As of: March 8, 2024, 12:00 p.m
By: Diana Meltretter
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Frank Weber reported thoughtfully and excitingly in Peiting about his work with street children in Bolivia.
© Meltretter
For many years there has been a friendly relationship between the Catholic parish of Peiting and Frank Weber and the street children of Bolivia that he looks after there.
He has now reported on this work again in Peiting.
Peiting
– The foundation for this connection was laid by Wolfgang Ullrich when he founded the “Bridge to Street Children Peiting” association around 30 years ago as a member of the parents’ council at the Alfons Peter Elementary School in Peiting and has served as a board member ever since.
Weber's regular visits with public events bring the Peitingen club members and anyone interested closer to Weber's promising projects, especially the construction of the Richard von Weizäcker School.
By the way: Everything from the region is also available in our regular Schongau newsletter.
And in our Weilheim-Penzberg newsletter.
And so the association recently invited people to a ceremony in the parish church of St. Michael and then to a lecture on the topic “Everything is possible.
Nothing is certain!” in the Raiffeisenbank Pfaffenwinkel forum.
Have the courage to show your profile
The club members organized the service together with Pastor Robert Kröpfl, Deacon Thomas Tralmer, the church musicians and Frank Weber.
The standard bearers from the Peiting Small Animal Breeding Association were also present at the previous evening's mass.
On the third Sunday of Lent, the assembled congregation heard a reading on the commandments from the Book of Exodus, and Pastor Kröpfl then preached on the Gospel according to John.
The guest from Bolivia also addressed a few words to the church visitors and – based on his own experience – encouraged them to show their “profile” in certain and seemingly hopeless situations in order to reach their goal, even with small steps or detours.
Active since 1985
Wolfgang Ulrich was then able to welcome several guests of honor on behalf of the “Bridge to Street Children Peiting” association.
In addition to sponsors and supporters, Mayor Peter Ostenrieder and the former board member of Raiffeisenbank, Mario Lindauer, were also present.
Frank Weber shared with them all key moments that shaped his life and work in Bolivia.
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Since 1985, when he traveled to the Andean country as part of his theology studies and met the first homeless children a few days after his arrival in Cochabamba, he has been addressing the social concerns of disadvantaged children and at the same time promoting solidarity between people and nations through book publications and films.
In 1988, Weber founded the Richard von Weizäcker School for socially disadvantaged families, where today around 700 students are taught by over 40 teachers and no school fees are charged.
All news and stories can also be found on the Schongauer Nachrichten Facebook page.
Since then, Weber reported, the phrase “Everything is possible” has accompanied him.
Nothing is certain!”.
Because initially he was given little chance that the project could be successful.
In fact, it was an extraordinary feat of strength to establish the school in Bolivia.
And maintaining ongoing teaching operations is just as challenging.
Thoughtful and exciting, but also cheerful and touching at the same time
Even if, looking back, he doesn't want to experience everything again, he is convinced that the effort was worth it and that he did the right thing.
To secure future prospects through education, he dragged bags of cement, created a common foundation and literally “did not build on sand”.
Weber's narrative style was thoughtful and exciting, sometimes cheerful and touching at the same time.
To accompany his “Love Poem to Bread” he handed out a small, dry piece of bread to everyone in the audience, which became an experience for all the senses and helped them to empathize with the lives of hungry street children.
Award-winning short film “Miski”
Equally impressive was his text “Anger Factor” about anger, fear and hate, which is already 30 years old and is more relevant today than ever.
He shows that hope is stronger than hate and can achieve much more and change the world.
At the end, Weber presented the short film “Miski”, which has now received multiple awards, and was based on one of his stories in the original “Quechua”, the language spoken by the inhabitants of South America.
“The Sweet”, as the title is translated, is a simple, contented girl who grows up with her grandmother in a mountain village in the Andes and is one day probably kidnapped by her father.
Promises made
The open ending, in which the viewer looks into the eyes of the old grandmother, who sets out on foot to look for her granddaughter and sits exhausted on the side of the road, conveys a kind of hatred for the father, but also the hope that he will strenuous journey will be worth it.
The local newspapers in the Weilheim-Schongau district are represented on Instagram under “merkur_wm_sog”.
The film's expressive images with German subtitles rounded off a moving, authentic evening with Frank Weber.
He promised to come back to Peiting next year to report.
He warmly thanked Wolfgang Ullrich and everyone present for their generosity, the donations received and the trust shown in his project work.