This post is also available in: Spanish
The protagonist of today’s story is a woman who, for security reasons, I’ll call Luz.
Luz was born in La Guajira, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. She describes it as a beautiful region, very warm but also very violent. “The people there are kind people, who don’t mind going out of their way to care for outsiders. I really liked the way traditions and relationships with neighbours were lived out.”
She tells us that, as a child, she was able to play in peace, even at night. During Holy Week, there was a tradition that she loved: they would make candies out of tomatoes, beans, coconuts and other fruits—even potatoes—and share them with the neighbours.
As a child she lived with her parents, her two brothers and two sisters. Tragically, when she was 11, her parents both died of different illnesses, leaving her in charge of her young siblings. She tells us that this was a very difficult time. She missed that year of school because she and her 9-year-old brother took turns working to support the family. “There was always some adult present, but just to be there, not in the role that a child really needs from an adult.” Her siblings were what kept her going through this time.
Luz’s childhood was marked by a very traditional and conservative form of Christianity and a spirituality that she describes as “useless.” Instead of supporting her, the church she attended sowed fears and prejudices against her, leading her to believe in a God that was evil and arrogant.
Luz is known for her active and joyful personality, which is no accident. Because of her difficult early years, she never had the chance to just be a kid. At 11 years old, all children want is to play, but she had to be strong so she could take care for her siblings. Now that she’s an adult, her cheerful personality has helped her heal more quickly. She’s the kind of person who doesn’t get stuck when she’s going through a difficult situation, but instead tries to look forward to the future.
When I ask her if she still feels responsible for her siblings, she says “sometimes,” and cries. Her tears hint at another important loss in her life: the loss of one of her brothers.
For decades, Colombia has faced a war that has resulted in more deaths and disappearances (either through forced recruitments or invasions by guerilla and paramilitary groups) than the dictatorships in Chile and Argentina.
La Guajira is no different. Various armed groups are constantly fighting over territory, recruiting children and youth, and extorting them and their families if they don’t give in. Luz’s family was targeted by one of these groups to the point where they were eventually forced to leave the land that they loved so much. They left behind their home, their friends, and their traditions to save their lives.
Luz and her family have now been living in Ecuador for 3 years. Going to Ecuador was not something they had carefully planned out; they arrived fleeing violence, completely on their own. Luz tells me that it’s very difficult to talk to her children about Colombia. It’s important to her that they know it’s a beautiful country and that they not forget where they come from, but at the same time, that Colombia is a country that suffers because of violence and corruption.
Luz didn’t bring much with her to Quito, only a few items of clothing and nothing of value, but she did expect that she would be welcomed and would have the chance to start over again. It was a shock to be met instead with the reality of prejudice, the lack of opportunities, racism and regionalism, among other things.
Luz arrived at the Quito Mennonite Church’s refugee project after hearing that she would be able to find help there. When she got there, a friend invited her and her family to the church, letting her know it was a space where she would feel cared for and welcomed. She started to attend workshops about Anabaptism and, through them, began to reconcile her relationship with God. She said it’s helped her to see Jesus as human, like us, someone who had lived a human life and could understand us from that perspective. It’s helped her learn that whatever happens to us doesn’t change the fact that God is love, and that love is what supports us.
Over time, Luz has found a space in the church to develop different abilities, to make friends, and to practice the love of God on a daily basis.
As our conversation came to a close, I asked her “what would you say to the Luz from La Guajira?”
She responded: “I would tell her to keep going and to never, ever give up. To keep going because life is beautiful. As hard as things can be, life continues to be beautiful. Make something beautiful of your life, because you’re the only person who can.”
Luz’s life has been a difficult one, but in her testimony, we can see strength in vulnerability. Today, we find joy in her life, her laughter, and her energy.
Francisca Pacheco Alvarado, from Valparaíso, Chile, currently lives in Quito, Ecuador and is serving with MCC as the refugee support worker with the Quito Mennonite Church’s refugee project.