in the in-between

After living in Peru for nearly two years, my home here in Chimbote has truly passed from something new and temporary to something stable, routine, and ordinary.  The people living around me who were once strangers have become my neighbors, and we greet each other with a smile each time I pass by.  “To the church,” they say.  “Yes,” I respond.  The streets between my house and the parish, downtown, and the market, and the numerous cars and vans of various numbers that speed by, are no longer daunting mysteries but familiar, well-worn routes.  The people I live with are no longer “other volunteers,” but friends, companions, and co-collaborators.  And most of all, the “child workers,” the “people with disabilities,” and the parishioners, young and old, have become Cristian, Jessica, Teresita, Olga, Patty, Nataly, Danny, Richard, Oscar… and on and on.  While obviously never replacing my family back home, the individuals in my immediate reality have definitely come to be people I turn to, people I feel comfortable with, people I share my story with and people who continually honor me with their stories as well.

Now, as the date for my departure is nearing (July 24), I’m beginning to feel this reality slipping away.  When I leave, my community here will not cease to be a part of my reality, but they will take “segundo plano” as they say in Spanish, or “second plane.”  They will no longer be my daily routine.  They will become the people that I “keep in touch with.”  And I have to say, that's not easy to imagine.

Needless to say, I am excited to see my family and friends back home and dive into a new adventure, a new unknown.  But while I am still here, I will strive to be here.  I hope to communicate the love and gratitude that I feel toward each person that has touched my life here, and probably cry a little, while remembering that no matter where we are, our lives are always interwoven with the lives of others. 

And hey, I’m not gone yet!  Three weeks left, and each day is an opportunity for transformation in God’s love.

say NO to conga!



One of the lakes that will be destroyed by the Conga Mine project.



I feel compelled to write about the Conga project, one of the biggest issues today for Peru and for all consumers and defenders of our world’s natural resources.



The existing Yanacocha mine near Cajamarca.



Conga is a mining expansion of the Yanacocha mine in Cajamarca, Peru, operated by Newmont Mining Corporation from Denver, Colorado. Newmont, with the millions of dollars it has to invest in Conga, hopes to expand its mining operations to include a mountain overlooking Cajamarca believed to contain large amounts of gold. But for the people of Cajamarca, it is a proposal to destroy their way of life. This mountain is viewed as sacred by the community, and is the source of several rivers and lakes that provide the drinking water for Cajarmarca and the surrounding area. The entire area has mobilized into massive strikes that, at the end of last year, shut down Cajamarca for multiple months. The regional president has voiced his opposition to the project, in addition to many other community leaders. But we still keep waiting for an answer.



As a result of the strikes last year, President Humala and other government leaders came to an agreement with the strike organizers to pause the project in order to conduct further studies about its potential environmental impact. Today, the results of an international appraisal with the power to settle the issue once and for all were supposed to be released. Anticipating its release, the people of Cajamarca again came together to protest for 24 hours until its release, saying that if the results came out in favor of Newmont, they would move together to the sites of their lakes and reservoirs and physically block the machinery from beginning demolition. And today, holding our breath, we find out that the results have been postponed another week. One of my Peruvian friends, after finding out, scoffed and said, “That means corruption.” I wouldn’t be surprised, as the company and the Peruvian government already have a history of corruption, as documented in a PBS special done in 2006 about the very same mountain, and in which Newmont vowed to never again try to exploit that area. (The documentary is called “The Curse of Inca Gold,” and I highly encourage you to watch it online, just search for it on Google). I believe it is also a tactic to break up the extremely united community of Cajamarca while they wait another week for the results. But I suspect that a community that has fought for so long and so hard to defend their natural resources will not back down.



Prayer vigil in the plaza of Cajamarca.  Photo from La Republica.



