Thursday, August 25, 2011
Paro Nacional (National Strike)
The Chilean national strike which began yesterday has intensified today. The large marches earlier today were approved by the government until 2:00pm. In the center of Santiago, about 400,000 people participated. The marches were relatively peaceful, but after 2:00 they began to become violent and there has been lots of destruction and confrontation between the policemen and citizens. Right now, it seems as though all of the city's air is filled with tear gas. I only have to step outside my door, and my nose and throat begin to itch. We have been carrying lemons around with us to use in areas were the gas is especially bad. The streets are strangely quiet...shops are closed down, and people linger around their houses wondering what will happen next. Thousands of youth roam the street and there is broken glass, remains of burnt trash, flattened street signs, overturned garbage cans, sprayed paint, and general debris throughout the street. We will see how things continue tonight. Here are some picture...a reflection and more information to come later.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Barrio Santa Cruz
As I head into my 3rd week in Santiago, I find myself still caught between the need to continue to be patient and slowly come to understand my new role and purpose in all of the new communities in which I am now a part and the competing desire to take action and do things. For most of us, especially those from the U.S., I think this is an especially difficult challenge—to not have a task and to not be able to take action and “fix” something that we view to be inefficient or in need of improvement. We want goals and we want measured steps to reach those goals and have tangible results. As I have been introduced to the different Holy Cross ministries in Santiago over the past 2 weeks, there have been times when I have been very much tempted to feel the same way. Probably a lot of these feelings come from the desire to be a “good” OLM and to make an impact here, whether in English classes, pastoral outreach, or parish life. I think that these are good desires but only if I am intentional about pursuing them in a loving and humble way. As has happened to me every time I have lived in Latin America, the past 2 weeks I have needed to tell myself to slow down and re-learn how to be more radically available to others. By this I mean welcoming the many daily invitations to pause for 30 minutes to have a conversation with a neighbor even if it means getting to school a little bit later than planned, or giving thanks for the opportunity for shared time and rich conversation offered by the 1 1/2-long lunches and many recess breaks instead of only thinking about how all of this time is interrupting and taking away from the student’s critical classroom learning time.
Sometimes the slower pace of life here and lack of “inefficiency” (as we would name it in the U.S.) can be frustrating, but most of the time, I find that it invites me into a newer and deeper communal and shared life. I am almost surprised sometimes by how each day here is filled with so much conversation and how, in many ways, it seems to be easier to get to know someone here in a shorter period of time than it does in the U.S. where I share a common culture and language with people! I think this can be attributed to the time allowed for conversation made possible by the lack of material possessions and individual privacy and space. Yes, almost everyone here, as in the rest of the world, has a cellphone and t.v. Despite the pervasive economic poverty in my community, it seems that no one will sacrifice at least owning these prized possessions. However, the poverty here also makes it so people don’t have unlimited texting and calling plans or the luxury of turning on their t.v. (and leaving it turned on) whenever they want. They also aren’t able to escape into their own rooms or disappear into a quiet corner in their house because space is small, houses are side-by-side, and the few rooms in each house are shared by many family (and extended family) members. While a lot of people I have met here sometimes fantasize about having more or being like the U.S., as an outsider, I also see what they have that we are losing—the art of conversation and a sense of not living an isolated, individualistic existence. I want to make it clear that I say this not from an attitude of judgment but rather from one of observation, questioning and reflection. However, at the same time, in my personal experience thus far it is hard not to notice the fruits of this change of life.
It has been making me think a lot about community lately. Part of the reason is because community is one of the Holy Cross pillars (the other two are mission and prayer) and both during orientation and the couple of meetings we have had with the Holy Cross priests here, we have talked about the importance of community. In the Holy Cross mission statement it says, “ Our calling is to serve the Lord Jesus in mission not as independent individuals but in a brotherhood. Our community life refreshes the faith that makes our work a ministry and not just an employment; it fortifies us by the example and encouragement of our confreres; and it protects us from being overwhelmed or discouraged by our work. . . It is essential to our mission that we strive to abide so attentively together that people will observe: ‘See how they love one another.’ We will then be a sign in an alienated world: men who have, for love of their Lord, become closest neighbors, trustworthy friends, brothers.” I love that part of the Holy Cross Constitution, and I think that it is so vital in our world today! We are trying to learn how to live this out in Santiago by being intentional about community—both our immediate community in our house and our wider community with our neighbors, the Holy Cross religious that live close by and the school and service ministry communities where we work. Last week at the inauguration of one of the Fundamor sites, Father Mike, the superior of the Holy Cross congregation in Santiago, made an interesting comment about the type of community we are trying to cultivate in Andacollo by stating that our goal should be that in the years to come, our neighborhood will be known as el Barrio Santa Cruz (“the Holy Cross Neighborhood”). He went on to explain why he has hope that this will soon be a reality by highlighting the fact that we are already cultivating a rich and diverse community by the fact that within a few blocks, there are houses of Holy Cross priests, Holy Cross sisters, lay missioners, the Holy Cross parish center and K-12 school, the Holy Cross Fundamor service ministry and a variety of community members working and serving in all of these areas. This is definitely a unique situation and, for me, it is such a blessing to be among so many people who are investing in the great and difficult task of creating true Christian community and who are daring themselves to be challenged by a faith that is real.
