Newsletters

Date: February 11th 2010

From Camelot to Cumbia, displacement to dancing
Linda Eastwood & Carol Weaver, 2/9/10

In the two weeks since we last wrote, so much has happened. We've seen much of the teaching mission of the IPC (Iglesia Presbiteriana de Colombia) in visits to the Colegio Americano and in joining the Reformed University's convocation gatherings. We've attended church in Barranquilla, Pital (where Linda preached) and Sincelejo, the last being several hours south of Barranquilla. It's on the other side of Montes de Maria, an area whose roads are still not safe from night-time violence, a fact that put a time-limit on the afternoon session meeting. Linda's also traveled to and worshipped in Valledupar, close to the Venezuelan border, a five-hour drive not only through the stunning scenery of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, but also through banana fields and palm-oil plantations, with their stories of forced displacement. (The suppression of "ELN guerrilla supporters" makes a great pretext for clearing land for plantations.)

Perhaps the greatest contrast was between two events last week, one a visit to Camelot (Cah-me-loh), a five-year old barrio of primarily displaced people, and the other watching Guacherna, the "parade of lanterns" that is part of Carnaval, moving towards its peak next weekend.

We were taken to Camelot by Antonio, a volunteer leader in ANDESCOL (Asociación Nacional de Desplazados Colombianos, the National Association of Colombian Displaced People), and then guided by a couple of the women-leaders in the community. Many of the homes here have been beautified with paint and plants – mango trees grow pretty big in five years! But behind the facades, the homes are poorly built, and the families struggle – to find work, to pay the mortgage (typically 3-5 million pesos, or around $2,000), to send the kids to school when there's only a private school nearby. We heard a little of why these people were displaced – fear of violence, the killing of a community leader – but we also saw the pride and hope in the tiny community school which allows even those who can't afford fees and uniforms to get some education.

Camelot seemed such a world away from the joy and music and dancing (and throwing of water and foam) of the Guacherna parade, with its brightly costumed characters and its wonderful dancing groups – many of them dancing Barranquilla's traditional cumbia, with the men in white, and the women swirling their full skirts as their hips swayed but heads stayed absolutely still. Even here, however, there were costumed reminders of the violence. There were mock army-soldiers (or paramilitaries?) brandishing ridiculously oversized weapons. "Victims", many costumed to look decapitated, with head under arm, and all well covered in "blood". And, to remind us of our complicity, an "Uncle Sam" surrounded by overzealous U.S. troops.

Black humor is one way to try to cope with the ongoing violence in this society, but it's just a stop-gap. Rebuilding lives, and creating a culture of peace, is a much longer-term project – and it is to that project that the IPC is dedicated, and that we, in our limited way, accompany.

Tomorrow to Bogotá, for the biennial synod meeting.

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For more on our experiences, see Linda's blog at www.lindacolombia.wordpress.com (Subscribe to receive e-mails when the blog's updated. Linda will be here in Barranquilla through the middle of April, and while she'll be "moving on" at the start of March from accompanying the IPC to "accompanying" the Reformed University, she'll continuing blogging.)




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