As I arrive to the church on my
bike at 9 a.m., there are already 2 Colombian refugee families waiting at the
door to talk with me. After welcoming them inside I head up to my office
with one of the families while the other waits their turn downstairs in our
makeshift waiting room in the sanctuary. As I talk with the first family,
I jot down notes about their situation: “family of 12, arrived to Ecuador 2
months ago, have been staying in a shelter since they arrived, came only with a
few pairs of clothes, their son was assassinated in Colombia, all are
unemployed, have been denied the refugee visa”. The second interview follows and the scribble down these notes: “elderly couple, unemployed, live alone, behind on
rent payments, sleep on bare wooden floor, were farmers in Colombia, had farm
taken away by guerrillas, suffering from hunger”. A third man arrives and shares his story: “man whose wife and 3 year
old kid are still in Colombia, former cocaine trafficker since age 13, actively
being persecuted in Quito for deciding to leave his job as a drug trafficker,
lives in constant fear, has aspirations to move to Brazil to escape persecution”.
It’s now 10:45am and 5 more refugee
families have arrived and are waiting downstairs to talk with me. During the course of the next 3 hours, I
interview the 5 families and scribble down the following notes: “single mother
of 4 small children, unemployed and suffering from serious medical problems;
family of 4, children suffering severe discrimination and abuse in school from
both students and teachers for being Colombian; family of 3, father needs
medical attention-has various bullets lodged in his body, in need of psychological
help; family of 5, father worked for a month and employer refused to pay what
he owed, 2 adolescent daughters have run away from home; single father of 2
daughters, unable to pay rent, suffering from malnutrition.”
At 1:45pm I finally leave my office
at the church to eat lunch at a corner restaurant. As I sit and eat my meal in silence, I
reflect over the 8 intense interviews that I had during the course of the
morning. Did I give them the correct
advice? How can I help these
families resolve these situations of vulnerability? What is the root of their problems? How can our project be more effective for these people?
There are no easy answers nor
easy solutions. All of the families I spoke
with have in some way been victims of the vicious and complex war in
Colombia. Now in Ecuador, they are part
of a vulnerable population that suffers from a wide variety of severe problems.
So why do these families arrive
to my office almost daily seeking help without the Mennonite church ever publically
announcing that we help Colombian refugee families? The answer that I hear personally from most
refugees is that the Mennonite church offers them something that they don’t find
anywhere else. We attempt to offer an
integral approach in order to aid these families during the rough periods of
transition and instability that they are experiencing and through word of mouth
people show up. Of the 8 families that I
interviewed in the morning, some will receive food aid, others will receive a small
business grant, others will have weekly appointments with our professional psychologist,
others will receive a mattress to sleep on, others will be registered to
receive high quality medical treatment at a local private hospital with drastically
reduced rates through an agreement with our refugee project, and others will be
referred to organizations that specialize in legal advice. All will be invited to our monthly workshops,
all will be invited to participate in our church community and have a support
system, all will be treated with dignity as human beings in need and all will
be accompanied in solidarity.
Coordinating this project, as you
might imagine, is a difficult experience.
Nevertheless, it has allowed me to open my eyes to the real suffering
that war, inequality, discrimination and violence cause on a daily basis. It is allowing me to grow in wisdom,
compassion and solidarity. But more importantly
the humble effort of our project is allowing others to voice their suffering,
recuperate from trauma, confront the ugly face of injustice, have food on their
table, recover from medical problems, learn values of peace and respect, and
begin a new life. It’s a joy to be
involved in this process and feel that I’ve earned the trust and respect of
many refugees who have given me the undeserved name of “Doctor David” (something
that makes me chuckle yet feel honored).
I’m excited to continue in this
role during the next year and a half here in Quito….which reminds me, if you haven’t
heard the news yet and you’ve read this far, I’ve decided to stay one more year
here in Ecuador! This means that I’ll be
here until November of 2013. I’ll be
sending out a letter soon with more details so stay tuned. Hope everyone is well, chao!
Here are a few pictures from a few recent activities:
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| Mini Goshen reunion with Joe Hartman and CJ Hague |
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| A recent hike with some of the youth group |
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| Enjoying the Colombia vs. Ecuador World Cup qualifier game with the Moya family |
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| Awesome visit to the mountain "Antisana" with an elevation of around 18,800 feet |
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| The most recent refugee workshop this past Saturday with an attendance of 35 adults and 15 children. |
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| In the refugee workshop working with the topic "Overcoming Resentment Caused by the Current Situation in Ecuador" |
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| Playing some music with Cesar and Daniel Moya for the Father's Day celebration at church |
