[Priestmissioner.org] “It’s not every day that you find yourself sitting with a priest in your street waiting for the power supply to be turned on.” A resident of the City of God reminded me this week how absent we clergy are from the lives of most ordinary people.

We met during a street protest. Neighbours in Zereda Lane were so desperate after spending three days without electricity in the blistering heat of the Rio summer, in spite of countless calls to energy provider ‘Light’, that they blocked the community’s main road to draw attention to their plight. An old sofa and plastic chairs were amongst the items they used to bring the traffic to a standstill at the height of the rush-hour.

I was heading back to church from a pastoral visit when I saw the commotion and went to find out what was going on. Little could be heard above the sound of police sirens as armed military police officers from the 350-strong ‘Peackeeping Police Unit’, which has occupied Cidade de Deus since February 2009, raced to intervene. Leaders of the protest promised to end the blockade if they could be guaranteed that their power supply would be restored immediately.

It was the climax of months of frustration in our neighbourhood as the new relationship between local residents and the utility companies created by the police occupation has hit a decidedly rocky patch. Throughout decades of government neglect, services to communities like ours in Rio de Janeiro deteriorated to shocking levels. The only compensation was that many people weren’t chased to pay their bills. Or if they did, it was to the drugs traffickers.

Since the police arrived, government has begun to invest and improve service delivery but rarely to the standard that those now required to pay bills had hoped for. New electricity poles have been installed in almost every street but they’ve brought with them power surges which have burnt out many hard won electrical appliances and, over the past few months, regular power cuts. To add insult to injury, water has been in short supply too.

As the protesters were moved off the road and the traffic started to flow, policemen promised me that ‘Light’ were on their way and the embattled residents would soon be able to turn on their fridges and fans. But within minutes the police vanished to go in pursuit of drugs traffickers a few blocks away

At 7pm, two technicians from the electricity company arrived. I said I wouldn’t leave until the power was back on. Five hours later, only slightly regretting what I had said, and now on first name terms with the residents of Travessa Zereda, we raised a glass of lukewarm orangeade as midnight struck to the heroes of the moment.

I don’t believe in making New Year’s resolutions but after five years in the City of God the challenge of how to spend less time in a church building and more time in the the struggle that is my parishioners’ lives has reasserted itself at the start of 2014.