Meet the Chairman of the Board

The first thing you notice when you get off the plane in Lima is the heat. It must have been at least 75 degrees. There was a smell of stale fish in the air and the traffic horns were noisy. This is a city of some eleven million people stretched out over a desert coastal strip surrounded by huge sand dunes. I'm told it hasn't really rained here since the 1970s. This is a city of many contrasts. I had lunch in a coastal restaurant called the Costa Verde. It was really quite an excellent eating place. The chef is world famous.I felt a bit on edge as I moved to the buffet. All the staff were like doctors dressed up for the operating room. Masks covered the servers faces. It was a bit scary looking at the chef's eyes staring back. I was meeting up with the new Chairman of Union Biblica Guillermo Yoshikawa, he tells me an amazing story of his life as a young boy living in poverty struggling to make his life better. Today he is a man in his sixties,an academic who has taught in Universities in Japan and America. He had oiw returned to his native Lima to be the head teacher at the prestigious Colegio America. Guillermo speaks with passion for the work he has undertaken with Union Biblica. He tells me he is just in the post four months, he says  he has much to learn and there is much he doesn't know about the work. His role at the moment is to listen and try to get a grasp of the varied work that the Union Biblica is involved in. However one got the distinct impression that he was a man with a mission but also a man with great experience and wisdom. After lunch we visited his school and saw the man in his working environment. He has just been back in Lima for a year as the Head of this College but already he had been able to bring about a number of interesting changes.In particular I was interested in his Multimedia Department in the School and his plan to launch a new evening University from the building by the end of the year. As I started this post about the city of contrasts on the way back to Union Biblica Headquarters we stopped at traffic lights. Within minutes we were faced with a blind man and his daughter begging for some coins. This was a reminder to me that this was the reason I had flown all these miles. We want to see the day come when no one has to beg on street corners in order to live. We have much to do. The world is a place of great injustice we have an opportunity to begin to make changes. Even small ones are the beginning of hope for some. It is my hope that the partnership between Vine Trust and Union Biblica will be able to bring about sustained support and help to the poor of South America.

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2 Comments
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Posted By: italker   On: 28 Mar 2009   At: 3:31am

Thanks for your comments it makes doing the blog worthwhile.

Albert

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Posted By: rae   On: 27 Mar 2009   At: 10:16pm

I kinda felt like that in India at times when we stayed at Temple Bay, it was like a perfect wee bubble but as soon as we stepped out of the resort we were faced with the real India and the poverty that is there. It is the reason we go to India or Peru or Africa etc, to help in the little way that we can.  If more people did that then the world would be a much better place.

I’m glad you and Willie have arrived safe and sound.  Take care for the rest of your trip.  The new SU director sounds like an amazing man with lots of stories to tell.

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