita Harman, part of the program at St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Delmar, echoed the feeling: "It's very important for the local people in the U.S. not only to work with the poor and needy here, but to reach through our borders. There's a tremendous need."

Father Broderick hopes to continue spreading that message.

"There is a strong sense of solidarity," he said. "'They' are now us. It's not 'them' or 'those poor;' it's 'we.'"[[In-content Ad]]

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