April 18 - Meeting The Directiva of Muñoces

 Tuesday April 18, 2017  9:00 a.m.

The meeting with the Directiva of El Caserio los Muñoces.

We met at the Church/Community Center.  We moved our chairs into a semi-circle and sat down and then just sat for a while, looking and smiling at each other, wondering who was going to speak first.  Seemed like a long wait.  I decided that I ought to go first.  If I lead I might be able to control the meeting a little.

I thanked them for welcoming me and said I was happy to have this meeting. 

I thanked Manual and Juan Carlos        

for setting up the meeting with the

directiva this morning.

I said we had received their letter informing us that they had decided to terminate the relationship and that we were sad so we had written a letter explaining the problem from our perspective. 


I said we had a letter for each family and asked them if they wanted me to read it.  After some discussion Fredy, President of the Directiva, said yes. 


I gave each a copy and proceeded to read it.  I told them we hadn’t wanted to end the relationship but that, sadly, we would respect their decision to end the relationship.

I explained that our issue centered on a document we had received from Compañeros and the Equipo Pastoral which described some of our friends, neighbors and members of participating churches in Newton as bad people.  We knew them to be kind, good-hearted, and loving people.  Because we knew the people weren’t as described, we objected to the document and wouldn’t agree to its statements.  






Then they quietly, in voices which I couldn’t hear, discussed the content of our letter and what I had said.

Then Fredy talked about the rules which the community had adopted.  He said that there were about 6 to 8 families which weren’t participating as expected and that had caused morale problems for the rest of the community.  That was the reason we weren’t permitted to visit them in 2015.

I said we understand that a group has to have rules and that it is difficult for a group (community or family) to function efficiently when some people weren’t doing their part. 

I then said we wanted to be friends with everyone, that we felt bad when we had to walk past the homes of people who we considered friends.  It was painful for us and we didn’t feel comfortable being used as a carrot or stick (I couldn’t come up with the words to express this so I used the words for (dulces i acido = sweet and acid)!  They understood.  

Although they understood, nevertheless, Fredy held to his position. I don’t think everyone agreed but no one else spoke up.  

It became a somber moment.

Again I thanked them for their hospitality and generosity.   

… for sharing their lives with us, inviting us into their home and allowing us to take pictures of them.  I said I hoped they enjoyed the pictures we brought back to them. 

 

I gave them some pictures from our 2015 trip and requested they give them to the pictured people.  I encouraged them to continue taking pictures (and left several more cameras) and develop a place to share them with the rest of the community, such as a bulletin board at the church.  I encouraged them to keep pictures as a way to maintain a history of the community for generations to come, 50 to 100 years in the future. 

I encouraged them to work with Equipo Pastoral and search for another church with which to connect. As they have enriched our lives and we have learned from each other, there is another church waiting for such an opportunity.  I didn’t say it but I was thinking that they need a new source for the assistance for fertilizer, scholarships, medical and other needs they have been receiving from our church .  I left some community directories and told them they can be used to demonstrate the organization in their community to an NGO who might come in with some plans.

I thanked them for all the meals we had shared together.  

  

We will long remember all the fiestas and the piñatas we enjoyed as well as the fine music their community band provided. (pics from 2015) 

I reminisced about the memorable trip when I needed a place to lay down and rest until my stomach settled down.

Finally, again I thanked them and then… I stepped in it! I mentioned that I was very worried about my visit.  They asked me why I had been fearful.  I said I thought they might be angry and feel like throwing stones at me.  As soon as I said that and heard their gasp, I felt terrible.  I tried to make it out as a joke but my excuse was feeble.

There was some discussion by the group and then they asked if I would take a letter to our church if they wrote it quickly and got it to me before I left.  I said I would be very happy to deliver it to our church.  (See an entry later in this blog.)