30 Days from Nowhere - By Thomas P. Collins, M.M.

Sep 29, 2026

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A firsthand 1959 account of a missionary river journey across the Cavinas region, centered on repairing recurring motor failures, reaching remote settlements, and carrying out Catholic pastoral duties. The narrative describes baptisms, confirmations, and emergency marriage validations along the river, including cases where ages are uncertain and rely on testimony. It also records hardships such as storms, malaria treatment, illness from influenza, and daily life in isolated communities.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages68

Reading Time2 h 51 min

AccessFree to download

January 1959

River trip and motor failures

Mission visits and church rites

Weather, illness, and local life

JANUARY 1959MaryknollUnderstanding Latin-American Catholicism…p.20 "IS IT GONNA HURT,DOC?"Little Diego's imagination holds himhypnofized as he watches this Mexican doctor prepare an iniection.Modern medicine gives the world's children a better chance at life. 30 DAYSFROMNOWHER Up a lazy river with a missionerwho takes everything in stride.from broken motors to storms. BY THOMAS P.COLLINS,M.M.JANUARY,I959 ■FOR SOME TIME I had been plan-ning a river trip to the Cavinas Mis-sion.One morning,after Mass andbreakfast,five of us began the longvoyage from Fortaleza:my me-chanic,Don Luis;the teacher fromthe mission,Senor Loaisa;a boyfrom Fortaleza;Senor Sorrucco,who had come to Fortaleza formedicines;and myself.We werenot far up-river when,about everytwenty minutes,the motor beganto give trouble.At each failure,Don Luis would get his tools out,tighten up a few bolts here andthere,and off we would go again. About half past two in the after-noon,the motorgave out.Wepulledover to the shore,and Don Luis tookthe fuel pump apart.From that mo-ment on,the fuel pumpwas to pumpno more!We worked on it all after- returned.A half hour later,theZeitun Motor arrived.When DonLuis told the commandant aboutour bad luck,the officer was nottoo eager to help us,but graduallyhe agreed to tow the boat to SanAntonio and take all of us to theMission Cavinas. We arrived at the mission abouteight o'clock at night.It was goodto see Father Laszewski;and thenext day,when Father McGowanarrived,we had a reunion of"rivermen." On Friday of that week,FatherLaszewski sent a group of men upthe River Madidi to cut logs.Itook advantage of the trip to visita settlement.The good Catholicswere glad to see me because it hadbeen two years since a Padre hadvisited.Next day,we had Mass inthe school,and I was surprised tosee so many people. Father Collins,River Padre noon,but without success.At sun-down,after a cold supper of hot-dogs and beans,the five of us gotour beds ready in the little boat,which measures about three feet inwidth and ffteen feet in length.When we turned in for the night,itwas beautiful weather;cool,clear,and no sign of rain.But it wastoo good to be true.From oneo'clock in the morning until five,there was nothing but wind andrain.There is nothing more uncom-fortable than a bed full of water. After the baptisms and confirma-tions,six couples presented them-selves to have their marriages vali-dated.In river settlements thereis no time to give much instructionto persons who want to get married.Everything has to be done rightaway.Most of the applicants neverhad gone to confession;practicallynone of the women knew their cor-rect ages.With most brides,how-ever,you can make an accurateguess—particularlywhen they havechildren who are advanced in years. Next morning,Don Luis and theteacher took the boat and headedfor Natividad.From there,theywere to go by land to the missionand try to fix the pump.If theyhad luck,they would be back inthree days.The boat had not beengone a half hour when far off inthe direction of Fortaleza,we heardthe put-put of a Diesel motor.Ourmen in the boat heard it too,and It is not uncommon here for girlsof twelve years to marry.Sometimesthe data we get about them frompeople who,we think,are reliable witnesses are far from accurate.Recently,a young girl presentedherself to have her marriage vali-dated.Her age could have been any-where from fourteen to twenty—judging by externals.But one wit-ness told me:"She is old,Padre!In 1938,when I returned from mili-tary service she was about six yearsold."That would make her aroundtwenty-six—according to his testi-mony.Later,when I had a chanceto see the girl's baptismal recordin Cavinas,I found that she wasonly fifteen years old. After getting all the data,andgiving what little instruction Icould,we had the marriage cere-mony.Most of the brides appearedwith one child in arms —who wasusually taking nourishment—andone or two tugging at their skirts.Amid a lot of crying,I joine

FAQs

What problems did the travelers face during the river trip?

The motor repeatedly broke down about every twenty minutes, and later the fuel pump failed. They repaired the motor until the pump stopped, then relied on towing from the commandant’s side.

What religious activities were performed at the settlements?

The missionary conducted baptisms and confirmations, and validated marriages. The text notes that in river settlements there is little time for instruction, so ceremonies often proceed quickly.

How were marriage ages handled when records were uncertain?

Many applicants had not gone to confession, and women’s correct ages were often unknown. The narrative describes testimony that gave a wide possible age range, later confirmed by checking a baptismal record.

Sep 29, 2026

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