Just a short entry to let you know that photos from a few May-June events are now posted on the photo link at right, including shots from our ceviche making, English class field trip, birthday party for friend Lenin at our house, and shots from my recent trip to Lima (see post below).
I`ve jumped right back into life here, with Confirmation classes, basketball, choir practice and singing at mass, and English classes. I`m also preparing to leave again soon, excited for the visit of Michi at the end of the week. The next blog entry will be in mid-July, after her visit: a few days here in Chimbote and then two weeks of travel to Arequipa, Cuzco/Machu Picchu, and Lake Titicaca. God bless, and happy independence day!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
La Vida Limeña
Greetings to all! This entry comes to you from Lima, capital of Peru and home to about 8 million people (of about 28 million total in the country). Photos posted soon (don`t have the right cables with me).
INTRODUCTION TO THE PERUVIAN REALITY
I am in the closing week of a three week course called An Introduction to the Peruvian Reality, directed at foreign missionaries working in Peru and presented by the Bartholomew de las Casas Institute. The Bartolo, as they call it, was founded in 1974 as a space for theological reflection on (and organization of) the role of the church in the society of Latin America, specifically from the point of view of its founder Gustavo Gutierrez, one of the foundational figures of the Liberation Theology movement. Bartholomew de las Casas was a colonial era priest who was the first champion of the rights of the indigenous populations of the Spanish colonies. Besides the stimulating course material, I`ve enjoyed the chance to meet and get to know my fellow classmates, a mixture of 24 priests, religious, and lay missionaries from a variety of countries: Spain(4), Chile(4), Ireland(3), Canada(3), US(3 including me), Mexico(2), Switzerland(2), Portugal, The Congo, Germany, Peru.
SUMMARY OF TOPICS
Anyway, first a summary of the topics (for each topic, usually two each day, they have invited a different person who specializes in that field or area):
Week 1: Ancient and Modern History of Peru, the years of violence (1980-93), intro to social problems, economic reality, political context
Week 2: Multicultural/intercultural country, Indigenous communities of the Andes, communities of the Amazon region, women in Peru, psicological aspects of cultural immersion, globalization and the effects on Peru, Project of Decentralization of government, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Problems in Public Health Care
Week 3: Conflicts between Communities and the Mining Industry, The Media in Peru, Civil Society, Problems in Public Education, History of the Church in Latin America, The 2007 Conference of Latin American Bishops.
Tomorrow we have a class on Liberation Theology and group discussion, and on Friday the closing: evaluation, potluck (each person to bring something from their country--I think I`ll make apple pie.
IMPRESSIONS
Some initial themes/impressions:
- Peru is a very centralized country, centralized in Lima. It seems like two countries, Lima and the rest of Peru (which they call here `the provinces`). The life here is also distinct: much more ethnically diverse, much broader range of economic classes, obviously a lot bigger with more traffic, etc, more racism, some very nice areas that could be any US city (including the neighborhood where I am staying), a ton of chinese food restaurants. In addition, I realize more the relative absence of the government outside of Lima in providing basic services -- many rural areas of Peru, and especially the jungle, are severely neglected.
- The War of the Pacific, between Peru and Chile in 1870´s, severely marked the national psyche. Peru lost valuable territory in the south and to this day has a chip on its shoulder against Chile, esp in Lima it seems (haven`t noticed this in Chimbote). Partly it`s because of current Chilean capital in Peru and experiences of racism that Peruvians experience when they travel there. Plus, Peru almost always loses to Chile in soccer.
- Peru has a rich pre-colonial history, of which the most recent, the Incas, were only one small part of. This history leaves a legacy of diversity which was augmented by Spanish colonization, importation of slaves, immigrations of Chinese (late 1800`s) and Japanese (early 1900`s) workers, and Italian/German immigrations. The geographical diversity of coastal desert, high Andes, and Amazon jungle adds to the variety. In general though, the diversity is seen as a problem instead of an asset and there seems to be a general lack of national identity and unity.
- The years of terrorist violence here were tough and brutal, and continue to leave a legacy of mistrust among people. Between 1980 and 2,000 about 70,000 people, mostly indigenous, were killed by either the Maoist Shining Path rebels or the armed forces.
- Like most things left to the responsibility of the federal government, public education is very poor here. Teachers are generally not well trained and lack basic resources such as textbooks. Corruption within the government is high in general, but is the highest in the education system. Education is generally dictation, copying, and memorization. Private schools, of which there are multitudes, are generally better but are out of the reach of many. There was a national forum on education in 2004 which produced a 15 year plan for overhauling the system, but after a grand ceremony and promises the current president (Alan Garcia, of which I`ve heard few positive things except that he is a good speaker) has forgotten all about it.