So, what does this have to do with you? First of all, it’s a United States company and United States investors who are fueling this inhumane and completely disrespectful project completely against the wishes of the local community. You can even look up the Conga project on financial pages (NEW). So, if you have money in the stocks, I encourage you to find out if Newmont Mining or Conga is part of that portfolio, and drop it immediately. Or, as a stockholder, write to them and demand that they respect environmental and human rights. Also, avoid buying gold and other precious metals, because they likely come from this or other unjust mining projects. If you aren’t a stockholder, pray for the leaders, pray for the community of Cajamarca, and tell other people about it so more people are aware of the destruction being caused by our hands.

This is yet another example of how much ground is being lost (literally) in the battle between profit and concern for the common good. And this issue does not stop short of touching the life of each and every one of us. But if you are really interested, don’t just take my word for it. Do research. Learn more. Visit. Look at images of gold mines in Peru. Do anything. But don’t do nothing.

Thanks for reading. I wish you the best!

water wars

Things have been pretty stirred up here in our neck of Chimbote these past few days.  Apparently, something broke, or something had to be turned off, or something, and what we know for sure is that this whole corner of the city has been without water for five whole days with no certainty of when it’s coming back.

In our part of town, the city water usually comes twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon, for an hour or two at a time.  During that time period, most households fill up large tanks, some on the ground and some on top of the roof, for daily usage.  Once in awhile, the water doesn’t show up, so most people have enough capacity to last a day or two on what they have, but not much longer.  Sometimes a specific house or street will go several days without water, but in that case neighbors are quick to share.  In this case, we’re going on six days of no water to an area of perhaps 3-5,000 households (or maybe more), with no forewarning that people should conserve as much as possible. 

We didn’t even notice until day 3 when one of our neighbors commented on it.  We, unlike most households, have a small well in our backyard that fills automatically when the city water comes.  Then we pump it to a tank on our roof, and thus get running water.  So we started conserving – minimal showering, saving sink water to flush the toilet, etc. – and we still haven’t run out completely.

Saturday night, just about the time when everybody had finally run out of water, I walked out of theater practice and saw a huge line up of people with their buckets lined up on the curb.  Several blocks away, a huge water truck was making its way toward us.  It seemed like a good solution, so I went home unconcerned.  A little while later I went with a neighbor family to take buckets to be filled by the same truck.  What I saw when I got there was complete chaos – the hose on the back of the water truck open, with nobody designated to control it, and ten to twenty people pushing and shoving with their buckets to get filled up.  People were yelling, water was being spilled, the truck driver tried to do his best by advancing when it seemed to get too crazy and going to a spot in the line that was more orderly.  But then people would just bombard the water hose all over again, pushing and yelling to get their share. 

My 15-year-old neighbor said to me, “And these people claim to be Christians.” 

I told him, “In the moment of desperation, we forget what it means to be Christian.”  But I don’t know who’s to blame.

Suddenly, with the water hose still open, the truck driver just took off, leaving water spilling out and lots of people with empty buckets behind him.  I suppose he finally just got fed up.  I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same.

Since that night, the situation seems to have calmed down a bit.  Other water trucks have been coming to fill buckets, and people have realized that there is enough to go around.  But we still wait anxiously, because when conserving water, sanitation tends to go down, everyone seems a little more stressed out, clothes don’t get washed, plants don’t get watered, etc., etc.  It’s okay, though.  Our lives aren’t being threatened, and hey, millions of people around the world live in worse conditions every day, so I can push my water conservation to the limit for a few days. 

It does make one pause and think, though.  The poverty in Chimbote is not a desperate poverty, but where there is a denial of a basic right, there is undignified living.  So we will continue to fight, so that Jesus may be dignified in every man, woman, and child in Chimbote, in Peru, and around the world.

-----

Two days after I wrote the original post, today, I am finally posting it, and I am happy to say that the water is back!  Yesterday´s newspaper headline on the front page was ¿Until When? with a huge photo of people waiting with their buckets.  Finally lots of pressure got them to hurry up and fix whatever was broken!

