At the Heart of the Caribbean
Ongoing emergencies, but also much solidarity and desire to get things going again. It is a difficult socio-political scene in Venezuela: soaring inflation, the persistent increase in the number of people living in extreme poverty, the lack of basic human necessities, and violent clashes. In Cuba and Puerto Rico, recontstruction has been hard because of the exodus of thousands of people, and the lack of electricity and drinking water. Yet, in the midst of it all, the vitality of the Caribbean people and the will to begin again has never faded. María Augusta and José Juan, from the Focolare community in the Carribean region report: “The general situation in Venezuela is quite painful, because of the lack of food and medicines, and also because of the growing uncertainty and helplessness and the continuing exodus of the people who are leaving the country. The list of our friends who have already left and of others who are attempting to leave, is long. In spite of this we have to “stay” at the foot of the cross, in the midst of much suffering, in the hope of a resurrection. But we can already see the Resurrection happening in many people, in their depth and in the Christian solidarity that animates them.” 
Ofelia from the Venezuelan community recounts: “It’s not easy to find answers to the problems we’re facing, like the lack of food, clothing and medicines. But we have Jesus’s words alive in our hearts: ‘Give and there will be gifts for you’, which we can live one day at a time. If someone doesn’t have food to eat, we can share a package of rice or medicine and all the things that we receive in thousands of ways. Each of us thinks of the other, life circulates and the community grows. In the midst of the violence and uncertainty, the presence of Jesus among us is like a flame that attracts and gives hope.” María Augusta e José Juan are always the ones to report on Cuba: “Last weekend a Mariapolis was held in Santiago with around 200 people, a sign of hope that continues to rise in the midst of the many difficulties that everyone has to face.” And from the community in Puerto Rico: “As you know, they have been living through truly tragic months due to the devastating effects of the hurricaine which destroyed the island. Very touching testimonies of Gospel love continue to arrive.” Here are a few: “Fifty six days without water, and electricity for only 30 minutes a day. It’s not easy to work in the office with the intense heat, but we do it! The flashlight provides a bit of light, the water bottles can be left in the afternoon sun, so that one has a bit of warm water to bathe with. For the heat, a hand fan or spray bottle of water and alcohol can provide some refreshment…” “Some young people from the Movement and the Inmaculado Corazón de María Parish in Patillas, along with some students from Saint Ignatius College have distributed rations to the needy – 237 sacks of food in all.” “My experience at Palma Sola was quite hard because of the destruction and lack of everything. Offering my service, with my entire family, was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever done in my life.” “We always have something to give, evaluating what we really need and offering the rest to the people who are more in need.” “We went to the Recio community in the Guardarraya di Patillas barrio. It was hard to get there because of the condition of the roads after the hurricaine. Beginning from the outskirts where there was total devastation, we found elderly people with tired and discouraged expressions, people with asthma problems, ulcers on their legs, diabetics (and the problem of finding a way to conserve the insulin without electricity), people suffering from high blood pressure… One boy had a skin allergy. We made an attempt to use the old community aquaduct to make up for the lack of water.” “In Gurabo we were able to know our neighbours better by helping them in their need.” “Carrying on and getting on our feet again doesn’t only depend on the government, nor the military, nor help from abroad. It also depends on us, on me, on you. Together, we’ll get it done!”
Travelling is the method and location is the classroom
The trip, which is organized by the international Dialogue in Architecture network and the La Salle University of Bogota, isn’t tourism, but an experience of living together, getting to know places, cultures, businesses and associations. The departure was from Bogota, south of the city. The puzzled looks on the faces of the Italians showed that they had to “shift their gaze” in order to place themselves with their heart and mind in this land of many contrast and with a different relationship to the environment. We passed over the eastern Cordillera and reach Villanueva, a colonial town in the mountains where time seemed to have stood still. We helped out in an earthquake evacuation drill as we gathered in square with the locals, which allowed us to share in this communitarian moment with them. The journey continued along a long downhill road that twisted through tunnels and led to the discovery of the intense green of the mountains and fabulous landscape views. We reached the port of Llano, Villavicencio. The temperature was hot, just like the warmth of the people we me. A majestic tree shaded us from the sun. We got back on the road and passed through el llano, a vast expanse of land. Here we visited the l’Università Unitrópico, which has begun an interdisciplinary course on social architecture. 
