Life from Canada to Latin America, one word at a time.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.Just keep going. No feeling is final.Don’t let yourself lose me. Nearby is the country they call life.You will know it by its seriousness. Give me your hand. –Rainer Maria Rilke On July 9, 2011, two armed men shot Facundo Cabral in Guatemala City. I had been in Colombia
My facebook feed is full of politics, but you would barely know that Canada is in campaign mode. A number of Colombian community leaders are running for local political office. Gabriel Pulido, a community leader from Mampujan, is running for mayor of Maria la Baja. Jorge Montes is in the race for council in El
My first night in Mampujan, the community leaders came to Juana’s house to meet me. The evening turned into an impromptu meeting about community events. Voices were raised. I didn’t understand everything, but the tone felt was harsh. I went to bed that night convinced that I had witness the fragmentation of leadership. I woke
“I have three things to tell you.” Alvaro Villarraga says, holding up his water glass as he speaks to the Justapaz team. “When the state says that peace process implementation is like a half full glass, which they are continuing to fill, they are being generous. There are but a few drops of water in
https://spark.adobe.com/video/KH3lIVfjCTw6W/embed The arracacha is a yellow-white root. It’s flavour is a cross between a turnip, a parsnip and a potato, with a hint of celery seed. I normally walk right past the dirt covered pile of arracacha in my local fruit and veggie store, as I head for the avocados and the limes. But this
I once brought a stack of photos to a Justapaz meetings. I asked each member of the team to pick a photo and describe a feeling. The one answer that still stands out, because I couldn’t quite believe it, is of a group of kids wearing matching soccer jerseys and kicking a ball. “You can
What would you pack in your emergency kit in case of a hurricane, earthquake or other unexpected disaster? What do you need to survive? Pasta, tins of tuna, bottled water, a phone charger, batteries, contact information, rope, pocket knife, emergency money. These items were only some of the things we mentioned at a recent MCC
As always, last night was beautiful. Families and friends filled the Parkway. The normally dark Bogota evening blazed with the light of a thousand candles. Across the city, and in small towns around the country, we all paused for a moment. Year after year, it’s our sacred duty to light Mary’s way to the stable where she
Jorge says that the twelve days that he has been out of jail have been enough to cure his eyesight. The chance to see beyond brick and concrete has given renewed life to his tired eyes. He doesn’t even need glasses to read his phone anymore, he tells me over lunch on Tuesday. In fact,
When I was a little girl, one of my favourite songs to sing with gusto and waving arms was Spring Up Oh Well. The song begins softly, building up through each line of the verse: I‘ve got a river of life flowin’ out of me Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see
