Activities in Cochabamba

Lynn and I were not idle when we arrived back in Cochabamba, but we have gradually acquired enough activities here that we are busy. Most of these activities associate with mission while teaching English:

• Thursdays and Fridays from 3 until 5 at Abra Carcel, a men's prison nearby Sacaba, about 3-4 kilometers away from us if we take the high road, which passes directly over the mountains on the east side of Cochabamba and winds down beside the prison. This group includes about 18 students in total; usually all of them are not there at one time;
• Tuesday night in our house on Colibri Street from 8:30 until 10 with the Sisters of San José, This group includes 3 students; as teachers in a local high school, they are required by their order to study some English language.
• Wednesday morning from 8 until 9:30 in a meeting room at the La Salette church near our house. This group includes one sister of the Missionary Sisters of Santísimo and three university-level students. This class takes place after 6:45 am Mass at the church, which is followed by a light breakfast in the house of Padre Juan Francisco (he introduced us to the two groups of sisters--San José and Santísimo--and acquainted us with their need to study English), originally from Boston, and Padre David, from Bolivia.  The Mass and breakfast include a group of regulars and visitors.  Gradually, Lynn and I have begun to feel like regulars.
• Meeting with individuals who live nearby and want to learn or continue to learn English. Ivo and Ernie, two young men in the neighborhood, wanted to practice English conversation and ask questions about grammar, so I blocked out Tuesday at 10 for an hour in our house for when they have time to visit. Lizbeth, a high school student from the neighborhood, wanted to practice English conversation either in our home or hers for an hour at noon on Saturdays. This past Saturday Lynn and I shared the noonday meal with her family and talked.  They have invited us back to share their family's Good Friday Feast of 10 Plates
• Meeting (Lynn or me, or both) for an hour on Friday morning with Sister Erika at the La Salette church. I think she is also one of the Sisters of San José. She also bakes great bread, which she shares at the Wednesday morning breakfast.
• Serving on Wednesdays in the before school/after school programs at Nuevo Vera Cruz (may not have spelled that correctly) under the direction of Padre Pancho (Frank), a Maryknoll priest.  This is a new effort on my part, and I hope to begin next Wednesday.  The children are elementary school aged and live either in the neighborhoods around Nuevo Vera Cruz or come in from further out in the countryside, the campo.
• Working with a group of women who meet at the Franciscan Health Center to help develop a brochure and web presence for their business of designing, creating, and selling gift cards.  I am just beginning with this effort, so at this point I'm taking photos and learning about the business. I believe the women have been the victims of violence and are providing the sole income for their households.  

Any one of the points above merits elaboration, and I'll make time for that.  However, in general, I'll say that in all of the instances of our teaching English, including teaching at Abra Carcel, we are doing what the people have asked us to do. That is, based on our educational/work backgrounds, or in some instances maybe just because we look like we probably do speak English¹, in each instance we have been asked by the people if we would be willing to teach our language.  In agreeing to do this, we purchased with our own money copies of the same basic English language books used by a local school for English language instruction.  We also present the material as though we were progressing through it so the students could qualify for course credit.  Based on the level of interest/participation and other external factors like transportation disruptions due to blockades, strikes, and public holidays, we proceed.  In addition, how this becomes mission for us is that all of our encounters become opportunities to be the best representatives of Christ's presence that we can be. In that we try to accompany the various individuals in their life journeys rather than trying to impress an agenda on them. Invariably part of every class or conversation sharing time becomes a cross-cultural exchange, a cross-individual exchange, a mixture of languages (Spanish, English, and occasional Quechua or Aymara phrases thrown in), and with all of this deepening relationships begin to form as we share some of our lives with each other.²

So English language is being taught, but along the way, we hope, a lot of other beneficial learning for life is taking place.

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¹I would look like I was from the United States even if I paid a team of local image consultants to outfit me in full Andean plumage....no, I haven't bothered to try it, but I marvel at the local results at carnaval time.)
²This was also part of our experience while teaching at Carmen Pampa, a very gratifying experience with some of the students when time permitted (although a for-credit class does require a more focused approach) after class and with some of the children from the Carmen Pampa community who frequented the children's library. Our time at Carmen Pampa was a very good mission opportunity.

Que el poder esté contigo

Midway during our first semester at Unidad Academica Campesina-Carmen Pampa, Lynn and I realized we weren't happy enough there to continue doing our best work.  We also had a little more than two years remaining on our contract with Franciscan Mission Service.  From our perspective, it made sense to look for a different work site. As we understood our organization's perspective, they preferred that we seek new mission sites within the city of Cochabamba if we did not think we could stay and work at UAC-CP for the remaining two years. We appreciated their emphasis on forming longer-term relationships in mission. We also appreciated the difficult challenges that UAC-CP and the other UAC locations in Bolivia face in providing education for very capable students from more remote areas.

We thought about this for a long time during December. Lynn returned for two weeks to the US to visit a sick friend of ours.  I remained in La Paz for the first week of that time to read, write, walk around, and think. At the end of the year, which coincided with the end of term, we still felt that moving was best for all.

During January Lynn and I completed two bus trips from Carmen Pampa to Cochabamba to transport our four immense suitcases, some books, and furnishings (two folding chairs and an exercise machine) to Cochabamba and to vacate the very nice small apartment where we had stayed on the upper campus of UAC-CP. We had many good and memorable experiences along the way. (I hope to reflect on these in the coming week as I also attempt to bring my blog up to date about our current activities in and around Cochabamba Yes, things are going well with us here, and we hope the same for UAC-CP.)