Sometimes the slower pace of life here and lack of “inefficiency” (as we would name it in the U.S.) can be frustrating, but most of the time, I find that it invites me into a newer and deeper communal and shared life. I am almost surprised sometimes by how each day here is filled with so much conversation and how, in many ways, it seems to be easier to get to know someone here in a shorter period of time than it does in the U.S. where I share a common culture and language with people! I think this can be attributed to the time allowed for conversation made possible by the lack of material possessions and individual privacy and space. Yes, almost everyone here, as in the rest of the world, has a cellphone and t.v. Despite the pervasive economic poverty in my community, it seems that no one will sacrifice at least owning these prized possessions. However, the poverty here also makes it so people don’t have unlimited texting and calling plans or the luxury of turning on their t.v. (and leaving it turned on) whenever they want. They also aren’t able to escape into their own rooms or disappear into a quiet corner in their house because space is small, houses are side-by-side, and the few rooms in each house are shared by many family (and extended family) members. While a lot of people I have met here sometimes fantasize about having more or being like the U.S., as an outsider, I also see what they have that we are losing—the art of conversation and a sense of not living an isolated, individualistic existence. I want to make it clear that I say this not from an attitude of judgment but rather from one of observation, questioning and reflection. However, at the same time, in my personal experience thus far it is hard not to notice the fruits of this change of life.
It has been making me think a lot about community lately. Part of the reason is because community is one of the Holy Cross pillars (the other two are mission and prayer) and both during orientation and the couple of meetings we have had with the Holy Cross priests here, we have talked about the importance of community. In the Holy Cross mission statement it says, “ Our calling is to serve the Lord Jesus in mission not as independent individuals but in a brotherhood. Our community life refreshes the faith that makes our work a ministry and not just an employment; it fortifies us by the example and encouragement of our confreres; and it protects us from being overwhelmed or discouraged by our work. . . It is essential to our mission that we strive to abide so attentively together that people will observe: ‘See how they love one another.’ We will then be a sign in an alienated world: men who have, for love of their Lord, become closest neighbors, trustworthy friends, brothers.” I love that part of the Holy Cross Constitution, and I think that it is so vital in our world today! We are trying to learn how to live this out in Santiago by being intentional about community—both our immediate community in our house and our wider community with our neighbors, the Holy Cross religious that live close by and the school and service ministry communities where we work. Last week at the inauguration of one of the Fundamor sites, Father Mike, the superior of the Holy Cross congregation in Santiago, made an interesting comment about the type of community we are trying to cultivate in Andacollo by stating that our goal should be that in the years to come, our neighborhood will be known as el Barrio Santa Cruz (“the Holy Cross Neighborhood”). He went on to explain why he has hope that this will soon be a reality by highlighting the fact that we are already cultivating a rich and diverse community by the fact that within a few blocks, there are houses of Holy Cross priests, Holy Cross sisters, lay missioners, the Holy Cross parish center and K-12 school, the Holy Cross Fundamor service ministry and a variety of community members working and serving in all of these areas. This is definitely a unique situation and, for me, it is such a blessing to be among so many people who are investing in the great and difficult task of creating true Christian community and who are daring themselves to be challenged by a faith that is real.
In practice, we are trying to support and nurture the ideal of Christian community in several ways. One of the most basic is that each house is dedicated to establishing at least one community night per week—a night to spend time together, to reflect, to have fun, and to also grow spiritually. Myself and the three other missioners I live with have our community night on Thursdays, and it usually involves making dinner together, doing some form of community prayer, and/or doing something fun together like playing cards or going somewhere in Santiago. This is not to say that we don’t have meals together on a daily basis or do stuff together at other times, but if/when the weeks get busy, we at least have a commitment to that community day. We also have community night with each of the houses of Holy Cross priests in Andacollo and St. George and the HC sisters once a month. This is the minimum that we strive to uphold. It’s not always perfect, but at least everyone shares a mutual responsibility in this task—a commitment to hold each other accountable, to share joys and sorrows, and to recognize the need to grow together if we are ever going to actually live the Gospel and meet the challenge of confronting the nitty gritty of seeing Jesus reflected in the face of all of our brothers and sisters. As my housemates and I have only been together as a new community for a little more than 2 weeks, we are still pretty much in the honeymoon phase of our new shared life, but we are also having many good conversations about what we want our community to look like and how we are going to concretely support that vision. All of these conversations have made me think a lot about how different all of our communities and circles of friends might be if we all explicitly committed ourselves to community nights, community prayers, and more open discussions about the day-to-day struggles of living together. An experience at the retreat last week with one of the 5th grade classes really made me reflect on the need for this in today’s world. The subject of the retreat was on treating others with respect and not making fun of/picking on classmates. In one of the big group discussions, one of the boys shared that he was really hurt when one of his classmates said to him, “well, at least my parents are still together.” Hearing this little 5th grader say this in front of all of his classmates broke my heart. The issue of divorce and broken families is huge in our school and community. The class teacher told me later that out of the 42 kids in her class, 18 of them have parents that are divorced—and that is only the number of those she knows for certain are divorced. She remarked that she knows that others are living in similar situations. That number is incredible and makes the issue of shared community and faith that much more urgent and necessary!
