Feliz Christmas...

Christmas in Colombia is more than anything a time to be with family. There might not be extra money for presents but families get together to sing and even stay up all night accompanied by the melodies of traditional Christmas, salsa and merengue music. Dancing is also key - I continue to practice my salsa skills!

The novenas, originally from the Catholic tradition, are popular here. In the 9 days leading up to Christmas, families gather together every night to say prayers and sing villancicos, popular Christmas songs that kids sing about Jesus' birth. I had the privilege of hearing a parrot singing a phrase of one a few days ago: 'The virgin Mary is brushing her hair, getting ready for the joooouurney'. Oohh, I laughed so hard! It made my day. People of other Christian denominations pray and recite poems related to Jesus' birth, family, love and unity. Amanda gave me a CD of some villancicos for my birthday and I was so excited. Unfortunately I still haven't had the chance to listen to them. I'll have to do that today.

It's interesting to see the same icicle lights and brightly lit up houses here in Colombia! Of course, I couldn't be left out: I bought some white icicle lights to adorn my house. Companies around Ibague also have enormous light set-ups, and the parks shine with an array of coloured lights. For example, Tolima's hydro company set up an enormous boat adorned with bright lights and tinsel. Walking around in a central park, I saw couples walking hand in hand looking around in awe at the lights, families buying mango slices or corn on the cob, street vendors selling chiclets and candies: a mix of the hope for joy at Christmas and montages of daily life here in Ibague.

Pictures: right: Amanda with her parents enjoy the Christmas lights in Ibague. Below, a street vendor walks the main street in Bogota.

Colombian Christmas food is quite different: Christmas desserts include natilla (custard-like with milk, a box mix, sugar and cinnamon) and buñuelos (deep-fried breadballs), brevas (figs), papaya and lime skins in a sugar syrup (absolutely delectable), a pineapple custard... main course includes pollo relleno (stuffed chicken), potato salad with peas and sausage, rice...I shared some Canadian flavours with some apple cider, gingerbread cookies and strata, a traditional family breakfast.

On Dec. 24 we had our Christmas service at the church, as Colombians celebrate Christmas on this day. The kids received their gifts, we had a time to sing, a drama and a special Christmas dinner after. Things didn't go exactly as planned: the power went out right after the drama and didn't come back on. We scrambled to find candles and mustered up about 10 to light our labours preparing for the dinner. At first, Amanda didn't want to hand out the gifts, afraid of handing out the wrong gifts to the wrong kids, but in the end candlelight pulled through. The man preparing the pollo relleno was backed up and the meat arrived 1 hour late. In the midst of this, people pitched in: one woman carved the meat by candlelight while another scooped rice and potato salad onto disposable plates. Another served gaseosa (pop) and us girls on the worship team sang some songs. Gloria entoned her own version of Silent Night : 'silent night...night without light...' My Christmas was quite unique. Picture: Natilla and bunuelos.

For me, the most special part was seeing how everyone pitched in and brought food for the dinner; a pound of rice here, 5 pounds of potatoes there, onions, sausages...etc. Unfortunately, the people in charge of preparing it arrived late, but they succeeded in pulling off a wicked potato salad!!! And how the food multiplied! The dinner was wonderful, especially thinking that many families wouldn't have been able to have a special dinner in their home. The church has struggled with people taking ownership and helping out, I hope this commitment keeps growing. There's so many gifts in the community, but discovering and putting them to use take more time and effort.

Picture: People enjoyed plates of rice, potato salad and pork. Gloria (r) is part of the microempresa and has been in the church for at least 1 1/2 years.

Our Christmas drama rocked - Joseph is shocked to find out about Mary's pregnancy through Facebook, and immediately calls her cell phone. Baby Jesus was a girl, because she was the only baby in the church! We sang Hoy es Navidad , the Spanish version of Jingle Bells at the nativity scene. It was last-minute but people seemed to enjoy it, I hope they could take it all in, and be reminded of the amazing gift that Jesus is to the world...not only for salvation but for showing us how to create His kingdom on earth made of love, justice and solidarity.