- The economy of Peru has seen a steady period of growth the past 7 years, fueled by exports of the mining industry, dominated by international/foreign companies. However, this growth has not changed the reality of life for the majority of the population and has not resulted in any substantial increase in badly needed investment in public infrastructure (as our own dirt streets of Chimbote illustrate). The government refuses to tax at a reasonable level the huge profits of foreign mining companies for fear of driving them away, while these companies increasingly conflict with local rural communities over land rights, with the state usually intervening on behalf of the business interest.
- Peru, as many countries, has seen a huge immigration of its population to urban areas in the last 40 years. The outskirts of Lima are settlements on dry, desert hills, with services arriving only years later.
- Politically, there is no viable political opposition to the party in power, APRA, which is the only national political party. Only in 2002 were state governors elected for the first time, and national congress members are not elected by a particular area, leaving constituents with no person directly speaking for their needs. Lacking meaningful channels for dissent, protests and conflicts (sometimes violent) break out at the rate of 60-70 per month nationally -- currently mining workers are making news by blocking the Pan American Highway in south Peru and taking policemen hostage.
- The Amazon jungle comprises 70% of Peruvian territory and holds 10% of its population. Access to the money economy and to state services is severely limited for the 50 distinct cultures of varying demographic size that inhabit this area.
- The current Peruvian Church as a whole is very conservative and very much in line with the interests of power and wealth, with the exception of a couple bishops who take isolated stands to work for the interests of their people. Still, the message of the most recent council of Latin American Bishops (Aparecida, Brazil, 2007) -- with the utmost support of Pope Benedict XVI -- strongly supports the renovation of the 1960`s, that the Church is called to be poor, missionary and paschal, implicit in its mission is identification with the marginalized of the world.
Personally, this wider view of Peruvian society has caused me to see my role here as larger than just helping my parish have a successful youth program. I hope to help and walk with our youth as they take concrete steps to change their society for the better. An additional benefit is all the practice in listening to and speaking Spanish here, both in the course (all given in Spanish) and with the sisters at the house.
OTHER ACTIVITIES IN LIMA
- With my friend Luzeliana who I met at our YM training course in February, I have taken a bus up Cerro San Cristòbal for a 360 degree view of Lima at night, made a brief stop at a discoteca, and visited the very beautiful, green, clean Park of the Waters, which is a series of lighted, creative fountains -- including one with a light show in the spray.
- Sister Pilar, the 37-year-old superior in Peru, had a hemorage in her stomach the first Wednesday I was here, passing out and vomiting blood. She was in the hospital a few days but is now at the house recovering well, but we made a couple visits in the afternoons and I donated blood. Each clinic or hospital has its own blood bank, and when you withdraw you have to find people to donate replacement blood. The technician, Naida, is studying English and asked me, while the bag was filling, if we could practice talking a bit. :)
- Sister Mirella and I went to see Prince Caspian in Spanish (my first movie theatre experience in Peru) and I had the chance to visit both the other houses that the Incarnate Word Sisters have here: Comas is on the edge of the city as the dry mountains begin, and the novitiate house is in San Juan Lurigancho. It has been a good opportunity to get to know many of them who are based in Lima better, including Elisa, Mirella, Gladys, Lourdes, Rosaleen, Pilar, Fabiola, Anita, with a bonus visit of Sister Lourdes from San Antonio.
- The first week also saw the visit of Carlos and Brandon from the IW headquarters in San Antonio, here to bring and install a video conference system in the house to allow international meetings without all the travel. They had a couple hangups, however, in that the firewall was confiscated for taxes at the airport and another key item (I don`t remember the name) burned up from the higher voltage. Both will eventually be available after taxes are paid, but Carlos and Brandon will have to make another trip south. An aside to this story is that on the way to the airport in a combi to meet the guys at the airport, Sister Elisa and I (we were going because Pilar had just entered the hospital) the police stopped the van and asked all inside for their identity documents. Neither Elisa (who is from Mexico) or I were carrying our ID`s, which she explained hopefully to the officer. I was a bit nervous for a moment, but he thankfully just reprimanded us but didn`t take any action.
- Jorge and Angelica, two Columban Lay Missionaries from Chile, invited me to their house out on the end of Lima for lunch this past Sunday. Jorge met me in town here and we made the 1.5 hour bus trip to spend an enjoyable afternoon with them and other young missionaries: Claudia and Teresa (Chilean Columban missionaries serving in a town near Cuzco, also in my course), John and Irma (Columban Missionaries from the Philipines with over 7 years here in Peru, and Miguel (German volunteer doing his obligatory national service for a year). The four Columban Missionaries lived together for one year in Chile in preparation and study, and just started a three year Peruvian commitment in January. Anyway, it was a good visit with dedicated, laughing people all around my age or a bit younger.
