For the people of Arauquita, going out has become an odyssey. Arauquita is a Municipality of the Department of Arauca, Republic of Colombia, which is affected strongly by the difficult social situation that generates groups outside of the law.
Colombian guerrillas has taken hold in this town and its surroundings, which is why violence is the bread of every day; deaths, massacres and terror haunt every space. Many men have been recruited by these groups and have had to leave their families; others, for some reasons, have been murdered, or simply disappeared.
Women who are alone, mothers who are heads of the home, orphans, hunger and misery accompany many of the inhabitants of this place; injustices, pain, bitterness, desire to revenge, are conditions of life that need healing.
The community of the Carmelite Missionaries present are motivated through the process of insertion in the midst of a population that fights to gain their the bread of every day, to overcome the armed conflicts… families that are torn between life and death, poverty and wealth are a challenge to the creation of a workshop for women heads of the household, that they may have, firstly, a space for learning, training and a healthy life, and then, a job opportunity that may become a source of support for each of the participants.
Gradually, with tenacity, commitment and dedication of each of the sisters, the workshop was getting organized; it functioned for a good time at the house of the community and then, with the Municipal concession in one of the lounges of the educational Institution of the population. With the support of FOSCARMIS and the unconditional dedication of the participants, optimal working machines were obtained for this labour.
Women were experiencing the pleasure of learning to embroider, to weave, to make high quality garments, until significant orders were obtained that led them to look for resources to purchase better equipment and take the advice of the technical and official agency of the Nation, the SENA (National Service of Learning). All has been a process of maturation and growth, enabling the consolidation of a working group, now as qualified and committed craft workers, receiving big and small contracts We have seen the need to organize them at all levels to meet the day’s work that will not leave behind their household chores, and that will allow them to respond to the orders efficiently, to share faith and life as group, and to distribute the profits equitably and justly.
The challenge of the promotion of the women has been met. Justice with their families is a daily task. We have to keep the rhythm and build a self-sustaining project, that generates spaces personally and with the family, where the power of the Gospel would penetrate all the beneficiaries of the work, and spread to the society that suffers so much.
The population of Unguía, with warm and affectionate temperament, lives in the Department of Chocó, a land of contrasts, of great human and natural wealth. Swamps of Unguía and Marriaga bathe the land, within the rainforest and the wet Colombian Caribbean.
This region, at one time, suffered the strong presence of insurgent groups, members of the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), and the
n the self defence groups. It still suffers the consequences of poverty, displacement, orphaned children and youth. Furthermore, this municipality of Chocó, in the XXI century, only has few hours of electricity a day. In short, it lacks the real and effective presence of the State.
The village stretches along the tributary of the same name of the municipality, from which the villagers obtain their most important food: fish. The sanitary situation is depressing, children suffer complications due to parasites, and there is not potable drinking water.
We Carmelite Missionaries accompany the people to respond to these situations. We assist youth and children, mostly women, offering them what is needed for a decent life. In the boarding house of “La Sagrada Familia” persons who have experienced, along with their families, times of terror and confusion due to violence, are received; most of them are left with nothing, without land, homes or work.
Now we provide them with the help of many benefactors, such as lodging, food and schooling, integral formation, and accompaniment to overcome and cope up with the aftermath of the war.
Children are accompanied and guided in their growth process, which is becoming more and more difficult given the environment that surrounds them and by the experiences that have marked their personal history. |
We create a process of formation that will help them in the near future to face themselves as women before a male chauvinistic, materialistic and hedonistic society, where in most cases they are seen and treated as sexual objects.
We, Carmelite Missionaries offer to these young girls another vision of life, new ways to overcome themselves, ways to have a dignified life through education and honest labour, valuing oneself for being a woman, and inculcating in them values such as respect, gratitude, honesty and tolerance. |
PRO EQUITY AND JUSTICE
The presence of Missionary Carmel in Vallejuelos – Medellín Colombia, through the project “acompañamiento a la comunidad,”seeks to respond to the revitalization of our commitment to justice, carrying out different activities or sub-projects, always in communion with the laity, from the community and some external agents; they have for some time incorporated to this social work to open instances of real participation, strengthening thus our shared mission with the laity.
The main sub-projects we presently have are:
“Corazón Teresa Benedicta”Refectory
Justice is to give food to the hungry, while they are taught how to get food for daily bread. How is it possible that thousands of children in our world die of hunger each second?
The “Teresa Benedicta” Refectory offers human and spiritual formation through encounters to mothers and beneficiaries: 150 school-aged children, 35 elderly, and 40 babies and kids from 6 months to 5 years old; from Monday through Friday they receive breakfast and lunch prepared by the mothers of the children, with complete and balanced nutrition supervised by the “SACIAR” Foundation, an entity that provides food for the past seven years. It is presently operating in a rented place in “Las Margaritas” Barrio, but new works were already started at the new location in Vallejuelos.
Health care is done through “Casa de la salud”, where, aside from nursing and pharmacy, medical care is offered by specialists from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Antioquia: programs such as disinfestation, cytology, oral care and others…
The elderly and sick who need them are provided the care in their homes; spiritual assistance is especially given through the sacrament of the Eucharist.
Early Childhood Ministry
This program reaches families who have children below 6 years old, offering them accompaniment in the upbringing their kids in the different aspects of their development: physical, nutritional, spiritual, civic, family. Presently this program has five agents accompanying 60 families, with a total of 86 children. The objective is that all children may have “life and life to the full.”
The program for the promotion of women, with the yearning to lift their level of life and generate family income, is undertaking workshops such as tailoring, hairdressing, handicrafts, cooking, production of items such as pomade, soap, talc…all these…thanks to the labour of a good group of volunteers who, with much spirit, share their knowledge and religious convictions with our people.
