Lent & Tsunamis

Less than a month since my last post…  I hope you are all doing well in this Lenten season!  Things are good for me here in Chimbote.  The past couple weeks have been really busy and a little stressful with preparations for our Catechesis programs in the parish and for English classes… as well as some organizational challenges with the youth movement.  Both Catechesis and English start the first week in April so we’ve been working on making flyers, visiting the local schools, solidifying our leadership teams, and making the yearly plans.  Organizing meetings is the most difficult part, because nights are really the only available time, and it’s impossible to accommodate everyone’s schedules.  We (the missionaries) are also taking a little bit more leadership in the new English cycle.  Kelli and I will each be teaching a class by ourselves, and so we’ve made a few organizational changes and right now we’re working on advertising to draw a larger number of people to the classes.  LENTCH is on a break right now before starting again in April, so that has given me more time to work on other projects, but needless to say I can’t remember the last time I had a free night!

With all this going on I am also trying to embrace the reflective spirit of Lent.  As a community we decided on a sort of material fast to radicalize the simplicity of our home.  To do that, we decided to quit using electricity… which means no lights, no radio, no microwave, no refrigerator, no blender, no charging laptops (and no movies), phones, or cameras.  We stocked up on candles, so the evenings are kind of fun.  Some things are just starting to get challenging, and I think with time perhaps we will get tired of dealing with the inconvenience, which we hope will spark greater reflection.  We also decided to simplify our meals, so our lunch menu every day (except Sundays) consists of rice, beans, and a vegetable of choice.  This will also spark reflection as we tire of eating the same thing every day, and it lets us dedicate less time and energy for cooking, hopefully allowing for more personal reflection time or time to spend with others.  It also creates solidarity between the three of us as we challenge ourselves with the same fast. 

Personally, I am focusing more on my prayer and reflection, meaning trying to go to bed consistently earlier so that I have energy to reflect on the day, looking closely at those moments in which I felt most alive and those moments through which I struggled, asking how I can approach similar situations in the future in a better way. It’s a continual process, for sure.

Something a bit more interesting… we, like people all over the world, were heartbroken with the news of the earthquake in Japan.  Without undermining the gravity of the situation, I would say the climate here that day was quite interesting as Chimbote prepared for a tsunami.  People were out in the streets, meetings were cancelled, and one of our friends came over because, as his office is located very close the ocean, his workplace sent everyone home early.  All anyone could talk about was the tsunami—how big would it be, what would it be like, would we be safe, etc.  There was also talk of another earthquake happening here in Peru.  In the end, we did have a tsunami…. the strongest wave reported at a whopping 20 centimeters.  Many Chimbotanos went to sleep that night relieved, but many went to sleep disappointed at the missed chance for some excitement in Chimbote.  But thank God, and send more prayers to Japan.

With that I will end for today.  Again there is so much I could say… little by little.  Thank you for accompanying me on my journey.  It is best that we make the journey through the desert together!  No sense in trying to do it alone.  Prayers, peace, and discontent to you!

love deeply

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve last written!  My apologies… it’s amazing how time flies.  Our community posted an entry this week on the IWM Blog.  I’m including my part at the end of this post but I encourage you to read the entire entry as well.  But first a few general updates…

Classes are starting this week at most primary and secondary schools in Chimbote.  The universities are still on vacation until April, so my schedules are slowly changing.  The summer program at LENTCH has ended and we will soon be starting the regular academic reinforcement classes three afternoons a week.  I loved helping out in the classroom during the summer program, though there were many challenging and frustrating moments.  The kids in my classroom are starting to become more comfortable with me, asking me more questions and talking more freely.  This is a double-edged sword, as I love learning more about their lives but the more I learn the more frustrated I become by the challenges they face.  When we got to Chimbote, sure, it was definitely clear that poverty exists here, but perhaps partly due to previous experiences it wasn’t something that shocked me or slapped me in the face.  With time it is becoming all too clear that economic stratification and problems of hunger, abuse, sickness, and lack of education (etc., etc.,) are very, very real.  The detail for me lies in recognizing the injustice and combating it not with anger at an abstract system, but with love, with concrete actions of love toward individuals.  Our director Clare recently shared with me a quote from a friend of hers: “We did not change the world, but we loved it deeply.”  This thought struck me in a very strong way.  It is not to say that we should not hope to change the world, because the very task set before us is to construct the reign of God.  The way to do so, though, is not to bring more hatred and bitterness into the world (even if it is directed at sinful structures) but to experience a genuine love for all that is before us in the present moment.  This love will change the world, but that’s not the point.  The point is to love. 

Those are my reflections, at least.  I could write so much more, but I want you to read my other post as well, so I’ll stop for now.  Soon I will try to write more… there is so much that I could talk about!  I am learning a lot about the fishing economy here and I want to share some of what I’ve learned, but I’ll save it for a separate post.  I also want to tell you about some of my kids at LENTCH because they are truly amazing.  I want to tell you about Kelli’s birthday party, I want to tell you about the continual joys and challenges in the parish, I want to tell you about teaching English, I want to tell you about hiking Cerro de la Paz with the Sisters, I want to tell you about the beach, I want to tell you about my living community, I want to tell you about the mimed played we are working on in theater… is there any need to go on?  If you are particularly intrigued by something, please let me know, or if you have any questions or comments or wishes or stories of your own to share, please share! 

I wish you all the joy of the present moment!  With no further ado, please read on…

“Because food is always better when shared”

I never know if I should laugh, be disgusted, or feel accomplished when my economic lessons find their way into my everyday thought processes.  It happens often, not surprising considering the extent to which our community revolves around the exchange of goods.  Three mornings a week I head off walking to Casa LENTCH, an academic and social support program for children who work in the streets of Chimbote.   I have come to enjoy my 20-minute walk as a time to mentally prepare for the chaos of the classroom and soak up the sights, smells, and sounds of the neighborhood. 

One morning a couple blocks before arriving, I encountered two of our boys, brothers, about 13 and 7, buying food at the corner store.  They each bought a small package of crackers and an Inca Kola.  I waited but walked a bit ahead of them, as they walked slowly, probably wanting to finish their breakfast before arriving.  The older of the two opened his crackers and offered me one.  I immediately thought, I can’t eat his breakfast, especially not knowing when he had last eaten.  Still, I smiled, thanked him, accepted the cracker, and took this small act as an opportunity to enter into conversation.  “We came from San Luis,” he said.  I had visited San Luis, a neighborhood on the south side of Nuevo Chimbote, at least a 45-minute trip.  “There probably won’t be many kids here today,” he continued.  “It’s Valentine’s Day-- they’ll all be downtown.”  I hadn’t thought of that, but of course, with so many people out shopping for gifts, they would want to take advantage of the increased business.  I mulled with that as I thought, ah, but you are still here because your utility curves provide that the benefit of studying and eating at LENTCH outweighs the opportunity cost of the money you could be making downtown.  We approached the open gate.  “How good that you are here, though,” I told him, and he nodded.  We entered and casually parted ways. 

As I walked toward my classroom I took note of which students were present, wondering how they decided upon the best way to spend the day, a classic example employed by economics teachers when teaching opportunity cost.  Should a seven-year-old boy spend his summer day doing cartwheels at stoplights for money or learning how to add and playing soccer?  Applied economics in action, but I’m not sure if I should feel accomplished, be disgusted, or cry.

Read the full blog here: http://www.iwmissions.blogspot.com/

A group photo from LENTCH.. can you find me?