"just being" together

On Sunday, March 18, the Peruvian government issued a presidential decree that it would come down much more harshly on informal mining (mining of whatever mineral without belong to a specific company, i.e., somebody who has iron ore on their land so they just mine it and sell it).  Later that day, hundreds of men and women who work in informal mining got together all over the country to voice their opinion.  In Peruvian democracy, that means blocking major highways so that no travel or commerce can happen, thereby calling everyone’s attention.  This time, it meant blocking the Pan-American Highway in a town called Casma, about 2 hours south of Chimbote, thus restricting any travel whatsoever to the capital, Lima, from anywhere in the northern part of the country.

Normally, it wouldn’t phase me too much as I really spend most of my time in Chimbote, but this time, I was especially grateful for the strike, because I happened to have a visit from two people that I love very much, and because of the strike got to spend another whole day with them.  Yes, my parents have now experienced cuy, anticuchos, crazy taxi drivers, dust upon dust upon dust, hand-washing, 24-hour cars honking and dogs barking, the delicious odor of the fish factories, Peruvian rice, fresh maracuyá juice, the sparkling waves of the Bay of Chimbote, the serenity and poverty and diversity of the agricultural zones surrounding the city, cold showers, ceviche AND chicarrón de pescado (yum!), Peruvian hospitality, and lots of others things that make up my daily life… (by the way, if there are words above that you don’t understand, that means you need to come visit Peru!)  As my mom said so well, meeting the people of Peru is much better than seeing the touristy sites of Peru!

But most of all, we got to hang out, catch up, get to know each other again (I’m only begin to discover all the characteristics I’ve inherited from them), have fun, laugh, talk about God and a little about politics (but not too much, haha), and as my dad said, just “be.” 

So for that extra day… thank you to the miners for standing up for their rights (and for resolving the conflicting in good timing!), hair dresser who had a cancelled appointment, to the Confirmation leaders who had to go it alone in the rehearsal, to our feedlot employees who were reliable and helped my dad be stress-free, to Jeff for lending an extra hand at home when he could have been doing a million other things for spring break, to Kim for taking care of Zoe, to Orbitz for finally referring us to American Airlines, to American Airlines for at least attempting to reduce to transfer fees, to Giancarlo for being relentless with the bus line, to my community mates for being all-around amazing, and to my PARENTS, Steve and Joan, for stepping outside their comfort zones into a completely foreign and unknown world, trusting that everything will work out, in order to better understand their daughter and why she does what she does. 

We live the lives that we live so that they may be shared, and in that sharing we all walk a little deeper into the mysterious beauty of life. 

god in a lion suit

^"People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them." -Mark 10:13-16

Hello everyone!

Here I am updating my blog.. I`m at the sister`s house helping to translate for a meeting, but it turns out they only need me when the connection goes bad so in the meantime I thought I`d write a little update :)

I was supposed to be leaving for a camping trip on the beach in an hour and a half... but last night the few youth leaders who had committed to going all had "last minute changes" in their availability, so the trip is postponed (which means cancelled). It`s okay for me, because we would have had to stay up all night to finish sewing our rice-sack tent.  Now we can finish it tranquilamente for the next venture.

Last night was the closing presentation for our kids summer program at the parish.  Each class prepared a little number for the parents, which included theater (La Niña de la Selva/The girl from the Jungle), dance (one from the jungle and one from the highland), and a couple of songs.  For our English class we presented the camp song "Baby Shark," so they will forever remember that tiburón is shark!  (important if they ever find themselves on a beach in the U.S.) It`s amazing how much the emotion and nervousness involved in a formal presentation can really bring people closer together, especially children!  The high emotion wasn`t enough to calm some of our most rowdy kids, but I suppose the lion running around stage attacking the other actors when it`s not his turn adds to the entertainment. 

We formed a pretty tight community, as several parents told me that their children "acostumbraron," or got used to their classes at the parish.  We hope they continue attendance!  There`s lots of work to do in terms of building up children`s ministry in our parish, and it`s a tiring job, but I think we did it pretty well!

