Colombia – Page 2 – Comboni Lay Missionaries

My year of mission as a laywoman in Colombia (II)

23 February, 2021 by Alberto de la Portilla

(Second part of the testimony that we send you in three different moments)

Choir and first communion catechesis:

We started together with Bro. Pontien a choir, and in turn I also committed myself to be a catechist for a group of 17 children who wanted to receive their first communion sacrament, but the momentum lasted two weekends because our country was quarantined by the COVID-19, a little insecure and assuming a reality that we thought was going to be temporary became 7 months where group meetings were allowed with a limited number of people and where holding something virtual was not a possibility because of the conditions in which a significant group of families live in the sector.

Prayer in the Cuadra

In the first weeks of the quarantine, the mission team came up with the idea of organizing some activity that would allow us to be united with the neighbors and strengthen the spiritual area, and we called this new idea the “Prayer on the block”, we called the neighbors and Mr. Robinson, who belonged to a different religion along with his family.

One Thursday in March we began to call neighbors to come out of their homes and we, with Vane, animated the songs with the cununo and the Bombo (a learning process). Each week two neighbors were in charge of the Bible reading and its reflection. In addition, a basket was placed in the center of the block where each neighbor contributed with something from the market to help one of the families that participated in the prayer. This activity generated excitement and gave us peace because we trusted that God was going to protect us from COVID-19.

We spent three months meeting from the doors of our homes so that once a week in the afternoon we would share the gospel and some of the food that arrived in our neighborhood. In this way we got to know our neighbors Karen, Luna, Laura, Yolanda, Don Jose and his family, Don Esau (who lent the extensions and the microphone), Alexandra and her little Juan (who lent the sound), Mrs. Sandra (who allowed us to connect the sound in her house), Mrs. Maria, etc.

Markets Full of Solidarity

In mid-April we received a financial donation to give markets to 35 families affected by COVID-19, AFRO families were selected from the neighborhood, who were nominated by the Afro group led by Father Franco for more than 4 years. This market contained a prayer inside for the families to thank God for the people who had contributed money inside and outside the country for the purchase of these markets. This activity allowed us to meet more families living inside and outside our neighborhood.

Termination of my Contract

My contract was for three months, and when the contract ended there was no possibility that it would be renewed, the situation scares me but thank God those months were paid and with that money I could support myself for two more months. Then came my birthday and I received money from my blood family and my spiritual family (community Señor de los Milagros de Tauramena/ Casanare). In this way I was able to sustain myself until July.

Donation of a printer and school accompaniment.

At the end of April, a relative of Vanesa donated us the money to buy a printer and in this way help some families in the neighborhood with the online education of their children, we contacted teachers of second and third grade of the Buenos Aires Educational Institution, and with a group of five children (Dibisay, Juan Sebastian, Jhovanni, Laura and Javier) started in the apartment a school accompaniment, these children were two of second grade and three of third grade. They came to the apartment in the mornings and afternoons we proposed to work in order to be leveled, by the end of June the goal was achieved and we had a picnic as a prize.

The requirements that these five children met were as follows:

That their family did not have access to internet data.
Not to have the help of a person to explain the topics.
They should always come bathed, with clean clothes and eaten breakfast and/or lunch.
Comply with the schedule 10 am to 12 pm and 1:30 to 5:00 pm.
To leave their suitcase with all the supplies at my house so they did not carry their suitcase every day (I made sure we always had all the materials to work with).
Leaving the space in the apartment where we did our homework clean.
Not disrespecting each other.
Behave like smart kids to learn and get good grades.

In addition to this, thanks to the printer, 10 families would pick up printed guides after five in the afternoon, so that the children could work from home. One child came once a week for me to take the evidence of the solved activities and send it to the grade director.

In July, two new girls (Jondarlys and Sharick) joined the school reinforcement program, they were also behind and were in third grade, so I set up a schedule in the morning from 8:30 am to 12:00 pm and in the afternoon I received only three children, because when Laura and Juan Sebastian were leveled, they began to work from home on the two daily guides sent by the teachers. In that month of July, we started a construction of a house and Marisol (Laywoman) supported the school reinforcement from her house. In August I resumed the school support with three new children in the morning schedule (Paula, Shari and Adrian) two of second grade and one of third grade, and in the afternoon we attended all the children of third grade who were up to date with homework, by then there were 5 children, from this month some parents according to their needs made me a contribution of 15 or 20 thousand pesos per week and thus helped me with my expenses.

