Friday once again and Ive already been here for 3 weeks. The programme shifted into another gear today as Joni and myself arrive in Aguablanca for the monthly communa 13 meeting at the invitation of Jairo Anzulo. This time though we passed by the poorest and most desperate part of the neighbourhood. People displaced from their homes, often by the terror tactics of paramilitaries arrive here on a daily basis and there are no social services waiting for them. These outcastes live under what ever shelter they can find, scraps of wood and a few sheets of tarpaulin is about as good as it gets. Its grinding poverty and most find themselves here though no fault of their own. Very, very sad.
We arrive relatively early and as usual have to be positively identifed before we are permitted past the barrier. Were met by Jairo and a few of the local school representatives. Whilst we wait for the meeting to begin, we take a quick stroll through the school which is oriented around a pristine basketball court. The classrooms are sparse but clean and functional being equipped with chairs, tables and a blackboard. This is a public school and whilst most people have condemned them they are, on first impressions alone alot better than Id anticipated.
The meeting commenced about 15 mins later, which in Latino time is early, if you know what I mean. Jairo started the meeting with Joni and myself first of the agenda. By this stage 30+ school representatives had arrived and whilst Id prepared a very general presentation, I was a little nervous. Fortunately, Joni was there to get the ball rolling, many of the attendees recognised him and his Spanish is more than good enough to settle the crowd.
This is the first time that I have had to stand up in front of an audience and communicate in a language that is not my own. Whilst I was comfortable with the material, its strange how a certain lack of fluency effects your perception. The ordeal over, I continued to ask myself exactly what it was Id just said and more importantly did everyone understand it. For all that, I wasnt bombarded with (but I dont understand type) questions, I wasnt heckled and I think I said everything I intended to say with only a couple of prompts from Joni. Having finished, another guy got up to talk about whatever but needless to say I was already away on an adrenaline rush. It took community leader Hernan to bring me back to reality with a couple of films documenting his activities with local schools. The first film was made by an local youngster who clearly had a talent for painting but no-one to help him express that latent ability, no-one that is until Hernan came along. The second film was a festival of indigenous culture as the children learned to dance red indian style before being painted and performing a day long procession through the neighbourhood. So many happy young faces, so much joy despite everything, it makes you feel very humble indeed and the memories wont be lost as Hernan gave everyone a CD to inspire them. There will no doubt be difficult times ahead but these kinds of images are what gets you through the day. I really look forward to showing you all when I get back.
This was going to be an all day affair so we made our excuses and a quick exit but not before Id had a quick chat to a couple of the attendees. Jenny, a secretary at a private nursery was particularly interested in the project so we exchanged numbers and I promised to keep her updated.
The next appointment couldn’t have represented more of a contrast. During Jonis research period he was allocated a personal chaparone, Geraldo, a local NGO worker with a lot of experience in Aguablanca. It was his birthday and an opportune moment for us to meet and get to know one another. Naturally, the whole thing got decidedly messy as consecutive bottles of Aguadiente or White Teeth (the local version of Anis) were ordered. I hate anis but it was his birthday, he seemed like a nice guy and he has a really important role to play. So I took one for the team and shot the poison until 2 in morning. Before Id even hit fresh air my world was spinning and by then you know the next 24 hours are all but written off.