Lately I`ve been becoming more and more interested in liturgical ministry, especially in relation to youth.  I´ve never been a huge fan of Catholic liturgies, finding that my faith really came alive in direct encounters with people, and not so much in the church building.  But the institution of our Catholic faith maintains that the liturgy is the center of our shared faith, so I´ve begun to ask, if that`s true, why don`t I feel it?  And I think it has a lot to do with the way we go about liturgy.  Instead of asking how to make the liturgy come alive for its participants, we restrict ourselves to the way it "should be" or the way it`s always been done.  The point of Eucharist, of liturgy, is communion.  Why do we not create a space the promotes encounter with the person sitting in front of or behind us? Why our style of praying really reflect the intimacy and union that their words express?  If young people are going to see that the liturgy is even more important for our parish community than game nights, sports tournaments, and trips to the beach, all of which we do really well, they need to be shown that it`s true.  Just repeating "the liturgy is important, the Eucharist is the center of our fatih" isn`t going to do it.  They have to be shown, they have to feel it. 

Anyway, theory is one thing.  Practice is another.  And right now, chasing around a growling 5-year-old boy in a lion suit is what brings us together, what reminds us of our common call.  So we`ll continue looking for ways to enhance our faith, but we won`t reject the value of what we have!

Thanks for reading.  Would love to hear from you!

Wishing you PEACE in your heart and RESTLESSNESS in your spirit :)

merry christmas and a happy new year!

Well, Christmas went off with another big bang this year, literally, as midnight was welcomed with lots of Roman candles and sparklers (plus a flower or two).  Of course, it was a small show compared to a week later as the streets filled with life-size dolls burning away last year´s old to make room for this year´s new.  But back to Christmas.  My theater group opened Christmas Eve Mass with the nativity play, in which I starred one of Gabriel´s side-kicks in a white gown with hands folded in prayer and a smile on my face.  It went well and the mass was nice-- it was the first Mass said by our new priest, but unfortunately he didn´t give the homily so we didn´t really get a good taste of him yet!  After Mass we hung around for awhile, giving Christmas hugs to all our parish friends and taking pictures with the life-size nativity.  Then we went home to prepare a delicious dinner of Velveeta macaroni and cheese shells with ketchup (a special treat for us!) until midnight, when we put baby Jesus in the nativity and went outside to light fireworks with all the neighbors.  We mixed the Peruvians traditions with our own and waited til Christmas Day to open presents (by the way thank you for all the cards and gifts!) and lounge around.

But Christmas wasn´t all relaxing!  Since I work in youth ministry in our parish, it was also an important time for activities.  As has become tradition, the youth movement's biggest Christmas project this year was a chocolotada for about 60 of the poorest children in our parish.  But unlike tradition, this year we decided to do it a little differently.  They still received the signature panetón and hot chocolate, but the event was not advertised as a chocolotada.  Instead, we designed it as a birthday party for Jesus.  With animation similar to that typical of birthday parties here, each youth group presented a fun Christmas song or skit.  I acted as Wendy in my theater group´s presentation of Peter Pan 2.  The show culminated in a live representation of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, and angels (featuring my very own housemate Katie doing her best to hold a crying, hair-pulling, very heavy baby Jesus).  After circling the patio with the holy family, the kids re-entered the party room, where their gifts were arranged around a candle.  Each child then received a paper heart with the explanation that Jesus doesn´t need us to gift him expensive things, just our hearts.  One by one, they located their heart next to the candle, picked up a gift, and handed the gift to another child.  Amazingly, their pacience lasted almost to the last child, when they did start getting a little ansy!  It was a beautiful celebration (with very few flaws) in which the youth groups united together to give a clear message to the kids: Christmas isn´t about the gifts we receive but about sharing the love that Jesus came to give us.  Perhaps the kids got more excited by the piñatas at the end, but Jesus´ love was very apparent in the laughter, sincerity and participation of the youth and children alike.