Pictures: Mary and Joseph are awaiting the baby!! (right) the 3 magi were women this year. :)

Every year, Amanda makes sure to buy gifts for kids who have attended church during the year. This year, 100 kids in 3 communities in Ibague received gifts. For some, this is the only gift they will receive. I heard they'd received Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes 2 years in a row, having done that in Canada, it was interesting to know exactly where the boxes go. People haven't stopped raving about them and the many gifties stowed inside. I have strong concerns about organizations that appear to just 'give' things: food, clothes, gifts, etc. but these boxes brought kids so much joy. 'How organizations work' : another theme for another day.

Pictures below: Martinica is a community set in the Ibaguerenan mountains, a community Amanda has been accompanying for 10 years. Several women made masato and empanadas, traditional foods here, and Amanda complemented the celebration with the gifts. These kids are a joy to be with...so attentive, polite.

After the service in Modelia, we came back to Amanda and Daniel's house, and waited till midnight to open gifts...then, at 1:30am we set out for Amanda's parents' house. Here in Colombia people apparently don't sleep at all the 24^th. We stayed there till 4:30am when we finally dragged ourselves back home to sleep till 10am. Along the way, I saw people with their stereos out on the street, people sitting in plastic chairs, enjoying their cerveza, being outside or dancing with family.

Christmas finished without really seeming like Christmas...being far from family, not celebrating Advent, not being able to experience novenas, or reading the Christmas story, hearing messages related to Christmas...so I have to remind myself that I can celebrate Christmas all year round – December festivities are only the beginning of a year-round celebration of Jesus' life. Therefore...i can still wish you who read this a...

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!! May Jesus be present in your life this coming year, guiding your actions and attitudes towards love and justice.

10 Tidbits about the department of Tolima

I haven't been consistent with blog posts, but I thought to post some things I've learned from being in Colombia for 10 months now. My recent email update gives a more complete overview of what I'm doing in Ibague, department of Tolima.

Being here in Ibague for 6 months has given me much insight into the daily life of Colombians, and the context in which they live... continuous learning I'd call it. Here are some small things that I have observed since arriving (this picture is a view of the mountains from the church doorstep in Modelia):

• Ibague is the musical capital of Colombia, with a nationally renowned Conservatory. They teach both classical and traditional Colombian music. I've been to 1 concert and hope to take some flute lessons there in the future.

• Ibague is the city with the highest unemployment rate in the country, at 19.1%. Many people are economically displaced, as they leave for Bogota to look for work. Although one can walk in several parts of the city safely, you always have to be careful, as armed robberies are becoming increasingly common (due to desperate financial situations).

• Tolima has pine trees. I didn't know Colombia had pine trees.

• Ibague is home to a national fiesta: the Fiesta of San Juan every June. The traditional dance of Tolima is the bambuco and the Sanjuanero is danced throughout Ibague during the Fiesta de San Juan.

• Neighbourhoods in Colombia are divided into government-defined stratas ranging from 1-6 (6 being upper class). In Bogota, lower stratas are in the south and upper ones in the north. In Ibague, a strata 5 neighbourhood can border a strata 1 or 2. My neighbourhood for example, is strata 3 and is surrounded by strata 2 and strata 6 neighbourhoods. In my opinion, this system is a compromise: people pay rent and utilities according to their strata which makes it

• Ibaguereños are friendly, generally more laid-back than Bogotanos, but not as animated as people from the Coast. (many Colombians say Costeños talk with their hands more than their lips)

• Typical Tolimense dishes: lechona and tamal. Lechona is a mixture of rice, peas and pork cooked right inside the whole pig on a spittle. Think of turkey stuffing at Christmas time. It's surprisingly super tasty! The tamal is pork, chicken, beef, potatoes, peas and perhaps carrots steam-cooked in a corn flour and wrapped in plantain leaves. Caution: not daily dishes. Risk of obesity but worth it.

• The majority of displaced people in Tolima department have arrived to Ibague, as it's the department's capital. Amanda has worked with displaced communities for the past 8 years and now is working specifically with 2 neighbourhoods: Modelia and Martinica. Modelia is the main community I'm working in. There is still strong guerrilla presence in the south of Tolima, where the FARC guerrilla group was born in the 1960s. The highest displacement rates occurred in Tolima in the early 2000s, but still continues today.
  