At the beginning of September, the group expanded, now I had 6 children in the morning (Shari, Jordanys, Gabriela, Nicol, Paula), who belonged to different grades; first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth. Then I had to look for someone to support me and God sent Natalia, a girl from the neighborhood who was 20 years old and had already worked with children. The afternoon group expanded and now there were 6 children (Jhovanni, Adrian, Jondarlys, Luis Ferney, Javier and Victoria). The processes here became more challenging because Jordanys and Shari did not know how to read and we proposed to start the process of teaching reading and writing.

By the end of October, Elvin, a third grader from another institution, joined the program and the challenge was to help him save the year, so by the second week of November this process was completed with two children in the morning and four in the afternoon. Only Jhovanni, 9 years old, was there from the beginning to the end of this experience.

The school support became a process where some children learned to read, write, do reading comprehension, color and work judiciously to meet the daily goals. They were months of laughter, tension, frustration tolerance, field trips (every month we did an integration excursion with the children who were there), a process where you help children not to lose a school year, to do good quality work, they were months of love and details. These children gave meaning to my mission because their witticisms, their personalities, gave meaning to my weeks. God bless each one of them and their families, and keep them safe from harm.

Alexandra Garcia, CLM Group of Colombia

My year of mission as a laywoman in Colombia (I)

18 February, 2021 by Alberto de la Portilla

(We open a testimony that we will send in three different moments)

Many times we make decisions inspired by a dream, an impulse, by necessity or because we want to meet ourselves, to define new goals. Thus began my desire to do mission; at the beginning I saw it as a requirement to do mission on the African continent, a continent that has always inspired me the desire to know it since I finished my career as a psychologist.

My mission experience allowed me to meet God in different faces, in different actions, in different details, to meet children, youth, adults, women and to be part of a team, a fraternity, the unity of women of different ages and with different personalities are part of the beautiful moments that this year of mission contains.

Christmas Novenas in Bajito Vaqueria

On December 16, 2019, I met the famous Father Danielle (everyone speaks very well of him) from Tumaco, a charismatic man, loving with his people, proactive, funny, intellectual and respectful, who allowed me to come to his house and gave me the opportunity to know Bajito Vaqueria (an island near the town of Tumaco). There I stayed for eight days with my partner Alejandro in the house of Mrs. Marta, who welcomed us with her son Jorge and her daughter-in-law “Dianita”. I met children, young people, shell fisherwomen and men who are absent during the week because they are out at sea with their boats.

Bajito Vaqueria is an island that welcomes you with a super long cement port, which connects you with the sea and with its beautiful colorful wooden houses, with a chapel in the center, a kindergarten that has around it stairs that allow women to sit around it in the afternoons to play bingo, an educational institution in which its stairs were the perfect space to rehearse the “arruyos” or Christmas carols that were played every night of the novena, a soccer field and next to it an arm of the river that joins with the sea.

This place had something perfect for me, there was almost no phone signal, this gave a lovely touch to my Christmas mission, because it allowed me to disconnect and appreciate the times, the landscape, the conversations with the women who told me about the history of this place, they taught me to prepare some typical dishes and also to extract the product of the shell. In addition, it also allowed us to play with the children and although the stay was short, we carried out several activities such as:

The assembly of the nativity scene in the church with the help of the children.
A choir accompanied by recyclable instruments such as bottles and broken buckets, where for the first time in my life I knew the famous “arruyos”.
Cleaning of the main streets of the village so that baby Jesus would arrive and feel that he was in a clean place, because it was already beautiful!
Games in the afternoons where we did acrossport, races, bible review, teamwork and water games.
Sharing a little bit of my llanera culture and doing a choreographed assembly of a Joropo with beautiful dancers from the Pacific.
Conducting a raffle so that Dianita could go to visit her family in Ecuador that Christmas.

They were eight days that opened the door to my year of mission with the Comboni Missionaries, eight days of laughter, of having the chapel full at night doing the novena, of seeing the children dance in an extraordinary way, eight days where God was making me attached to this decision that I had taken.

