QUITO, Ecuador–I arrive by bike to Quito Mennonite Church at 9 a.m. on a Tuesday morning in August, and there are already two Colombian refugee families waiting at the door to talk with me. I welcome them inside and head up to my office with one of the families while the other waits their turn downstairs in our makeshift waiting room in the sanctuary.
I talk with the first family, jotting down notes about their situation: “Family of 12, arrived in Ecuador two months ago, have been staying in a homeless shelter since they arrived, came only with a few pairs of clothes, their son was assassinated in Colombia, all are unemployed, have been denied the refugee visa.”
The second interview follows and I scribble down these notes: “Elderly couple, unemployed, live alone, behind on rent payments, sleep on bare wooden floor, were farmers in Colombia, had farm taken away by guerrillas, suffering from hunger.”
A third man arrives and shares his story: “Man whose wife and 3-year-old child are still in Colombia, former cocaine trafficker since age 13, actively being persecuted in Quito for deciding to leave his job as a drug trafficker, lives in constant fear, has aspirations to move to Brazil to escape persecution.”
It’s now 10:45 a.m. and five more refugee families are waiting downstairs. During the next three hours, I interview the five families, scribbling down the following notes: “Single mother of four small children, unemployed and suffering from serious medical problems; family of four, children suffering severe discrimination and abuse in school from other students for being Colombian; family of three, father needs medical attention – has various bullets lodged in his body; family of five, father worked for a month and employer refused to pay what he owed; single father of two daughters, suffering from malnutrition, live in damp apartment with leaks in the roof.”
Download full-resolution image.In my Mennonite Mission Network role, assigned to me by the church, I try to figure out how to help meet these refugees’ extreme needs.
At 1:45 p.m. I leave my office emotionally exhausted and in search of lunch. I eat my meal in silence and reflect over the eight intense interviews that I had during the course of the morning. I can’t help but be thankful yet feel guilty about the delicious food on my plate—a luxury that most of the families that I work with don’t enjoy. There are no easy answers or solutions. And tomorrow there will be eight more families waiting to speak with me who will also be desperately seeking solutions to their difficult problems. And next week there will be more families. And the week after that. All of the families have in some way been victims of the vicious and complex war in Colombia that continues to kill, destroy and displace.
Stretching over several decades, the armed conflict in Colombia demonstrates the complexities of a war that combines drug trafficking, land struggles, government corruption, leftist armed guerrilla groups, right-wing paramilitaries, local criminal gangs, the Colombian military, and foreign investment in natural resources and militarization. The war has led to kidnappings, hired killings, torture, massacres and extortion, resulting in 5 million internally displaced Colombians—many of whom are small farmers— and hundreds of thousands of refugees who have fled Colombia.
The families that arrive at our church are among the approximately 1,500 men, women and children that cross the border from Colombia to Ecuador each month seeking an escape from the violence and threats. Now in Ecuador, they form part of a vulnerable refugee population that suffers from a wide variety of severe issues.
Download full-resolution image.In today’s world, a powerful current dictated by materialism, consumerism and individualism flows relentlessly, allowing a handful of privileged individuals to swiftly navigate a river of wealth and power, while others, including refugees, gasp for air and struggle for equality, dignity and survival. Quito Mennonite Church, through its work with refugees, is putting into action a proposal that questions our society’s priorities and indifference toward those who are drowning in the raging river of inequality. It’s a proposal based on loving one’s neighbor and treating every human being with respect and dignity, especially those who are suffering in a foreign land.
During the past 10 years, Quito Mennonite, a church founded by Ecuador Partnership, including the Colombia Mennonite Church and Central Plains Conference along with Mennonite Mission Network in 2001, has opened its doors to many refugees and walked alongside them in their struggles. The project has recently expanded, now providing food assistance to nearly 40 families per month. So far this year, the project has provided 18 families with a $75 grant, which allows them to invest in work materials and generate their own income. Through an agreement with a local private hospital, refugees with serious medical issues can access excellent health care at a very low cost. Refugees can also begin to overcome psychological trauma free of charge through weekly appointments with a professional psychologist at the Mennonite church. Monthly workshops are also organized in order to create community support networks among refugees and to inform them about the resources and opportunities that are available in Ecuador. Through relationships with other partner organizations in Quito, we are also able to refer refugees to organizations that can assist them in other areas, such as legal advice and education.
Despite humbly realizing each day that our efforts simply cannot meet the enormous need of the large refugee population in Quito, I’m regularly reenergized by hearing positive feedback from refugees and seeing constructive change in the lives of those whom we are privileged to accompany. A week ago, while walking on the street in downtown Quito, I coincidentally ran into Pedro, a man that we had helped with a $75 business grant a few months back. He was strolling along the sidewalk selling coconut juice and coconut-flavored candies. When our eyes met, we both smiled. He hugged me and offered me a complimentary cup of coconut juice. And although the concept of progress and success is relative, the sight of Pedro on the street with his small, red cart of coconut products meant progress. It meant that his business plan was working. It meant that he was no longer unemployed. It meant that he wasn’t suffering from hunger. It meant that he could pay rent. It meant a taste of success.
David Shenk, a Mennonite Mission Network worker from Harrisonburg, Va., is serving a three-year term in Quito.
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For immediate release.
Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.
