Life from Canada to Latin America, one word at a time.
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
My favourite sign in the botanical gardens in Bogota is about the potato. “After [insert six countries here], Colombia is the number one producer of potatoes in the world,” the sign proudly proclaims. While in Colombia, I have been to the highest vineyard in the world, the largest coastal desert mountain, the prettiest town in
I tell lies in taxis all the time. Instead of trying to explain that yes, a single Canadian woman is living and working alone, it is simpler to nod along to the assumption that I am happily married I knew things would be different, however, within three minutes of getting in a recent cab. Instead
The mood in the Bogota plaza was more sombre than excited during the ceremony marking the FARC’s final disarmament. There were a few balloons, flags, and the vegetable mandala folks, but everything felt muted in the face of uncertainty. Recent judicial decisions have challenged the government’s ability to rapidly implement the accords. Social leaders continue
Going to jail is harrowingly boring. The evening before my friend Larisa goes to visit Jorge, I accompany her as she checks off the visiting requirements. Everything must be perfectly contained to get inside. We buy toilet paper, laundry soap, and fried chicken to pack into a transparent plastic container no bigger than four litres.
International Worker’s Day, or May Day, is a national holiday in Colombia. Across the country, workers and unions march to celebrate workers’ rights, and the long struggle of workers all over the world for dignified working conditions, especially in the late 19th century: “Eight hours to work, eight hours to sleep, eight hours for what
Anna L. Vogt 