Well, I think I’ve written quite enough for this entry, but I just wanted to quickly describe what some of my actual tasks are here as several people have been asking if I have been assigned to certain classrooms/projects, etc. As of right now, my primary assignments are to teach 4-6 grade English, help with the English “taller” which is similar to an elective, work in the Andacollo campus ministry helping to organize class retreats and masses, and help run the meetings for the groups of high school students that go on mission trips to rural Santiago. I am also going to be singing in the mini Andacollo parish youth choir and will most likely be helping with a Peace Studies course for high school students at St. George’s (the other school that Holy Cross works at in Santiago). That’s all I know for now! Please keep our community in your prayers, and also feel free to send me your own prayer intentions!Saturday, August 6, 2011
Bienvenidos a Chile!
Well friends, my time as a Holy Cross OLM has officially begun! It is hard to believe that this is only my fifth day in Chile. The past few days have been full of introductions and names (many of which I have already forgotten, despite how hard I am trying!), visits to the most popular neighborhood bread stands and fruit markets, two birthday parties, a high school retreat, conversations with the Holy Cross priests, sisters, and volunteers, cups and cups of tea and coffee, and many discussions about the current strikes, marches and protests occurring in Chile over the educational system. As always, I continue to be humbled and inspired by the hospitality and warm, welcoming spirit of the Chilean people. My OLM partner, Mike, and I have been thrown right into the community, attending the inauguration of a new Fundamor (one of Holy Cross’s main social action projects in Chile that aims to assist children who have been abandoned or are living in high-risk situations) site in Andacollo (the community in which we live) yesterday, helping to run a retreat for a class of Andacollo High School juniors on Thursday, hanging out with Holy Cross priests for vespers and a “social” last night, and joining students this morning to repaint the kitchen in one of the schools this morning.
In some ways, it seems as though I have returned to a different city than the one I knew studying abroad. The social unrest and action against the government regarding the educational policy permeates daily life and discussion. Most schools (about 180) have been on strike for over 2 months. School desks and chairs have been thrown out of the schools and stuck into the surrounding fences. Some students stand guard on the school grounds, others complain that they are tired of sitting around at home and long to return to the classroom. Marches and protests have been occurring throughout Chile for the past months. Two days ago the city experienced two large and intense protests, and there were many more throughout the entire country. Over 500 protesters were detained and several policemen and students were injured. Some protestors set buses and buildings on fire and were throwing stones and paint, and policemen responded to the crowds by shooting tear gas and water throughout the streets. What is most jarring is that the images of the protests look so similar to the footage from the years of the dictatorship, especially the large military machines driving through the streets spraying water on protestors. Additionally, at 9:00 two nights ago people all around Santiago took to the streets banging pots and pans in an expression of unified support for a change in the educational system. This form of protest was notoriously used during the 80s against the Pinochet dictatorship, and, therefore, its use now obviously surfaces many associations and memories of that time. Just a few days ago, while riding on a bus through Santiago, I saw people gathered around a big banner with the name and picture of a man detained and disappeared in 1975 asking the government for information about his whereabouts—it is moments like these that call us to question and reflect more deeply on the idea that societies need to “forget about the past and move on” or finish a process of “reconciliation” as quickly as possible to make a definitive break with the past even if this means that a few people and families slip through the cracks. History consistently shows us that human hurts and wrongs and deep experiences of injustice and personal and communal suffering can sometimes be suppressed for a short period of time, but in moments of instability, unrest, and frustration, they can/will rapidly resurface. We may have many ideas about words like reconciliation, justice, and compassion, but in practice, we too often fall very short of their most profound and rich meanings, both individually and as communities. In situations such as the one occurring in Chile, it is easy to quickly form opinions and take sides, but I am trying to learn to listen deeply without judging and to also use this as an opportunity to not only pray for a greater commitment to non-violence and compassion in the hearts and minds of all those involved, but also for the grace and strength to realize the things in my own life that prevent me from fully inhabiting the Gospel understanding of non-violence and compassion.
There are many more things I could say about the multiple and varied moments of grace, contrast, worry, and joy that have shaded these first few days as an OLM in Chile, but, as always, I find myself short on time and humbled by the difficultly of expressing all of the complex layers of life’s encounters in words. Thanks for getting through this first entry, and I promise that more of this new life will come in bits in pieces in the next days J For now, I ask that you keep the Chilean people in your prayers and invite you to walk the journey with them and with all people struggling for greater human equality in our world by praying for the ability to critically examine our own hearts and become more compassionate brothers and sisters in Christ.
Here are some photos taken by one of the Holy Cross priests, Fr. Chris Cox
Here are some photos taken by one of the Holy Cross priests, Fr. Chris Cox
Neigbhors banging pans in protest
Students hang signs from the Law School building: "Public and Free Education"
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