Report from Ocongate

So you probably know that I spent the last two weeks in the town of Ocongate. Theresa and I were co-teaching and English class for 38 students at the vacaciones útiles. We stayed with Victor and Marta, two Spanish volunteers who recently arrived and will be in Ocongate all year. It was a highly enjoyable and very useful time for me. Here's what I take away from the experience

Teaching

Obviously, I went up to Ocongate to the work of teaching. From JV perspective, the vacaciones útiles offer a chance for new JVs to get some time in front of a classroom before the school year starts. Because Theresa and I were co-teaching (instead of splitting the class into two) I had a lot of opportunities to observe and learn from her teaching style, and also plenty of opportunities to try and implement what I learned as I led the class through an activity.

When I accepted a teaching placement with JVC, I had some trepidations. I'm not trained as a teacher. I wouldn't have accepted the position if I thought I couldn't do it. But after two weeks in Ocongate, I don't just think I can teach, I know I can. Of course I have much to learn and more room to grow than I understand, but I'm not clueless at this. That's a powerful feeling.

Hay que compartir lo que hay

Our two weeks in Ocongate were marked by lots of sharing. We shared meals and time. One of our first nights in Ocongate, José, a Peruvian who was in charge of the communications class, came over for dinner. He brought us a cuy (guinea pig). Cuy is delicious, and considered a delicacy; it was a very generous gift to share. When we thanked him, José said “hay que compartir lo que hay” (you have to share what you have).

I really like that saying. It reflects an attitude that is very common here. People here are quick to offer from what they have. I've talked about how impressed I was by my host family's generosity, but I am coming to realize that such generosity is a cultural norm. Generosity isn't rare in the United States, but it's less likely to reach the depths so common here in the Sur Andina. This is something that I really appreciate about this culture. As an outsider, it makes it easier to feel welcomed and accepted. It's also something that I want to take back with me.

Hay que compartir lo que hay – you have to share what you have. It's not that it's nice to share what you have, or that it's a friendly thing to share what you have. You have to share what you have. It's a reminder that we have is ours only because it under our control, our stewardship. And it's an encouragement to reach out, to welcome, and to find joy of being with others.

Cuy is very good. But I think that José felt that sharing the evening with Marta, Victor, Theresa, and I was better than eating a whole cuy by himself.

God's team

JVC works with about 400 volunteers across 7 countries. The world is much too big for JVC to be everywhere. But there are so many other programs across the globe that are equally as dedicated to doing simple, unglorified work with the poor.

In Ocongate I started to think about what it means to be on God's team. We may be stationed in different places, with different work, but all of us are on the same team. Victor and Marta, Spaniards who aren't practicing Catholics, have been sent to Ocongate with a Jesuit volunteer program. Theresa and I, practicing US-American catholics, have been sent to Andahuaylillas with a different program to do different work. Yet we are all working for the same end goal. We are all here to serve, all here to do what we can. 

No one person has to save the world, because there are teams of people doing little bits of the necessary work everywhere.

Ocongate viewed from the Mirador (look-out)

The Ocongate Vacaciones Útiles Team
Marta, Victor, Mireia (Spanish volunteer visiting from Tacna), Theresa and me