Altos de Cazucá- Where Children Let You Know a Little of the Kingdom of God

In January, I arrived at Barrio el Oasis (Municipality of Soacha), this would be the place where I would stay for the rest of the days and months to make a more exciting and constant experience. I started with a week of cleaning at the house of Father Franco who welcomed me for a month and a half, while I got a job that would allow me to pay a rent. I admit that the first weeks were full of not so positive emotions, because my parents questioned my decision to leave aside the studies I have and the lifestyle I was used to, it was not easy (I admit it) to have calls where you hear that your parents are crying and asking God that I rethink my decision. I was also asking my God that they would support me and that their attitude would change.

I was received by a mission team made up of Marisol (a laywoman from the fraternity of Charles de Foucauld), Sister Yolanda (a Juanist Sister), Father Franco (Comboni Missionaries) and Vane (a Comboni Laywoman who would move to live with me in the following months). With them, bonds were woven and they shared with me a little of the realities of the neighborhood. I started my mission with some savings and with the hope of getting a job soon that would allow me to support myself or cover my necessary expenses (rent, food, cell phone plan and medicines).

Thanks to Sister Yolanda I was able to contact Father Julio Castillo of the parish of Santa Maria de Cana and he gave me the opportunity to work, part time since February, earning half the minimum wage (that job was perfect), where I worked as a secretary and sacristan for three months. Having a job helped the idea that Vane and I had of renting an apartment, having our own space and being able to feel comfortable from there, so by the month of March we moved to an apartment one block above Father Franco’s house.

Alexandra Garcia, CLM Group of Colombia

Our experience as CML in Colombia during this quarantine

14 May, 2020 by Alberto de la Portilla

Soacha-Cundinamarca

Colombia

May 11, 2020

Dear Comboni Lay Missionaries

The year 2020 began with our presence as Comboni Lay Missionaries of Colombia in the neighbourhood of El Oasis, on the eastern outskirts of the municipality of Soacha, near the city of Bogotá. The Comboni priest Franco Nascimbene has been working there for five years and we are now sharing our experience of immersion with him. During this time, as a team, we have been thinking of ways to accompany all those affected by the current situation of COVID-19.

At the beginning of the quarantine we asked ourselves about the meaning of our presence in the middle of the community, since given the indications of the government we all had to be at home, temporarily suspending the pastoral activities planned for the year (catechesis, afro choir, eco environmental project and afro group).

Especially since we are in a neighborhood where the majority of the inhabitants depend on informal work and which is made up of minorities such as migrants (mostly Venezuelans) and those displaced by the violence of the departments of the Colombian Pacific. Although the incidence in terms of health has been minimal for the inhabitants of the neighborhood meanwhile there are no reported positive cases of people from the sector, the social and economic impact has brought an increase in the situation of poverty and in the guarantee of basic rights such as food, housing, health, recreation and education among others. When analyzing this reality as a team, we observe that the presence of the state continues to be minimal, and the food aid that has arrived in the neighborhood is not enough to supply basic food for the families.

Facing this reality, the following significant experiences have arisen and we would like to share with you, full of great joy:

Community prayer in the stable: During the first week of quarantine, during the prayer of the Comboni Missionaries’ team, the idea arose to share moments of prayer that would allow the people of the stable to generate more solidarity and hope. This idea was shared with neighbors from another church (evangelicals) who live on the same street and who joined the initiative. From the second week of quarantine onwards, this idea was born:

Every week two people on the block lead the prayer time.
There is a praise of gratitude accompanied by instruments such as the cununo, the bass drum and tambourines.
Each person from their home makes a prayer of gratitude and is accompanied by the chorus of the opening song.
The two facilitators of the weekly prayer share a biblical quotation and generate a reflection.
Then each family makes a prayer of petition.
The prayer ends with praise and a basket is placed in the middle of the street so that each neighbor can give something to eat to a family that needs it.

This experience, which we continue to live, has allowed us to get to know our neighbors, since for reasons of study or work, it was not possible for us to share these spiritual and community moments. In addition, two people have committed themselves to prepare the prayer every week, and from the second week onwards, a sound system and microphone are loaned out, with the participation of people from other streets. The most important thing is that from this community act, solidarity is experienced among the people who contribute with some of their food to benefit two families who need it every week.

