On summer weekends from 1997-1999, the community members of Cañoncito carried materials and equipment to ford the waters of the Mora river to allow passage to San José chapel. The beginning of this restoration project was dramatic, as an unusually high wind caught the frame roof and pulled it off of the adobe walls. The summer of 1999 was a particularly wet summer, so the community members never knew how never knew how workdays would proceed. When the river was too high to cross, workdays had to be postponed. But with patience, and Cornerstones’ assistance, this tiny chapel was restored to its original form.

On a sunny August Saturday last year, a gathering of villagers from the surrounding areas was led by Father Tri and Archbishop Sheehan in celebrating the completion of their restoration efforts. The procession was able to cross the high river on a brand new foot bridge built just days before the ceremony through another concerted community effort.