As in all Latin American countries, the architecture in Colombia is an expression of local society and emerges from the relationships with the communities. La Salle’s University’s Utopia Campus can be found in the region of Yopal, a place for young people who come from the rural regions and are often the victims of guerrilla violence. The course provides them with a work-study program that allows them to earn a diploma in Agrarian Sciences, and the possibility to get a job. It’s a concrete peace education experiment that seems to be working. We were halfway through our trip and after a delicious local style breakfast, we headed towards the colonial villages of Mongu and Tunja, Colombia’s original capital. In the grand colonial plazas, like Villa de Lyva, we came face to face with the indigenous populations who convey their strong identity which today is well integrated with their local colonial architecture. We returned to Bogotá in the North. The impact is almost stronger than in the south. We drove through the wealthiest zone that has its houses all surrounded by security walls. The experience continued with the workshop organized by the Urban Observatory of La Salle University on the Altos de Cazucá where we stayed for a week, getting to know families, enjoying their food and sleeping in their homes. It had a strong impact on us. We were in the company of university students from Germany, Bogotá and Yopal. There the poverty level is quite high, but the solidarity and kinds of relationships that exist showed us the real identity of this place. The work experience was quite new to us! We had to finish the exterior work on several houses: gardens, paint work, equipping a library and designing murals that depict the life of the community. An entire family was represented by birds, among them a son who was murdered by local delinquents, a sorrow we shared with them. One of the young people from the neighbourhood said to us: “We’ve worked together and made our neighbourhood beautiful now. We’ll carry on, finishing the roads.” Their gazes penetrated our hearts, and we felt great enthusiasm and hope. The intercultural exchange was real, a true enrichment when doing architecture together. Offering one’s talents as an architect can help to reconstruct the social fabric by providing spaces that help to preserve and grow the identity of a place together with its community.
Human Rights Day
December 11, 1948 was universally proclaimed Human Rights Day. Since then, on the same day every year this Declaration is commemorated, as adopted by the Human Rights Commission of the U.N. headed in those times by Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the United States President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to call attention to the importance and defense of the dignity of the human person. The document is a sort of censorship between the era prior to 1948, in which the indignation for the iniquities of the world was entrusted to some sporadic event, and the following era in which for the first time, the need to counter inequality in all the States of the world was firmly recognised. The recognition of the validity of such a Charter and the literal application of the 30 articles, would obliterate the following from our corrupt society: slavery, torture, racism, violence of all sorts, abuse of minors, man’s exploitation of man, and also impoverishment, abuse and pollution of environmental resources.
An essential feature of true fraternity
In the modern world, obedience is no longer appreciated for what it truly is. The appeal for liberty, equality and fraternity proclaimed during the French Revolution is reflected daily in our newspapers, our homes and streets and even in our parishes, convents and monasteries. … It follows that we often find in our subconscious a veiled sense of distrust concerning this precious virtue, almost as if it were in opposition to the discovery that the Gospel makes us all brothers and sisters in Christ. … Obedience does not imply abdicating our own personality or an inhuman humiliation. Quite the opposite, it helps us be truly ourselves and develop our personality, because it puts us in a social context that is essential, from both a human and a divine point of view, to the true manifestation of our skills. When the will of those who are my legitimate superiors in civil or ecclesiastical governance tells me what to do or what to avoid, even if it contrasts with my projects and ideas, it always raises me up to a broader and more general level, the level of the common good. The sense of hindrance and resistance that I feel, due to this contrast, is the contribution I must make to being raised up. It is then that I become more fully human. The more I find myself united with others, the more I discover we are brothers and sisters. This fraternity is the outcome of fellowship. Far from being in contrast to fraternity, obedience becomes an indispensable means for creating it. … Often, when speaking of this virtue, people talk only of its ascetic side, the progress made by someone who renounces their own will, the freedom from their passions that they acquire, and so on. This is of course true, but obedience gives us something better still. It