- Roberto, a friend from Chimbote, was in Lima the first weekend and we met a classmate of mine to visit the National Museum on Saturday. The museum was mostly closed with only a couple rooms open, so after a short visit Roberto and I ventured on three different buses to the ruins of Pachacamac, south of Lima, a temple site of various cultures 400-1500`s AD.
Well, if you`ve made it this far -- thank you! I will try to write sooner next time, so as to spread it out a little more. Next entry once again from Chimbote.
INTRODUCTION TO THE PERUVIAN REALITY
I am in the closing week of a three week course called An Introduction to the Peruvian Reality, directed at foreign missionaries working in Peru and presented by the Bartholomew de las Casas Institute. The Bartolo, as they call it, was founded in 1974 as a space for theological reflection on (and organization of) the role of the church in the society of Latin America, specifically from the point of view of its founder Gustavo Gutierrez, one of the foundational figures of the Liberation Theology movement. Bartholomew de las Casas was a colonial era priest who was the first champion of the rights of the indigenous populations of the Spanish colonies. Besides the stimulating course material, I`ve enjoyed the chance to meet and get to know my fellow classmates, a mixture of 24 priests, religious, and lay missionaries from a variety of countries: Spain(4), Chile(4), Ireland(3), Canada(3), US(3 including me), Mexico(2), Switzerland(2), Portugal, The Congo, Germany, Peru.
SUMMARY OF TOPICS
Anyway, first a summary of the topics (for each topic, usually two each day, they have invited a different person who specializes in that field or area):
Week 1: Ancient and Modern History of Peru, the years of violence (1980-93), intro to social problems, economic reality, political context
Week 2: Multicultural/intercultural country, Indigenous communities of the Andes, communities of the Amazon region, women in Peru, psicological aspects of cultural immersion, globalization and the effects on Peru, Project of Decentralization of government, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Problems in Public Health Care
Week 3: Conflicts between Communities and the Mining Industry, The Media in Peru, Civil Society, Problems in Public Education, History of the Church in Latin America, The 2007 Conference of Latin American Bishops.
Tomorrow we have a class on Liberation Theology and group discussion, and on Friday the closing: evaluation, potluck (each person to bring something from their country--I think I`ll make apple pie.
IMPRESSIONS
Some initial themes/impressions:
- Peru is a very centralized country, centralized in Lima. It seems like two countries, Lima and the rest of Peru (which they call here `the provinces`). The life here is also distinct: much more ethnically diverse, much broader range of economic classes, obviously a lot bigger with more traffic, etc, more racism, some very nice areas that could be any US city (including the neighborhood where I am staying), a ton of chinese food restaurants. In addition, I realize more the relative absence of the government outside of Lima in providing basic services -- many rural areas of Peru, and especially the jungle, are severely neglected.
- The War of the Pacific, between Peru and Chile in 1870´s, severely marked the national psyche. Peru lost valuable territory in the south and to this day has a chip on its shoulder against Chile, esp in Lima it seems (haven`t noticed this in Chimbote). Partly it`s because of current Chilean capital in Peru and experiences of racism that Peruvians experience when they travel there. Plus, Peru almost always loses to Chile in soccer.
- Peru has a rich pre-colonial history, of which the most recent, the Incas, were only one small part of. This history leaves a legacy of diversity which was augmented by Spanish colonization, importation of slaves, immigrations of Chinese (late 1800`s) and Japanese (early 1900`s) workers, and Italian/German immigrations. The geographical diversity of coastal desert, high Andes, and Amazon jungle adds to the variety. In general though, the diversity is seen as a problem instead of an asset and there seems to be a general lack of national identity and unity.
- The years of terrorist violence here were tough and brutal, and continue to leave a legacy of mistrust among people. Between 1980 and 2,000 about 70,000 people, mostly indigenous, were killed by either the Maoist Shining Path rebels or the armed forces.
- Like most things left to the responsibility of the federal government, public education is very poor here. Teachers are generally not well trained and lack basic resources such as textbooks. Corruption within the government is high in general, but is the highest in the education system. Education is generally dictation, copying, and memorization. Private schools, of which there are multitudes, are generally better but are out of the reach of many. There was a national forum on education in 2004 which produced a 15 year plan for overhauling the system, but after a grand ceremony and promises the current president (Alan Garcia, of which I`ve heard few positive things except that he is a good speaker) has forgotten all about it.
- The economy of Peru has seen a steady period of growth the past 7 years, fueled by exports of the mining industry, dominated by international/foreign companies. However, this growth has not changed the reality of life for the majority of the population and has not resulted in any substantial increase in badly needed investment in public infrastructure (as our own dirt streets of Chimbote illustrate). The government refuses to tax at a reasonable level the huge profits of foreign mining companies for fear of driving them away, while these companies increasingly conflict with local rural communities over land rights, with the state usually intervening on behalf of the business interest.