• Cajamarca, a beautiful town nestled in the Tolimense mountains, is known as the breadbasket of Colombia, providing food ranging from carrots to tomatoes to onions, yucca, beans, corn and potatoes. Several international (including Canadian) mining companies are also scouring these same mountains for gold deposits which, if found, would begin an open pit mine close to the town. There is strong protest from both the town and Tolimenses.
• Ironically, people generally take time out to relax more than in Canada, but they drive 3 times faster, eat faster, and talk faster. It's an interesting irony: I'm slowly learning to talk faster! :)
  

Bowling pins and child workers

Last night, I went bowling - it was awesome fun. It was interesting, too, to note that you had to fill out the score sheet manually and there were humans resetting the pins, not machines like I'm used to in Canada. I'd also gone a week before with a delegation from Semillas de Esperanza's sister church in Saskatchewan and realized how fun it was to make a fool out of myself by throwing gutter balls, then randomly throwing a strike.

I was about to throw my last ball when the pin putter (person who puts up the bowling pins) came out to say I had one more throw. I was shocked. This kid couldn't be more than 10 yrs old. I didn't really know how to react.

I knew there were people behind the pins resetting them. Chiki, the pin putter who did our game, came out from behind for a break. 'It's tiring work setting up those pins', is the first thing he tells me. I took the chance to ask him a few more questions: 'How much do they pay you?' I asked him. '600 pesos per person'. We were 6 people: he earned 3,600 pesos for our game. We paid a total of 33,000 to the bowling alley. 'How many hours do you usually work?' 'Normally 11am-8pm'. 9 hours picking up bowling pins.

Child workers are very common Colombia, yet especially in Ibague, as it's the city with the highest unemployment rate in the country, at 19.1%. I've asked many people why that is: of course, there's many responses.

Ibague is also the second city that receives the highest amount of displaced people, apart from the capital, Bogota. Many (although definitely not all) people come from the countryside, and need to find a fast way to earn an income. This need for quick cash contributes to the ever-increasing informal economy, where people set up small stands of anything ranging from avocados to candy, sunglasses to cacti or clothes. Many people who have been displaced also face stigma, as people tend to label them as criminals or claiming they have done something to deserve their situation. It is harder for a displaced person to get a job than someone who hasn't lived displacement.

There is also a lack of study and training opportunities for more professional jobs, which are desperately needed. The SENA, a government funded community college - style institution, is well-known for quality training, yet focuses on technical and basic administration careers. In many cases, one can train in culinary arts, train as a computer technician, yet these types of jobs are still often informal. A recent article in portafolio.com.co also pointed out that social and government parties lack unity in their efforts to confront this problem, and lack of long-term visioning.

The article also observed that unemployment in Ibague didn't start to grow until the early 2000s due to the Colombian economic crisis in the 90s. In these years, several large factories, including a Coca Cola bottling factory, left Ibague for bigger cities. Ibague is one of Colombia's main textile producers (clothing, towels, material, etc) but most is now machine-operated and doesn't generate sizable employment for citizens.

All these factors are somehow related to child labour: if Chiki had to leave school to help support his family, this has consequences for his basic education, and future study or job opportunities. Talking with one of my friends Negiht after, she pointed out setting up bowling pins is a relatively easy job: many other kids transport sacks of potatoes, vegetables, or other goods in the plazas or work in the numerous mines that national and international companies operate here in Colombia.

If we just keep our eyes open, we can make many more connections between our daily lives and big picture problems...hey, maybe next time it'll be in an ice cream shop. I wouldn't mind that.

Photo: Martinica is one of the communities Amanda has been working with for 8 years. This community is made up of residents from Rioblanco, a town in Southern Tolima hit hard by violence in the early 2000s. Many children still study here, but there are also many who work to support their families.

Day by day, I´m getting to know people here in Semillas de Esperanza, Modelia, Ibagué, Colombia, South America, Western Hemisphere. The church has several activities running, including a preschool, microbusiness,  Bible study Thursday nights, and worship service practices every Wed.

Seeing the microbusiness envigorates me. The work is all handcrafted in the church, Semillas de Esperanza, where I´m serving.

The microbusiness has been running for about 1 1/2 years, but is still in its baby steps. They make necklaces, earrings, keychains and Colombian dolls for air freshners. We are also thinking of making the dolls into Christmas tree ornaments for December. There´s a small but dedicated group of 3 women working on these products: 2 teens and one mother.

We plan to sell them both here in Colombia and in Canada. Therefore...we need your help! These are examples of the necklaces designed and made here in Ibagué, Colombia. Each necklace and earring set is unique and, as you can see, made with beautiful vibrant colours. 

