Argentinean by birth, ANZORENA entered the Society of Jesus as a young man and joined its mission in Japan. While completing his studies in theology there, he also earned a doctorate in architecture from Tokyo University, rendering his dissertation in Japanese. As he began his teaching career at Sophia University, ANZORENA also sought exposure to life beyond the confines of his privileged university and of prosperous Japan. With Mother Teresa in Calcutta and among relocated squatters in the Philippines, he confronted first-hand the common life of Asia's urban poor and their desperate need for secure and decent shelter. He wondered what could be done?
For ideas, ANZORENA met in 1975 with groups working to improve housing in the slums of Latin America. He then embarked upon his own study of the housing crisis in Asia, locating community organizers in the region's poorest neighborhoods and studying NGOs and people's organizations that worked. Thus ANZORENA began his annual pilgrimage to the cities of Asia— to search for innovative answers to the perennial problems of slum life, to share his discoveries with other housing activists, and to steer needed financial assistance toward promising experiments.