Our first full day in Colombia has been a reasonably busy one as we recover from our travels.
In the morning Bonnie Klassen the MCC Representative in Colombia and Shalom Wiebe, who works with refugee issues here, came over and did an orientation session for us. It started with all of us talking about why we are involved in refugee work. I found this really interesting because we all come from such different places. The stories of our three Africans Jennifer, Moses and Mugasa were particular interesting to me. They had all either worked in refugee camps in Kenya or Uganda or been refugees. It's a good group and we are enjoying each other’s company.
I find parallels with South Africa here in a number of places: the bars on the window or the abundance of fresh tropical fruit, but the most striking so far came this morning when Bonnie was talking about the conflict here. She said that most people in Bogota and most of the major cities never really think about the conflict in the country because it doesn't touch their lives. It's something that's happening "out there" or to other people. It reminded me of what I heard white South Africans say about the violence in their country during apartheid. They didn’t really know what atrocities are being committed on their behalf. The dynamics of the conflict are different, but the self-deception is the same and that allows the conflict to continue. Antjie Krog’s book, Country of my Skull which is her account of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa talks about that.
Late morning, we walked to a nearby Mennonite church in a light rain which waxed and waned through the day. Shalom sat behind us during the service and translated for us.
Many of the Mennonite churches in Colombia have been leaders in working at peace and justice in the country and this particular church has worked a lot to support Internally Displace People (IDPs) who make their way to Bogota from other parts of the country. This Sunday they prayed for a family from this church that will be leaving for Quebec as Government Sponsored Refugees this week. By the end of the prayer both the family and the pastor were wiping tears from their eyes. It made me realize something of what the opportunities that immigrating to Canada can mean. In the prayer it was cast as something of a religious pilgrimage during the prayer. The phrase “land of milk and honey” was mentioned in connection with Canada. At the same time I wondered about the difficulties ahead of this family that they cannot imagine as they work to settle in a new culture. Are they ready for this? How could they ever be ready for a change like that? Certainly no journey, even a journey to “the promised land” is an easy one. I hope there will be someone to help them in the process.
The food has been wonderful so far. The fresh fruit and fruit juice has been another connecting point to my memoires of South Africa. The Africans in our group were particular happy to see fried plantains. After lunch we went to the museum of gold and the art glary of Fernando Botero (the best known Colombian artist) and to a shopping area. There were not many shops open though because of the rain.
The day ended with supper at the MCC office where we had a typical light meal for Colombians: bread and hot chocolate. Bonnie filled us in on MCC's history and involvement in Colombia and we talked broadly about the Colombian politics and problems. At one point, Moses asked Bonnie, “Where is the hope?” Her response is, “That is a good question. I have my own answers, but I want you to keep that question for yourself and try and find the hope yourself.” So we will be looking for hope over the next few days here in Colombia, even as the family we saw in church this morning will try and find home in Quebec.
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