The dolls are in the making, and i will post pictures when they are ready. We´re still working out prices, and I will also post prices as soon as possible. 

We are sending out our first shipment to Canada on Wed, May 27/09. Future shipments will depend on demand and postage costs. If you would like to support this microbusiness from Semillas de Esperanza (Seeds of Hope) church, (1, 10 or 50) send me an email with your request, at mefpapps@gmail.com!  

arriving in Ibagué

I had written another post about the 3 different Anabaptist denominations here in Colombia, but I got my USB stick stolen. So...that will have to wait!

But I´m so excited to say I arrived in ibagué (city), Tolima (department) at 5pm today, my new home for the next 18 months! I was planning on travelling yesterday, but I was doing a lot of running around and by the time I got back home, a wonderful lunch was waiting for our group, made by a woman by the church. So I left at 1:30pm today. Amanda (the program coordinator in the barrio of Modelia, Ibagué) and Daniel are home, their son and daughter Fabian and Katerine are out but Amanda and i had a wonderful talk about what´s happening in Modelia now, and some of the ideas they have for ways i can possibly help out...

why not process these thoughts now...i really have to write down thoughts after a conversation.

We talked about the minibusiness several women and young girls are working on...they´re making Colombian cloth dolls, earrings, necklaces and sandals. An organization from the US, Global Ministries, has been providing money for supplies, and has also given some training sessions on how to make sandals, and the necklaces. the older women wanted to make the dolls because they´re good sewers (is that right??) and the younger girls liked the necklaces and earrings more. Amanda was telling me that some of the girls come every afternoon to work on them because it keeps them busy...and much better to be working on something constructive in the church than being in the street. It´s really inspiring that there´s so much creativity in Modelia: how can that be channeled so they can make their creations marketable? They´re hoping I can help with creating connections to expand their market, to Canada perhaps? It´s hard to sell the goods directly in Modelia and Ibagué, because many people are in the same difficult financial situation. Ibagué is the city with the highest unemployment rate in the country, at 19.1%.

I´m wondering, though, if we could not only create connections with North America to support the business and sell their products, but also find stores or organizations here in Colombia and Latin America that could also sell them, or support each other together with ideas. I thought of ASOPRICOR, the organization our SEED group met in Agua de Dios, and the woman who comes to Ibagué to visit her mom...she´s part of an artisan group in Agua de Dios...perhaps it would be cool for them to meet, see where that relationship goes...

We also found a possible home for me to rent!! I am so excited!! and it´s only 1 min from where Amanda lives...it is such a cute house...one level, with one room, a living room and kitchen adjacent...it also looks like there´s a patio due to a random door off the kitchen. We couldn´t actually enter, but hopefully tomorrow or Thurs. I´m amazed at the price too...180,000 pesos, which equals about US $90/month. i´m so excited to have a place to arrange, a place where I can invite people over and they can stay the night...I can cook for them, have gatherings...that is, when I make friends here. sniff sniff. Maybe I shouldn´t be so hard on myself...it´s only the first day here. :P

Another part that Amanda and I talked about was an internet cafe, for the teens to do research for school...schools are requiring much more research work, and the internet is now the best source to do that. There are some internet cafes in Modelia but obviously they all cost money, and money is hard to come by in Modelia. Another aspect that needs to be considered is the space in Modelia...I was amazed at how small it is for how much they do: preschool, soup kitchen, microbusiness, church services, a small library.

In short, there is much desire to develop programs and leadership in Modelia, and tomorrow I will spend my first day in my new community: Modelia, Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia.

Why am I in Colombia?

I´m part of a 9-person group called SEED (Semilla), which is a 2-year pilot program of Mennonite Central Committee. MCC is the disaster relief, development and peacebuilding organization of the Anabaptist churches in the US and Canada (for more info about MCC: www.mcc.org). The 3 key words chosen for this program are Serve, Reflect, Advocate: Serve: support local Colombian churches that are accompanying people displaced by the violence in Colombia. Reflect: through our daily community experiences and group meetings in these 2 years, deepen our understanding of the complex realities in Colombia and our home countries, and discover how these two are connected. Advocate: upon making these connections, advocate in concrete ways for social change in both Colombia and our home communities. This is not just a 2 year ´project´…it seeks to create stronger relationships both within Colombia and across borders that sow those seeds of social change that we desperately need in our countries.

In short, this program seeks to transform local churches, us, and our home communities.