This post is also available in: Spanish
Francisca Pacheco Alvarado, from Valparaíso, Chile, is working with MCC-SEED in Istmina, Chocó, Colombia, accompanying the new community in peace building.
It occurs to me that you will become different
not exactly prettier
not stronger
not more docile
not more cautious
just that you’re going to become different
(extract from “Bienvenida,” by Mario Benedetti)
Living in the city is synonymous with running. There you can’t walk, or converse on the corner with an acquaintance who you meet unexpectedly and who you haven’t seen in a while, or greet your friends on the way to or from work, because stopping would mean losing.
Losing what?
Losing the momentum to arrive on time during rush hour when vehicle congestion is high. Losing the possibility of finding a seat on the bus. It would mean losing hours of work and therefore money, because if you work less, you earn less. Losing the possibility of arriving home a little earlier. Losing the opportunity to get ahead on chores and have free time. In sum, you lose time for “living.”
Market street. Istmina, Photo: Francisca Pacheco
Choco is not like this, because there you don’t run, you walk. And in walking there is time to greet, to converse, to work, to do business, to laugh, to get home on time.
I remember one of my first days living in Istmina when someone said to me, “don’t run mija, there’s no rush.” No rush? And that was when I realized that the city’s shadow was hanging over me.
I’ll tell you about a day in Istmina.
In the morning people leave their houses early and walk to work, school, or the market–the earlier, the better (before seven most people are already working), because at a certain time the sun and the heat spare no one and it is better to be in secure place. I leave a little later. Walking through the streets, in addition to seeing and hearing how people kindly greet one another, I also receive greetings like “goodbye neighbor,” “how are you,” and “have a good day, miss,” and I can greet them freely, whoever they are.
The mornings are busy between mototaxis, motorcycles, cars, commerce, rice with milk, arepas, children, teenagers and young people walking to study, people walking, shopping, sometimes a large truck tries to pass and blocks the street. The street is filled with the noise of motors, music, and people talking. Joy and cordiality are contagious!
In the afternoons walking home, boys and girls play in the street, and teenagers and adults talk outside of their houses, listen to music, play, accompany one another.
I feel that in my time here I have lost. I have lost the fear of stopping and living, stopping and enjoying, enjoying together.