Alice de Bruijn
Experience Exchange Programme
Chile
December 2003
Feliz Navidad .... Hola to one and all
Countdown on, it’s Christmas eve. The sun is splitting the rocks. I’m melting. gasping for water not Guinness! I feel so blessed and fortunate to have good friends, food and fellowship this Christmas. I’ve just come dropping off a Christmas box we bought for a little girl and her mother.
‘Until one feels the spirit of Christmas, there is no Christmas. All else is outward display--so much tinsel and decorations. For it isn't the holly, it isn't the snow. It isn't the tree not the firelight's glow. It's the warmth that comes to the hearts of men when the Christmas spirit returns again’.
Chileans really live for today. Don’t ask them about tomorrow or next week as it’s too far away and as for next year! And believe me if you are an organizer then you will have a hard time adjusting. For example, you can have something planned, a designated time and place, and no one shows up for one hour or more, or a formal party starts at nine thirty and people don’t arrive till nearly 11. A theatre show is to start at four p.m. you can wait over an hour before it gets going. However, if you arrive late as a gringo (English speaking foreigner), some people look at you in a funny way! You just have to go with the flow.... whatever that may be.
I have photos this time and have eventually got them onto the web.
In January there will be some new ones of the Jardins (nursery schools) and the Christmas service we had with the present giving to the children (toys kindly donated by Failte Ireland - 4 boxes full).
There are three different schools (affiliated to the Methodist Church) where I work during the week. Discipline is a huge factor, some of the children are well behaved, but at one of the school the children are very badly behaved. They don’t listen; they use bad language and come from very deprived backgrounds.
I assisted with oral examinations for some time last month and since have been involved in lots of different things, Some of the highlights for me have been the following:
- Graduation ceremony of final year students - this was beautiful and moving,
Three evenings of presentations of the little ones too - they looked like angels (very American like).
- The thing that is really striking here is the faith of the people; everywhere you go the people are spiritual, speaking of God (as it should be) like a friend beside them, helping, guiding, providing. Even the children, teenagers aspire to this way of living. So much love and friendship.
- Listening to children speak the words of Martin Luther Kings 'I have a dream’, as they were to be graded. After two days I almost knew it by heart.
- We also had a visit from one of the mercy ships. Two guys, one German one Japanese, had travelled half way around the world, teaching, spreading the gospel and helping with medicines. To hear their stories was great.
- A pilot visited us who was on a work assignment, searching with radars for metals and natural resources from the air... interesting stuff. He had to wait for permission to fly from authorities for nearly one month and was tearing his hair out. He found our names on the website under Christian Missionaries and told us this is just what he needed - a little inspiration, patience and fun.
I visited two Jardins in December. We brought the kids some gifts, which was amazing. The babies really know the people who had come before, and when you leave they just bawl! This is a well-kept place, not what I had expected but the needs of these babies and toddlers is the same. They come from backgrounds of drug, alcohol abuse and many other things. In the first Jardin, they are loving and are not afraid to trust us but in the other Jardin, the children are very sceptical about adults, really sad.
'Do not hinder the little children to come to me for theirs is the kingdom of God'. If only we could all aspire to loving and caring for children the way Christ wants us to. Some local people had donated shoes so these kids all looked good in white little sandals.
I’m also involved in the International Ladies Club who meet once a month and we got a space in the mall to sell all kinds of Christmas items, baked, homemade goods etc. The monies we made from this will go to the orphaned children or the children in the Jardin.
On Saturday I went to Tocopilla, known as Devil’s corner - a lot of Chileans believe this to be a very dark, sinister place. It’s a small town in the dessert surrounded by huge mountains. We took two cars and there were10 of us from the church. We brought our picnics and had breakfast on the beach on the way. We wrapped the presents for the kids, had lunch and at four pm all the kids started coming in from the town. They had been groomed to come to the church and some wore clips and perfume. The children sang, danced and did the nativity scene. It was wonderful... The children are so excited about receiving their gifts and some goodies.
On the way back I was serenaded by Enrique, Miriam Gloria, Miriam and Nelly with Chilean songs, it was great... kept me awake. The scenery there and back
was just amazing. These people are doing fantastic work. The only thing its so hard when you want to reach so many children, many don’t come to church or Sunday
school or the activity days. Pray for these little creatures, they are all beautiful...