Jon and Laura with la Comunidad

We are working with la Comunidad de Organizaciones Solidarias, which works toward solidarity in Chile. It's an umbrella organization that works with over 90 different NGOs, that do everything from working with children, to shelters, etc. On our first day, we went to Providencia, an area of Santiago, to see a "show" that an organization was doing. This organization, called Abrazarte, works with youth who live under the bridges and in the canal that runs through Santiago. The woman who runs the organization, Pia, who was an actress and founded the organization, hired a group called Auch! to teach classes to the kids (I use this term loosely, because some were maybe 13, and others in their 20s) to "play" white buckets flipped upside down like drums. It's similar to the group Stomp. They met twice a week for 2 months and finally they were playing on the street in front of the old train station. They were asking for donations for their performance. Afterwards, the group met up to split up the money, etc, we it was really great to hear the kids thank Pia, and tell her how much this meant to them. A lot of them have drug problems, come from abusive backgrounds, etc. It was amazing to see the sense of support and community that Pia had been able to give them.

Today we went to la Lengua, the poorest area of Santiago. We were able to visit a house, and honestly it was so difficult to see the extremely poor living conditions. Some don't have even hot water. We went to Cristo Especial, a center for handicapped people that live in la Lengua. Jon and I are going to be making a website for them, and to get a better idea of who they are and their motivation, etc, we will be going to the center a few more times in the upcoming weeks. It's made up of 2 houses that are connected. Four days a week, about 15 or so people with disabilities come to the center. They have a weekly schedule, that includes activities such as making mosaic tiles, theater, singing, and dancing. Actually, when we arrived they had a welcome song that they sang for us, which was amazing. Also, when we took out our cameras everyone got so excited and we had a grand photo shoot. We had a good time. Anita is the woman who runs the center daily. She's an older woman from Belgium, but she's been living in Chile for almost 50 years. She's an inspiring woman. As you can infer by the organization's name, their goal is to make every person feel special and that they matter to someone. The sense of community and friendship is evident the minute you arrive to the door of the center. The walls outside are painted with bright and colorful images with sayings such as "todo sueño es posible" or 'every dream is possible" and "lo esencial es invisible a los ojos, solo se ve bien con el corazon' or 'the most important things are invisible to your eyes, you can only see them well with your heart."

All in all, it's been a great start to our time here in Chile. We definitely have had our eyes open, and we're excited to delve into our work and get more involved!