Luz: Laughter amidst the tears
The protagonist of today’s story is a woman who, for security reasons, I’ll call Luz.
Luz was born in La Guajira, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. She describes it as a beautiful region, very warm but al...
Anabaptist churches and organizations respond to violence in Colombia
On April 28, tens of thousands of Colombia marched in a renewed iteration of the National Strike that had begun strongly in November 2019. With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Strike stopped but the r...
How border militarization in southern Mexico is putting Central American migrants at risk
Doña Francisca* keeps a photo of herself and a young relative, Kevin*, on her phone. In the photo, Doña Francisca is wearing a mask, but Kevin is bare-faced, clean-cut and smiling. He looks like a good kid. “H...
Partner Spotlight: The Children’s Program in Palmira
These photos were taken February 2020, before social distancing measures were put into place in Colombia.
It is a Saturday afternoon and a group of children gather in a community hall located in Palmira...
The Heresy of U.S. Exceptionalism
As extremists scaled the wall of the U.S. Capitol, I sat less than four miles away, staring at my computer screen and trying to follow the news reports covering what some called an attempted coup. Sirens waile...
I am Black
I think black.
i think African.
and i exhale.
and i want to tell you
of how exhausting it is.
not to be black. that, i have no issues with.
it is that I have to constantly remind you that I t...
A chapina in Nicaragua
*chapín/chapina is a word many Guatemalans use to refer to themselves.
“Dale”—a slang word that means something like “go for it”—is one of the most common words among Nicaraguans. This year as a MCC volunte...
Yes, Racism is Alive in Colombia
This article is part of a series about racism in Colombia. Read more.
“I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.” James Baldwin
Of course, racism is very much alive in Colombia. To know o...
For What Was, For What Is To Come
I believe that one of the most challenging things in life is to understand the meaning of our existence and therefore, the things we do about it. Thinking about how everything could be different as the&nb...
Lessons on systemic racism from Chocó
This article is part of a series about racism in Colombia. Read more.
When I was 26 years old, my husband and I moved to Colombia to participate in MCC’s Seed program. We were placed with the Mennonite Bret...