A very small start to what would end up as a huge march.A simple wooden cross with its inscription ‘No mataras’, stands on the side of the road that runs through the district of San Juan de Lurigancho on the way to Montenegro. It emphasises the commandment “You shall not kill!” and recalls a Columban sister, Joan Sawyer, who was killed alongside eight escaped prisoners in 1983. They all died after police open fired on the vehicle outside their squalid prison in Lima.
Sr Joan used to go to the San Juan de Lurigancho Prison three or four days a week to visit prisoners. Conditions there were bad, and out of five thousand prisoners only one thousand were sentenced. The rest were pending sentence or perhaps innocent. Sr Joan used to try to bring them some relief – medicines for some, a kind word for others and news about how their legal papers were progressing in the Ministry for Justice. The majority of prisoners came from the poor sectors of Lima, therefore, no money - no legal support.'
On the morning of 14 December 1983, a group of prisoners decided to try to escape. They took as hostages Sr Joan, three Marist Sisters and several social workers. After all day negotiations with the prison authorities, it was agreed that the prisoners and their hostages would be allowed leave the prison in the evening in an ambulance. They were no sooner outside the prison gate when the police riddled the ambulance with bullets from all sides. Four bullets struck Joan and when they removed her from the ambulance she was already dead.
Each year around this time a huge procession takes place in the form of a peace march to remember this tragic event. Yesterday was the day. Two massive processions converged from different directions to the site of the cross. The organising committee for this year had decided on a ‘no drug’ theme; you may notice the word ‘drogas’ on the banners.
We are on the move, or in reality we started to close up the gap between our group and the one in front! Each parish or region was given a colour and we marched behind the cream flag. That is Joao out the front with the flag. This was also a very effective means for all the late comers to find out where there group was.
By the time we neared the end the crowd had reached massive numbers and it is very hard to even show this on camera. You must also remember that this was only half of the group, the crowd marching up the valley had already reached the end.The traffic is hopeless, they can see the march, they can see that there will be a delay - but that does not stop them from continually leaning on their horns!
At the end of the march we all gathered in front of the stage they had constructed for the day, the band was in full swing and the amplifier system was cranked up to force ten! The band was the Columban Regional Director's, Father Diego Cabrera, and that is him on the microphone. They were fantastic, the young people fired up to their music. At the back of the stage you can see a picture of Joan Sawyer.
The actual cross is constructed of two old, bent tree branches and it is worth noting that every time we pass it on the way into Lima it has fresh flowers placed at its base. People remember Joan Sawyer and what she was trying to achieve.If you look closely you may see the Bishop of the Diocese of Chosica, Bishop Strotmann Hoppe M.S.C., in the crowd. Chosica is the name of this particular Diocese of Lima.
The cross was slowly carried forward and placed in front of the stage. It was most impressive because the cross bearers slowly sway in time with the music as they walk forward.Towards the end we looked at each other and decided to quietly depart and catch a bus up the valley before hundreds of others thought of doing the same. There was a fair chance that it would have been chaos when proceedings finished. A bit like leaving Mass before it ends!