makes us mystical sharers in Christ’s humanity and allows us to experience the mind of Christ in our lives (cf. Phil 2:5) Mary is the perfect model of this inner obedience. We see this in her reply to the Angel Gabriel, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord”, and when she travelled to Bethlehem following the edict put out by the Roman Emperor. We see it in her “haste” to go and help Elizabeth after she had the inspiration to do so, and when she asked Jesus for a miracle during the wedding feast at Cana. We see it on Calvary, when she gave up the Son of God to stay with John, and later when she prayed with the apostles while awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. Her life was in continual obedience to God alone, by obeying people and circumstances. By letting Mary live again in us, we will share in her inner depths and her willingness. An example of this was Andrea Ferrari, a focolarino who was dying [after a road accident]. Someone spoke to him about accepting God’s will and he answered with a wittiness that revealed his deep union with God, “We have learned to recognise God’s will always, even in front of a red traffic light”. Translated from: Pasquale Foresi – Parole di Vita [Words of Life] – Città Nuova 1963 – pp 197-8-9-200
After the Visit of Francis
Peace, respect for the dignity of every people, and dialogue were some of the lofty goals left by Pope Francis to the populations he visited during his recent trip in Asia. Testimonies from the Focolare community have begun to arrive from Myanmar in recent days where, together with others, they were involved in taking care of different aspects of the trip – things like translations, maintaining order, health care, and the orchestra. Here are a few of the reports: “Pope Francis’s coming was a dream come true for us. It took a while for the amazement to become conscious awareness of what was really happening.” “The tears streamed down the cheeks of the elderly. But also the youth, for whom it was more difficult to grasp what was taking place, were overjoyed.” The small minority of Catholics in the country felt encouraged: “We were a little flock and isolated. Finally we saw our shepherd up close. These people are no longer on the margins, but under the world spotlight. Finally something happened to be proud of. The Pope is in Myanmar.” “We don’t have to be afraid of anything anymore.” 
Gennie works with Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), civilians who are forced to escape persecutions and, unlike refugees, haven’t crossed international borders. In the majority of cases, while waiting for a new life, they’re deprived of help and protection. After Pope Francis’s visit, she writes: “Today this hope is renewed. “My own personal hope is in Love, and from now on it will be more and more alive in me.” “On November 28 we left with a group of a hundred people from the farthest villages of the country. We travelled in at least five buses. “The trip was organized by our parish. Seeing the Pope was like a dream for us. We left at nine o’clock in the morning and travelled for ten hours. We were full of enthusiasm, we prayed and sang. We took a short-cut, but it took all of us around twenty hours to get there because we didn’t want to let our friends fall behind and be on their own. But nobody complained about that.” 
The group reached Kyaikkasan Ground of Yangon at around 5:30 in the morning as Mass was about to begin. It was attended not only by the small Catholic minority, but also by Muslims, Buddhists and faithful of different religions. “Our group couldn’t get in, but we found a spot near one of the entrances. Through the Pope we were able to feel the Church’s love for the smallest flock. You could sense a very strong love also among the whole population, not only among the Christians. Our taxi driver told us that he had been driving people for free to the stadium since early morning, and that the public trains were doing the same.” One Buddhist youth, who had just attended the Mass, wrote: “Here too I felt I was in a family. I notice a deep peace in my heart.” Gennie continues: “The new criteria that should be observed from now on are totally topsy turvey and new: the VIPs are all there in the Magnificat . . . He has raised up the lowly . . . filled the hungry with good things.” “We have to thank everyone for this experience – the Yangonians, who were always so patient with the crowd; the people who prepared the event, but especially Pope Francis who made the decision to come to such a far-away land. It’s a new daybreak for Myanmar.” Valentina is a medical doctor. She and other doctors lent their services to help with the health care. “It was an occasion that put us together, without borders. We Catholic and non-Catholic doctors worked straight through and were very tired, but we received a sort of grace, that of being able to love without stopping.” Jerome worked as a translator: “For me it was especially beautiful to see the youth waiting from early in the morning at the Cathedral of St Mary in Yangon. At the end of the Mass the Pope turned to us with lots of encouragement for us to work or peace. I now feel called to greater generosity, to be joyful and brave as he asked us to be.”