Change of Address

In February, the Associates in Pocuro decided that we would move to Santiago. This decision was a culmination of many things, but mostly that the little town of Pocuro had changed, had grown, and the work of the Associates that started 10 years ago was no longer needed.

What happened after this decision is a long tale, filled with changing decisions on where we were going to live and who we were going to live with. At one point, we were decided that those in the Santiago house should move too. The house is in horrible condition and we are spending a lot of money each month for repairs, and also Patrick, Natalie, and I will be living together anyway in our second year. Thus, for some time, we were searching for a house for 7 people, to rent for 2 years, in the same low-income neighborhood as the current Santiago house. This was an impossible task. Not only could we not find the size we were looking for in this neighborhood (remember - one of our pillars is simple living) but we were attempting to rent in an area that does not do anything but sell. In the end we decided on an apartment, for only the Pocuro Associates, just outside the neighborhood we were looking. It is nice and all next week we will be saying goodbye to scenic living, closing the Pocuro house, and moving into our new home in Ñuñoa, Santiago.

My new address is the following:

Asociados de Santa Cruz
c/o Michelle Fitzgerald
Casilla 8
Correo 59
Santiago, CHILE

When I decided to live in Pocuro, I knew I would only live there for a year and move to Santiago to work for my second year. My program is closing and Patrick, Natalie, and I are the last group of Associates that have been coming to Chile since the early 1970s. When I was informed that the program was closing during my orientation in August, I did not think much of it. Sure, it is a large burden for us to carry, closing down both houses and being the last representatives of all the associates who came before us. But, programs close and lives move on. My two years would be the same as any other year in the program only I would change houses after a year.

Last Sunday we spoke to the Pocuro community at the end of mass and explained our plans to move sooner than expected and hopes that someone can help us find a place for our dog Memo (he grew up in the campo and there is simply no way he will survive in the big city). It was then I realized that in August I severely underestimated how this move, regardless when it happens, would be hard for everyone - the Associates, friends of the Associates, and the local Church communities. This was shown after mass by the reactions and many tears of those who lives have been touched by the Associates throughout the years.

Although we still stand by our decision to move now instead of in November, I am finding each day that the position the Church and the Congregation has placed us in, by deciding to close the program, is a difficult and unfair one. We are just a bunch of college graduates wanting to do service because we feel this is what God is calling us to do at this time in our lives. We want to change our lives and touch lives in the process. This requires certain sacrifices, we understand. Being responsible for closing down a program is certainly not one we signed up for. All I hope is that our new home will allow us to continue to do our work and be a presence of God to others. At this point, it is the only way I can see honoring the work of all those that have previously participated in this program as we start to pack up their legacy into moving boxes.

To busy to write a blog…please leave a message after the beep.

So it has been one month and 11 days since I have posted on my blog, something I thought would never happen and honestly cannot believe. I would like to blame it on some freak occurrence, such as my inability to speak English anymore or my house actually burning down (okay, well maybe not that excuse). The only explanation I can possibly come up with is that I have just been too busy. Time has a way of escaping us here. The days seem to drag on for what seem like forever but the weeks and months just fly by. To think it is April and that I have now been in Chile for more time than I was in Bolivia is simply shocking.

About the time the last blog was written, summer vacation had just ended in Chile and everyone was starting to go back to work (most take off work for the summer months). Work started up for the Holy Cross Associates as well, which meant we, the first years, had the daunting task of finding jobs that would not only fill up our 20-hour a week requirement but would be fulfilling enough to justify not living and working in the United States. Summer camps, trips to the beach, and having enough time to read three books and finish knitting my very first sweater were all nice, but I was excited to get into a regular schedule and rhythm of life, to get into what I am down here to do: work and serve.

From what I am told, the first year is a challenge. We leave Bolivia with the ability to speak a new language and the experience of seeing third-world poverty on a daily basis, ready to start the program we had been accepted to almost an entire year before and been preparing for throughout the last 5 months. Instead we enter Chile at the beginning of summer and the end of the work season, with a lot of free time on our hands. When the job search begins, we are eager and willing to serve in any way possible (as I reflected above). Thus, the typical first year is somewhat frustrating, filled with various odd jobs, agreeing to work wherever help is needed, and “experimenting” with different areas of interest. Such jobs are working in an orphanage, homeless shelter, food kitchen, battered women’s shelter, home for the elderly, or at a nearby school teaching English. The result of this subconscious process is the ability to not only see what Chile has to offer but to discover what talents you possess and can provide the Chilean people in your second year.

As a first year, I have to say that I have been truly blessed with the opportunities that presented themselves to me at the beginning of my search. When I went on the Missions trip in early January, the principal of the high school we were accompanying was in my group. It was only on the 12th of our 14 day trip that I learned what his position was at the school (why no one bothered to fill me in on this major detail is still a mystery to me). Nevertheless, this lack of information allowed me to create an informal relationship with Padre Pepe and at the end of the trip, he offered me a position to work in the English department. Graciously accepting his offer, I emailed him a month before the new school year and had a meeting with the head of the English department soon thereafter. I now work at the high school, coordinate the school’s student exchange program, and teach English to a class of Juniors every Friday. I have permission to do whatever I want for the class and it has now been named by my students as “Fabulous Fun Fridays.”

Within the same meeting with the head of the English department, I was asked, “I know this is random, but do you happen to have any debate experience?” Telling her that yes, in fact I have 8 years of experience, caused her to say that I was sent down from heaven to answer her prayers. I don’t know about that, but I have since started a debate team in order to participate in a tournament sponsored by the Chilean government and the U.S. Embassy. The winners and all schools who show improvement between tournaments receive an increase in next year’s funding of English instruction. Our topic for the first tournament is “Should countries in Africa unite to form a political and economic block?” Yes, a tough one and if have any thoughts on the subject, we are happy to listen.

Also within the beginning of my search, I was eating dinner with one of my Chilean co-facilitators, Isabel, and I told her of my desire to find a job here in Chile in the area of immigrant rights. She told me of Vicaría Social, a social justice non-profit organization sponsored by the Bishop’s Office of Chile where she worked several years ago during the dictatorship. After a few phone calls from my Chilean director, Pedro, I received an interview with the director of the organization and the opportunity to visit each department, determining which I would like to work in. I have chosen the refugee and immigration service office of the organization and for two days a week I will help immigrants from Peru or Colombia, as well as refugees from Africa, become legal citizens and get incorporated into their new life by finding them jobs and housing.

All of my work, combined with volunteering at an orphanage for an hour every night for “homework club,” makes for a very busy week. As I said, I have been very blessed with the opportunities that have been presented to me. This thought did not occur to me at first. My purpose here is to live in solidarity with and serve the poor. I found myself asking, “Is teaching English, coordinating an exchange program, and being the coach of a debate team really fulfilling this purpose? Should I even work at a non-profit, restricting myself to work only in the local food kitchens and orphanages nearby like other Associates?”

Too much as happened for me not to say that God has played a part in what work I am doing. I feel it is no coincidence that the jobs I ended up with are jobs that I am well-suited for. God is with me and with my other Associates as well throughout their search. Sure, my work may change over time and new opportunities may arise. But knowing that someway or somehow, God is involved, provides the comfort that can definitely keep me working here for the next 2 years.