After a special service Sunday afternoon to mark the 10th Caravan of Hope trip, North York's Father Hernan Astudillo and 20 volunteers will begin another trek of ambulances and supplies to poor communities in El Salvador.
"To provide (even) one ambulance is to share a miracle with them," said Astudillo, minister of San Lorenzo Anglican Church on Dufferin Street south of Lawrence Avenue.Many of the communities receiving ambulances will use the vehicles as mobile hospitals in poor neighbourhoods.The group will spend the next 10 to 12 days driving seven ambulances filled with food, clothing and medical and school supplies to El Salvador.Once they reach the Mexico border, they will have to grease the palms of officials there to even allow their Caravan of Hope to proceed smoothly, Astudillo explained.Astudillo estimates the cost of transporting each ambulance from North York to El Salvador at $3,000 including gas and the supplies they are delivering. About $500 of that has been earmarked for those officials.The City of Toronto has donated two of its aging ambulances to the cause and sold the remaining five at a discounted $10,000 each.San Lorenzo's local community raises the money for the ambulances and supplies. The volunteers on the caravan donate their time and pay for all their food and accommodation themselves.Between the generosity of the North York community, most of whom are not wealthy themselves, and the appreciative reception the caravan receives at its destination, Astudillo calls the initiative an opportunity to bond people across a continent."This event unites the community. This is a chance to share. It is another miracle I see in this community. For us, it is very important to keep the mystic of solidarity," he said."It is a miracle, the poor helping each other. When we have solidarity with each other, we don't have to listen about the economic recession."Astudillo said he also draws great strength from the mission."For me, as a human, it is so important to take that (ambulances to El Salvador). As a priest, it is my spiritual retreat," he said.He began the Caravan of Hope following earthquakes in El Salvador in early 2001.For the first three years, the caravan delivered school buses full of supplies to impoverished communities but switched to ambulances seven trips ago.The caravan has delivered vehicles to Guatemala and Nicaragua but El Salvador has been the primary recipient.Astudillo has a strong affection for El Salvador, the smallest and most densely populated Central American country and known as the "little flea of America."He also identifies with Monsignor Oscar Romero, the former Roman Catholic archbishop of San Salvador, who was assassinated in 1980 while celebrating mass."He was spiritual, he was supporting poor people," said Astudillo, who fled his native Equador for Canada."I was a political refugee so I feel a connection."The caravan will embark on their journey Sunday, following a morning mass to bless their trip.