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2 TeCanadien Champion, Tuesdlay, November 17,1998 Priest, parish, need help for Central America By IRENE GENTLE The Champion One can only hope that the residents of the tiny Guatemalan village of Teculut'an are flot super- stitious. If they are, tliey may start to wonder at the connection between natural disasters and the arrivai of Father Earl Talbot. Fr. Talbot first came to the small community in 1976. That was right after the country had been devastated by an earth- quake. Now the Holy Rosary Parish priest is back in the picture, try- ing to round up aid for the dis- placed 1eculut'ani victiins of Hurricane Miteli. "I'm kind of used to the rebuilding thing," he said dryly. "For the ive years I was there it was a constant rebuilding." Fr. Talbot left Guatemala in 1981, but he kept in constant contact with the village that had been adopted by the Diocese of Hamilton, of which Holy Rosary is part. Since coming to Milton, the priest has arranged three educa- tional trips to the town for Father EarI Talbot small groups of Milton resi- dents. "We don't go there to do any relief work. It' s more educa- ional," he said. 'I'm interested in taking a few people who want to learn about the people there." That may change just a little during Fr. Talbot's fourth Milton-Guatemala foray, scheduled for January of next year. Then the timing will be per- fect to deliver a littie aid as well. "We'Il find out wliat they need and bring it down in January," said Fr. Talbot. To that end Fr. Talbot will be accepting tax deductible dona- tions for the rebuilding of Guatemala at Holy Rosaiy. "People in that area basically need food and water," lie said. 'They ýecm tb hi kay tfor clothing." Shelter is also taken care of for a while. Althougli Hurricane Mitcli flooded many residents out of their homes, the devastation occurred during the area's school break. That means scliools, includ- ing one in whicli 35 Milton families are sponsoring the education of various Guatemalan chldren, are talc- mng in the homeless. Long haul The hurricane lias passed, but higli river levels mean the situ- ation i s still precarious in Teculut'an. 'They get worried whenever it looks like it's going to rain," said Fr. Talbot. "The river liasn't ail receded yet. There still could be some danger." Even when the flooding is a memory, Fr. Talbot knows from experience the weary years of reconstruction that trail after nature's wreckage. "Usually it takes 10.years to rebuild after a serious earth- quake. It's dloser to 15 years there," he said, adding that Hurricane Mitch lias caused less damage than the 1976 earthquake. "I've been through that mess. We used to line up lIterally for days just to get bags of cemnent." While Fr. Talbot's aid is ai ý: 1ur pe i ly a Guatemala, those wishing to help out Central America can contact the Canadian Catholie Organization for Development and Peace by calling 1-800- 494-1401. Ail for victims Fr. Talbot was anxious to point out that 100 per cent of what is donated to Holy Rosary will be received by the people of Guatemala without govero- ment intervention. "We try not to go tlirough the government. For one, they like to have other people do the work and then show up at pic- ture taking time," he said. "We like to do it through another organization, ike the church." People wishing ta lielp can also contact the Salvation Army Central American Emergency Relief Fund. If interested, please send cheques to The Salvation Army Community Relations, at 1645 Warden Ave, suite 101, Toronto, Ontario, MIR 5B3. For credit card donations caîl 1 - 888-321-3433. To donate with the Red Cross please contact your local Red Cross branch or cali 1-800-418- 1111. Wind topples trees Hydro crews were kept on their toes tending to numerous power outages during last week's wind storm. More than 25 power failures - mostly due to fallen trees - were reported to Milton Hydro over the course of the evening of November 10 and tlie next day, said the company's super- intendent of operations and engineering Richard Murray. "It was 95 per cent trees. Tibe wind rooted up trees and the dead tops of trees came down," lie said. Most of the outages occurred in more lieavily forested areas nortli of Five Sideroad, Mr. Murray said. Power was restored in roost cases within an hour, he noted, and everything was back in order by 6 p.m. Wednesday. Much of the work included clearing the downed trees. i -- mmluetwma iwaoe1967 MECUR) *655 MAIN STe E., MILTON . 875-U673 --- --0e Sign up at Customer Service or cali 875-6871 ta register. Mon. Nov. 23 - 7-9 p.m. Quick and Easy Cooking part IV with Jeffrcy Marshal. $25 Wed. Nov. 25 - 7-9 p.m. Hors D'oeuvres for the Holiday Season $25. Thurs. Nov. 26 - 7-9 p.m. Christmas cookies with Paula Bambrick $25. Sat. Nov. 28 - 2-4 p.m. Christmas Desserts with Ingrid Mantier $25. 905-875-687-1 75 NappisaingRad. (at Main St.) lu -Ir-a Li l,ý-l Al kl ý