New Year´s was also wonderful with a visit from my brother, Scott!  I think he got a good taste of Chimbote at New Years... fish smell, burning dolls and fireworks, and ceviche.  Now it´s time to get into full summer mode-- hot weather, snow cones, beach, volleyball, home improvements, summer school at the parish, evening games at the youth center, etc.  This week my community mates and I are cleansing our bodies.  That means nothing but raw veggies, apples, vegetable broth, and juiced fruits!  By the end of the seven days our insides should be thanking us for flushing out all the sugar and grease that has been consumed in the past month...  though right now I really just want a big bowl of rice and a Reese´s!

Thanks for reading!  I wish you a very happy new year as you embark anew on God´s mission for you in the world!  

Reaping the fruits of 4-H and shop class

I have to say that while being here I’ve learned to appreciate my mom more than I ever had before.  Living in a community not only means that we get to eat together, learn Spanish together, laugh together, and cry together, we also get to care for a house together.  But caring for a house is a lot more work than I thought, and it’s not just because of the Chimbote dust.  Sweeping never ends, dishes never end, dusting never ends, bathrooms are never perfectly clean, the table is never cleared off for more than five minutes, etc., etc., etc.  BUT as a house of hospitality it’s also a lot of fun – because cleaning isn’t something we do only for ourselves, but for our friends, neighbors, and coworkers to whom we open our home.  Our community goal of participating in the culture of hospitality that surrounds us also inspires us to creatively make our home a more inviting, comfortable place.  Thus leading to the reason for the title of this blog post…

One of those ideas was sparked by Katie, who has been set on getting a lamp for our living room for several weeks now.  Finally one afternoon she and I went downtown to price some lamps, and discovered the neither the styles available nor their corresponding prices gelled with our needs.  So I said Katie, I think we can just build a lamp!

With a little help from the internet to brush up my electrical skills and some perusing around the house to find discarded or unneeded objects, we did it!  Our living room is now graced with a beautiful (dare I say?), quirky, symbolic lamp make with (almost) completely recycled materials.  And I only blew the power out once J  Definitely a purple ribbon, if not best of show ;)   Here’s a little description, not for bragging purposes, but to maybe inspire you to make something cool out of old junk that’s lying around!

We started by buying the necessary electrical parts for a lamp – the light socket, cord, and plug – which in the U.S. can be bought in a lamp kit but here are sold individually.  We also bought a small piece of plastic tubing, some wire, and super glue.  Then we identified a cool-looking plastic bottle from our extensive collection of bottles waiting to be recycled.  The base of the lamp was constructed by fitting the tube from the neck of the bottle to the bottom corner, stringing the cord through it, and attaching the light socket on top.  We filled around the tube with sand that Kelli retrieved from a sand dune just down the road and… complete!  You can fill the inside with other little things as well… we added around the top the words, “Ustedes son la luz del mundo,” which means “You are the light of the world,” from the Gospel of Matthew. 

 Now for the lamp shade.  We used two wire hangers and bent them into squares, then attached them at the corners with a second plastic bottle, cut into strips.  This I first tried to cover with tissue paper and then decorate with used matches (we have a gas stove), but it was a little sub-par quality.  So we thought a little harder and came up with using an old T-shirt, which in our case ended up being my bilingual Incarnate Word Missionaries shirt, which was too big for me anyway!  A little cutting (don’t take for granted your rotary cutter – children’s scissors make the job a little more frustrating!) and sewing (also don’t take for granted your sewing machine!) led to the (almost) perfectly-fitted lampshade cover.  To attach the lampshade, we wrapped wire around the bottom lampshade frame and looped it to wrap around the neck of the bottle.  Voilà!  And it’s even IWM-themed J  Here you can pictures of the front and back… the fact that both designs ended up being centered was pure luck!  Yay for recycled products!

Another post to come soon to share about our Christmas celebrations… I wish you all a very joyful and peaceful Christmas!  Another opportunity to realize how truly BLESSED we are that our God chose to come to the earth and be one of us… God doesn’t want to be far away and scary.  In the beginning God was the word, but the word was made FLESH in order to be closer to us.  I pray that this year’s celebration truly allows you to feel that closeness.

Thanks for reading!  I would love to hear from each and every one of you J  Chau!