Adán's blog

These are some of the experiences in Santiago, Chile that confirm the strength and historical endurance of the movement of humanistic values, Christian passion for justice and peace.

2 nights ago I met with a group of women,leaders, from various community projects (housing, education, abused children, etc)in the southern neighborhoods of Santiago, Chile. Last week they finished a University course (designed especially for them) on computer technology. They told me about the processor, the motherboard, the hard drive. How to repair the fan, download audio drivers from the Internet.
Their vision is to install a small computer lab in the community center where they will teach other women, who, in their turn, will teach others. They will spend time this year learning Linux and open source software. They are: Martiza Alegria, Ana Rosa Rivera, Veronica Valenzuela, Gabriela Rivera, Marcela Rubro and Patricia Celis. They will start blogging about their experiences, and I'll link to it here when they begin

Saturday and Sunday I attended the first Chilean "Open Community" conference. Twenty-somethings mingled with their older (in the minority)participants. This community is grounded in a philosophy of sharing and helping. This is probably hard to believe, but at several points during some of the workshops I held back tears when hearing very young persons describe their projects. Rodrigo Ramírez says the open source idea led him to make new friends. His community of five (four boys and 1 girl) go to schools and public events to promote Linux and free software. They are crystal clear about their philosopy, the idea that "we can help each other, we can share." He looks down, shakes his head, "It's hard to find people who will listen."

Next week, March 25, they participate in Installfest. On this one day,over 100 cities in Latin America, will install Linux and open software. Members of the open source community hold public events, or go door-to-door in their neighborhoold to install the software for those who want to "open up your hearts and your computers to a world of sharing and solidarity."

I could go on and on. The spirit, the grand idea, is greater than any of us and thrives beyond institutional religion, beyond all institutons....while it enlivens them.

am

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Yesterday Bolivia saw the installation of Evo Morales, at the ancient native ceremonial site, the Akapana Pyramid. The last time this happened was 500 years ago, with the last of the indigenous leaders, Atawallpa. Morales was dressed in the special ceremonial tunic of past Tiwanakota rulers. Morales is an Aymara, the first indigenous President of Bolivia.

Travelling through Latin America over the past 20 years, I've witnessed the steady decline of income, nutrition and education. Economic plans modelling liber capitalism have caused suffering and death.

So I'm watching with attention this sea change in political awareness and democratic reform that is happening on the Latin American continent. Alberto sent me Evo Morales' recent presidential address in which a new direction is clearly outlined. This is the link to the text of his address. He will undo the privatization of water. He will also import expertise from the US and Europe to develop industrial and productive capacity within Bolivia. This latter will replace the policy of simply exporting basic materials. Oil will not be a privately-held resource anymore.

There is definitely a new wind blowing on the continent.
Adán

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Found out today that there is a running joke among the vast majority of Paraguayans. They call President Bush by the Guaraní term: ¨Bushe¨ (boosh-eh) which means lazy, stupid.
AM

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Am trying to learn a few phrases in Guaraní. Everyone speaks Spanish here in Asunción, but among themselves they speak guaraní. The churches are built according to Spanish architectural forms, but the ornamentation and the merchants surrounding them use native religious artifacts that are far removed from European forms.

The blend is fascinating, especially when speaking with Catholics and learning about their Guaraní-Spanish identity encountering globalization. The TV broadcast stations use the spanish language exclusively. The grassroots media producers who use analog videotape and editors, use Guaraní with some spanish. The institutional church, unable to enter into the main corporate media structures (Spanish), finds its way through the independent productions in Guaraní that circulate informally among the community.

Adán

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Getting ready to go to University of Unisinos, Brazil to meet two doctoral students who were awarded Fellowships by the International Study Commission on Media, Religion and Culture. Viviane Borelli is looking into the mediated religious aspects of popular public gatherings in football stadiums. Ignacio Sierra is looking into the decentralization and re-signification of religious discourse in contemporary communications media.

I'm travelling with Germán Rey who is about to publish a book on the religious dimensions of the Latin American telenovela.

Adán

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We have finished taping for the documentary that will feature Lima, Mexico and Dominican Republic as portraits of Catholic faith. The crew is exhausted but very happy. I watched the footage thus far and, gracias a Dios, it looks great. The interviews are amazing, proof that the eternal spirit is brightly alive. I'm producing the documentary for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In Santo Domingo everyone was happy about Miss Universe, although several young Dominicans told me that "we get good news like this, but the reality is that there is a lot of bad news. We go back and forth and make the best of it." A 2002 film, "Miss America" gives insight into the pageant phenomen. The site at PBS gives very funny (at least they are funny to me) downloadable video clips of Miss America moments.

In April a major bank fraud scandal was uncovered. Fraud and diversion of US$ 2.2 billion dollars caused not only the collapse of the Banco Intercontinental, the jailing of the principal executivies, but loss of confidence of many Dominicans, although the Central Bank has vowed to guarantee that depositors do not lose their money. The scandal has disheartened most in this country, since part of the loss is owed to contributions to the Catholic church, to political parties and to other not-for-profit groups. The report of this tragedy by the Central Bank makes it clear that the Catholic church and other not-for-profit groups did not know that the contributions they received were coming directly from depositors by means of fraud.
Adán

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Today we tape establishing shots of the traffic in downtown Lima and then head for the airport for the last leg of this documentary shoot, Santo Domingo.

Many Quechua people in Peru, to mention only one and the most numerous of the indigenous communities in this country, are Catholic. Speaking with Anibal Niño, a young deacon who will be ordained a Catholic priest in February 2004, I learned that to this day native spirituality is tied to the earth, the sun, the wind. A colleague of his who directs the rosary campaign at the Peruvian conference of Catholic bishops, Hugo Zorilla, confirms that the sierra still beckons and gives inner strength and guidance. Before deciding to work in Catholic church projects, Hugo traveled from the city of Lima to his home town in the Andean sierra where he meditated and read Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort. He points to this sierra experience, with Catholic European reading, as a spiritual reawakening experience.

Dichotomies, cultural clashes and exclusive categories seem far away here. There is coherence and unity of experience. The many particulars simply strengthen and enrich experience.

When I get back to Houston I will post some of the Andean images. Somehow, when you are here, things do seem to all belong together.
Adan

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