- Peru, as many countries, has seen a huge immigration of its population to urban areas in the last 40 years. The outskirts of Lima are settlements on dry, desert hills, with services arriving only years later.
- Politically, there is no viable political opposition to the party in power, APRA, which is the only national political party. Only in 2002 were state governors elected for the first time, and national congress members are not elected by a particular area, leaving constituents with no person directly speaking for their needs. Lacking meaningful channels for dissent, protests and conflicts (sometimes violent) break out at the rate of 60-70 per month nationally -- currently mining workers are making news by blocking the Pan American Highway in south Peru and taking policemen hostage.
- The Amazon jungle comprises 70% of Peruvian territory and holds 10% of its population. Access to the money economy and to state services is severely limited for the 50 distinct cultures of varying demographic size that inhabit this area.
- The current Peruvian Church as a whole is very conservative and very much in line with the interests of power and wealth, with the exception of a couple bishops who take isolated stands to work for the interests of their people. Still, the message of the most recent council of Latin American Bishops (Aparecida, Brazil, 2007) -- with the utmost support of Pope Benedict XVI -- strongly supports the renovation of the 1960`s, that the Church is called to be poor, missionary and paschal, implicit in its mission is identification with the marginalized of the world.
Personally, this wider view of Peruvian society has caused me to see my role here as larger than just helping my parish have a successful youth program. I hope to help and walk with our youth as they take concrete steps to change their society for the better. An additional benefit is all the practice in listening to and speaking Spanish here, both in the course (all given in Spanish) and with the sisters at the house.
OTHER ACTIVITIES IN LIMA
- With my friend Luzeliana who I met at our YM training course in February, I have taken a bus up Cerro San Cristòbal for a 360 degree view of Lima at night, made a brief stop at a discoteca, and visited the very beautiful, green, clean Park of the Waters, which is a series of lighted, creative fountains -- including one with a light show in the spray.
- Sister Pilar, the 37-year-old superior in Peru, had a hemorage in her stomach the first Wednesday I was here, passing out and vomiting blood. She was in the hospital a few days but is now at the house recovering well, but we made a couple visits in the afternoons and I donated blood. Each clinic or hospital has its own blood bank, and when you withdraw you have to find people to donate replacement blood. The technician, Naida, is studying English and asked me, while the bag was filling, if we could practice talking a bit. :)
- Sister Mirella and I went to see Prince Caspian in Spanish (my first movie theatre experience in Peru) and I had the chance to visit both the other houses that the Incarnate Word Sisters have here: Comas is on the edge of the city as the dry mountains begin, and the novitiate house is in San Juan Lurigancho. It has been a good opportunity to get to know many of them who are based in Lima better, including Elisa, Mirella, Gladys, Lourdes, Rosaleen, Pilar, Fabiola, Anita, with a bonus visit of Sister Lourdes from San Antonio.
- The first week also saw the visit of Carlos and Brandon from the IW headquarters in San Antonio, here to bring and install a video conference system in the house to allow international meetings without all the travel. They had a couple hangups, however, in that the firewall was confiscated for taxes at the airport and another key item (I don`t remember the name) burned up from the higher voltage. Both will eventually be available after taxes are paid, but Carlos and Brandon will have to make another trip south. An aside to this story is that on the way to the airport in a combi to meet the guys at the airport, Sister Elisa and I (we were going because Pilar had just entered the hospital) the police stopped the van and asked all inside for their identity documents. Neither Elisa (who is from Mexico) or I were carrying our ID`s, which she explained hopefully to the officer. I was a bit nervous for a moment, but he thankfully just reprimanded us but didn`t take any action.
- Jorge and Angelica, two Columban Lay Missionaries from Chile, invited me to their house out on the end of Lima for lunch this past Sunday. Jorge met me in town here and we made the 1.5 hour bus trip to spend an enjoyable afternoon with them and other young missionaries: Claudia and Teresa (Chilean Columban missionaries serving in a town near Cuzco, also in my course), John and Irma (Columban Missionaries from the Philipines with over 7 years here in Peru, and Miguel (German volunteer doing his obligatory national service for a year). The four Columban Missionaries lived together for one year in Chile in preparation and study, and just started a three year Peruvian commitment in January. Anyway, it was a good visit with dedicated, laughing people all around my age or a bit younger.
- Roberto, a friend from Chimbote, was in Lima the first weekend and we met a classmate of mine to visit the National Museum on Saturday. The museum was mostly closed with only a couple rooms open, so after a short visit Roberto and I ventured on three different buses to the ruins of Pachacamac, south of Lima, a temple site of various cultures 400-1500`s AD.
Well, if you`ve made it this far -- thank you! I will try to write sooner next time, so as to spread it out a little more. Next entry once again from Chimbote.
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