Newsletters

Date: November 24th 2008

At the end of my first week, I met some women in the Presbytery office who were preparing packets to take to a CLAI–Colombia women´s meeting. One of the women was German´s wife, Teresita, who was coordinating this year´s event. As I pitched in to work on the packets, they suggested I go along with them. After checking with German the next day who thought it a wonderful idea, I got ready to take off with 14 women Wednesday, November 12th.

CLAI stands for Consejo Latinoamericano de Iglesias - the Latin American Council of Churches. Colombia belongs to the region that includes Colombia, Venezuela, and the Caribbean and this gathering that we were going to was the CLAI Colombia national women´s programming meeting. The women I met that first time at the Presbytery office were of different faith communities (Presbyterian, Baptist, Catholic, Mennonite) and those were mainly the groups represented at the national meeting, plus two Episcopalians, three Evangelistic Workers, and one who didn´t name her faith group, but rather said she was a displaced person and was coming from that background.

CLAI is strong in Barranquilla and therefore it was not surprising that we made up over half the participants. There were 28 women in all, the others being from areas around Bogota, Medellin, and Uraba. The meeting was held in Cachipay at a Mennonite conference center, two hours out of Bogota. Our contingency elected to go to Bogota a day early in order to visit family and friends. We boarded a commercial express bus Wednesday at 3 PM, arriving in Bogota 19 hours later at 10 AM Thursday morning. Once in Bogota, I tagged along with Teresita and her daughter as Teresita had to meet with others planning the meeting and so I had a chance to meet some more attendees that day.

The women from different regions gathered on Friday at 9 AM at the Mennonite center in Bogota and we all traveled together by private bus to the meeting. Once out of Bogota we made a pronounced descent for the next few hours, arriving in a lush green tropical area, although it was quite cold and rainy while we were there. Those from Uraba and Barranquilla felt the cold the most.

The time at Cachipay was rich with substance, laughter, prayer, and sisterly love. It´s hard to write all that took place during those days, but here are some observations:
• Prayer was central. Everything started and ended with prayer, from the time the 15 of us boarded the bus at Barranquilla to the arrival back in Barranquilla after more than 29 hours of travel from Cachipay. There was always thankfulness for what we were about while there and for our safe travels.
• The theme of the meeting was RECONCILIATION: A new look from the women, for a permanent agreement. At the plenary meetings, there was information and discussion on
• An analysis of reality: the Colombian women´s situation in the context of conflict and reconciliation
• Biblical and theological basis for reconciliation
• The politics of sexual health and reproductive rights
• The actual state of pastoring women and what CLAI is focusing on (sexual and reproductive health, reproductive rights, gender equality, population and development)
• Break out groups were at times interregional, but as time passed, there was more time spent as regions, working on goals and plans for the next year. A very effective organizing strategy.
• As with all groups, there were different personalities that made up the group, but in general, the Barranquilleras were the loud ones, dressed the most casually, were gregarious, full of jokes, inviting others to join in laughter. Those from Uraba were the true contrast, arriving in dresses and heels, quiet, listening, shivering in their light clothes, but within a day, putting sweatshirts over their dresses and wool caps on their heads. From Medellin came the two Episcopalians, in their sixties and among the oldest of the group, but full of life and sparkle and fully participating in all activities, including the skits. The Bogota continguency was more reserved, spoke out on all the issues, willing to take on group leadership to plan next year´s meeting. The first meal, most women sat with others from their region. But that changed quickly with the sharing of names, of stories, of faith, of difficulties and joys. The bus trip back to Bogota demonstrated t he change with sisters sitting with sisters that they hadn´t known existed just three days before.
• What a privilege it was to participate in the meeting. While the idea of our Presbyterian accompaniment program was unknown to most, they all accepted me in my role of accompanying them those days and it is evident that they accompany one another each day as they live out their faith and courageously work for a just and peaceful Colombia. They repeatedly reinforced that women have power and need to work together and use it in the name of Jesus Christ.
• I really liked it that the participants welcomed me into the group, but the focus was clearly on them and their agenda. They had come from great distances for this meeting and they stayed on task through to the end.

If you have any questions about what I´ve written or what I haven´t, feel free to email me and I will write more in another report. Grace to you and peace.

Jean McLeod Doughty
Barranquilla, Colombia
November 18, 2008
jeanmcleod@aol.com