Colombia delegation report — and upcoming Days of Prayer & Action
Thee first report has just been received from the Fellowship of Reconciliation's March-April 2009 youth arts & action delegation to Colombia. This reminds us to encourage all FOR supporters to sign up to participate in the upcoming Days of Prayer & Action for Colombia, which will be held on April 19-20. This year, thousands of homemade dolls will be given to U.S. elected legislators, as a means of encouraging them to remember the hundreds of thousands of Colombians who have been displaced and injured in the continuing conflict.
This first report, submitted by San Diego-based student Tanya Susoev, is a journal-styled personal reflection titled "Glad to see you so happy." ACOOC refers to the Bogota-based Acción Colectiva de Objetores y Objetoras de Conciencia (or Collective Action of Conscientious Objectors), not the more broadly-known Asociación de Cafecultores Orgánicos de Colombia (or Colombian Organic Coffeegrowers Association), aka ACOC:
It's been a few days since we've arrived here in Bogota, started getting to know the other delegates, the members of ACOOC, and the beautiful city surrounding us ... and yet, today being only the third morning in which I awoke in an unfamiliar bed, I already feel at home. For me, I suppose this is a particularly powerful feeling, an intense and very personal emotion because of the conotations with which I bring an understanding of home ... a place that I never really knew growing up and one that, in my adulthood, I have truly tried to understand and experience ... and do believe that I have begun to experience here ... had those emotions, felt that comfort and welcome here — at home amongst the delegates and within my homestay family.
I think this is what has guided my feelings about being a part of this delegation ... has shaped my outlook on the work that we are doing and has developed an excessive happiness that I simply have not been able to shake — regardless of the lack of sleep and overwhelming wealth of information that I am trying to absorb — I seem to perpetually have this goofy smile on my face that doesn't seem to go away — that literally makes my cheeks hurt when I go to sleep at night — and that perpetuates this feeling of warmth in my heart ... that just makes me want to continually dance throughout the day. Just the other morning Kristen shared with me how glad she was to see me this happy ... which was something that meant a lot to me ... and made me really want to understand what it was ... what it was in being here amongst the delegates that made me feel so content.
After spending more time with the group ... telling stories, sharing meals, explaining our work, and expressing our passion ... after getting to know individuals — personal histories, families, education, and influences ... and after seeing more of the city and reflecting upon how we all fit into the multiplicities that are, Bogota ... I quickly realized that the wonderful spirit that has filled my heart is not simply a representation of any one of these things, but rather, the most unique and complementary way in which all of thest things fit together ... the way in which I have seen love and passion expressed in such beautiful forms. This has been through such everyday moments as seeing the FOR representatives interact wtih the ACOOC community. The depth to which these individuals care for one another is something truly remarkable. In the most simple interactions like the way they greet each other each morning or the way they say goodbye when we depart ... their smiles and strong embraces are not simply those of colleagues, but of friends ... friends who have the ability and capacity to understand each others greatest passions and life's work ... friends who don't need to ask why this work is important but rather, how they can help ... friends who see life as a gift, recognize the ways in which they have been blessed, and wish to share that with the world.
In the past few days I have become so thankful to be a part of that extended community ... of friends and colleagues who are not afraid to see the city (or the world for that matter) for all its horrible injustices, its pain, its suffering, its hardships ... and yet through all that see the beauty in the living people, want to hear the stories of survival and understand the complexities in which they live. Everyone here recognizes the power and strength of allowing ourselves to recognize our common humanity and find community, strength, and support through that ... the power in this group to make change and the passion behind the desire to do that is incredible ... but what has been most touching for me is that, although we all come to this experience from different backgrounds, different communities, and different populations in which we work ... together, the work that we do is transformative in both a communal, but global realm.