Solidarity sharing: at the same time that we were asking ourselves as a team about creative ways to help our neighbors, we unexpectedly began to receive messages from people close to us, such as friends or relatives who, from Bogotá, were concerned about the situation in the suburbs. Then it occurred that we become bridges that would allow economic aid to reach them.

The first two weeks we went to the nearby supermarkets to buy supplies to help some previously known families. From there we focused on the people who would benefit from this aid with the collaboration of some Afro leaders with whom we had been working. We thought about the afro population that as a consequence of the quarantine have been left without jobs. That is how one afternoon we shared around 40 markets among our black brothers of the sector. Markets have also been shared with migrants, older adults, recyclers and mothers who are heads of households.

The tenderness of the poor: In Father Franco’s house, a table was set where each person could take 3 foods that they needed or leave something that they wanted to share. From this initiative, many small gestures of solidarity emerged, where those who had something else shared it with someone who needed it more, for example: 5 eggs, a pound of tomatoes, a package of rice. People who got help shared part of what they received with those who had more difficulty than them. Currently, Father Franco spends his afternoons visiting different families in their homes to get to know their reality. In this exercise, he has met people who, having enough, have invited him to share with others who really need it.

As a team, we have been part of this experience of cooperation, we have experienced the joy of receiving food from people close to us, many times we have given what was due to us by emptying our hands but seeing how this giving multiplied into a new receiving.

Now we find ourselves thinking about how to support the academic process of the children, since with the strategy of distance education those who do not have an internet connection and the economic possibilities to pay for the copies they require, have been excluded.

United in prayer and mission from Colombia,

Alexandra Garcia, Vanessa Ardila, Father Franco Nascimbene

The Fourth day of our CLM continental meeting of America

24 September, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

We have begun our morning invoking the presence of Saint Daniel Comboni so that we as CLM may live and follow a style of life that he lived. We have begun the first part of the morning with some presentations of mission experience of some of our CLM. Carol and Minerva share their mission experience and work that they do among the Misteco village, in Mexico. They describe and share the difficulties, obstacles, limitations and fruitful gifts they have both experienced and received. Their work among the village of the Mistecos is to accompany them by being present and being there with them. Carol and Minerva both live and share their lives with the village of the Misteco, respecting their culture and working together among them without excluding their culture values, religion, and way of doing things. Then we have a guess speaker, Juan Manuel Garcia a professor coming from a Pastoral School of the indigenous people in Mexico City, whom gives CLM formation in the area of pastoral work within this people. In between our formation class we were assigned group work, it enabled for some dialogue, and reflection of this type of pastoral work. The various groups coincided with some thoughts such as obstacles, limitations, and realizing the importance of this kind of work. The main focus and teaching that the CLM remained with is that “God’s heart is opened to all that want to know of him” which was a very enriching knowledge. In the second part of the day we have two psychologist speakers, they provided useful information and knowledge on how to communicate more effectively among each other (CLM). They used group interaction, as a dynamic to bring us together and practice our communication skills that we already possess in a more effective manner using strategies and methods.

At the end of our day we concluded with Adoration to the Blessed Sacrament and were infused with an explosion of gratitude.

(Valentín and Yessenia)

The third day of our CLM continental meeting of America

22 September, 2016 by Alberto de la Portilla

The Morning Prayer marked the beginning of our day with a very dynamic and colorful day that filled us with optimism. Then we worked in groups, CLM were divided into five different groups in order to contextualize and synthesize on previous points that were previously agreed on. The second part of the morning was used to form us in how to properly manage our web site: www.lmcomboni.org. Alberto de la Portilla, our coordinator of the central committee facilitated a training on how to access our web page and showed us the great advantages it offers making it possible for CLM to be connected from around the world. Also the functions, the benefits it offers such as all the useful content that can be of interest, that can be found through this medium of communication.

In the second part of the day, we have been anxiously waiting to visit the Sanctuary of the Virgen de Guadalupe, (an emblem of the Mexican town). Our pilgrimage began in the late hours of the afternoon and went throughout the evening. The mass which was presided by the Provincial of Mexico and concelebrated by four participating Comboni priests it was a very exciting time in which we all participated. This visit to the Sanctuary injected in all CLM a spirit of mission in all of us. At the end of the day we concluded with a visit to the Comboni Sisters at the Provincial house. We celebrated with them their special moment of the new election in a new chapter in Rome, the election of their Mother Superior.

(Valentín y Yessenia)