Monday, July 11, 2011

When Someone Sits on you, You Know it is Time to Start Saying Goodbye

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting with a group of gringoes from Port Orange Presbyterian Church in Florida. We have been working together this past week building relationships with the congregation of Iglesia Presbiteriana Emanuel. When the minivan or "combi" had come to take us back down the hill to the center of Ayacucho, Sara signaled to us that it was time to start saying goodbye. I was sitting on a bench with Mama Gregoria and her four daughters. That is when Sebedina, a normally reserved and quiet Quechua woman jumped into my lap and said "You cannot go. I will not let you." Needless to say this unexpected display of devotion, and proof of the fruits of my year long laborial efforts at relationship building in Cuchipampa had paid off. Pf course mama Gregoria jumped in, not my lap, but held my shoulders down and said "When you leave who are we going laugh with (more like at hee hee!) and talk with? Don't go, you can't. You haven't even had lunch at my house yet." So this Friday I am having lunch at Mama Gregoria's house and on Thursday July 21st I am leaving Ayacucho. These next two weeks will be full of "Goodbyes for now" so I thought I would take some time to reflect on a few of the things that I have seen and done while here in Peru. For better or for worse.

1. Witnessed the thin places where Quechua (indigenous Peru) and Spanish culture intersect and meld, as well as intersect and bounce off one another.
Food, music, spirituality, dress, language, and simply ways of being.

2. Potatoes - anyway you slice them I have eaten my share this year because a plate is not a plate in Peru unless there is potatoes and white rice on them.
They are an Andean staple.

3. Having a typically reserved Quechua woman sit on me to keep me from leaving.

4. Pacha Manca - Andean BBQ. We made it in my backyard. Everything is buried in the earth with hot rocks and left to cook for two hours. Peel it back and eat with you hands. I was told it tastes better that way.

5. Walking alongside of the victims of the Internal Conflict that gripped Peru from 1980-2000. Many of whom are still looking for their loved ones or their remains, and a place to begin processing what happened. The majority of whom are Quechua speaking, and did not ask for the conflict in the first place. The Sendero Luminoso brought it, the military answered, and the indigenous mountain populations were caught in the middle. Like being caught between two fires.
Here's to Maria Concepcion, Mama Dio, Juanita, Paulina, Don Delfin, Isaac, Elvira, Salome, Rosalbina, Marlene, Flavia, Hilaria, Zenovia, and the rest.

6. Picking potatoes and making authentic Andean Queso with Mama Milchora (My host grandmother) in Remiapata. An Andean sleeping bag is actually a sheepskin rug.

7. Helping the families of Huarapite finally put their loved ones to rest. Walking alongside of them 27 years later as they witnessed the transferral of remains, carrying caskets on the procession from the rural chapel to the new graveyard of 19 graves. Holding Leonora as 27 years of waiting over whelmed her and her sister.

8. Being invited to preach, teach, and do just about what ever my creative heart and mind could think of at Iglesia Presbiteriana Emanuel in Cuchipampa, Ayacucho. Kudos to Pastor Juan S. Quispe for taking a risk (and I think having it become fruitful).
What a fantastic church and congregation. Friday Pastor Juan is going to teach me how to celebrate communion in Quechua.

9. Macchu Picchu during its 100th Anniversary year.Enough said.

10. Working alongside of - teaching and learning, with and from - the Paz y Esperanza Ayacucho Team. Honorato, Milagros, Yudy, Felimon, Marcelino, Omar, Neomi, Raul, Henry, and Yuele.
Not always a smooth and easy process, but rewarding nonetheless...for both sides I think.

11. Traveling with Sara Armstrong and Rusty Edmonson, mission co-workers, while in Huanta and Ayacucho.

12. The city buses of Ayacucho. Sube Sube, baja baja!!

13. Hiking Campanayo, twice.

So those are just some of the highlights. I think my blog kind of puts the rest in perspective. So let the countdown begin. This week is full of lunches, pacha mancas (my favorite!), a pijamada or sleep over with the Emanuel youth, a trip to Huamanquiquia for exhumations, and a trip down the mountain on the Antezana bus line.

Adios mi Pueblo Ayacucho!! (It is actually a song).

Monday, July 4, 2011

Paz y Esperanza Goes to Great Britain




On June 22 Paz y Esperanza went British by opening an office in London, England. This, the newest Paz y Esperanza office makes the international evangelical NGO that works to promote human rights, prevent and combat the abuse and marginalization of women and children as well as make public the atrocities of the internal armed conflict that took place in Peru from 1980-2000, many of which are still "unsolved".

The newest Paz y Esperanza Office is a covenant partnership signed by some 80 people who have worked in and are passionate about human rights, the history, culture, and dynamic people of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The inauguration of this newest international office of Paz y Esperanza was confirmed in Christ Church and Upton Chapel in London. Graham Gordon, the director of the board, said "Our promise and work will be to promote and bring awareness to the churches of Britain about the human rights situation in Peru, Boliva, and Ecuador."

Paz y Esperanza began in Lima, Peru in the 1980's by several lawyers working on human rights violations, but now has multiple regional offices in Peru, as well as international offices in Ecuador, Bolivia, and the United States (Minnesota).

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Kawsaq - Quechua Shalom

Shalom is a state of peace...but wait it is much more than that. It is a state of peace when all things are right in your life; economically, relationally, yes shalom. In Quechua the word they use is Kawsaq (pronounced COW-SAKH). Kawsaq is also the name of the quarterly publication of Paz Y Esperanza here in Peru. The editor is Omar, my companero in communications.