| Of course this does not resolve
everything, and it is also important to reflect on what a friend
of ours wrote about the experience of hunger in Argentina: “Evidently,
the concentration of riches that has taken place over the last
decade in Argentina presents a series of contradictions on the
surface. How can a large number of the population be starving
in a country that is the world’s fifth largest exporter
of food, and according to the UN, has sufficient resources to
contribute to the global food deficit? Part of the answer is to
be found in the unjust distribution of the country’s wealth:
the richest 10 percent of the population has almost 30 times more
income than the poorest 10 percent. A profound gap, which embarrasses
society as a whole, and challenges us to reach basic, common agreements
in order to adequately help those whom suffer the most.”
Another challenge to this country is its enormous foreign debt
that does not allow the country to even pay the interests to the
foreign banks, not to speak about paying the principal. Banks
are happy with the current situation because with this “eternal
debt” they can ask interest forever. But with a default
in the air we wonder if in ten years the situation will be the
same, bringing another deal with corrupted politicians and foreign
bank officials. There is no easy solution to this problem but
it is unjust that the most unprivileged of society pay for the
wrongdoing of the elite of this country and of unscrupulous foreign
banks. Also, the creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA) can be seen as a good strategy for resolving the problem
of overproduction in the United States, but it may well be at
the expense of Latin America’s economy.
During the year we also had the joy of welcoming two groups of
“neighbors” coming from the United States. The first
one came from the Nebraska Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
of America and the second one was from First Presbyterian Church
of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, who came to visit for a week. At the
same time that the second group discovered the reality of Buenos
Aires, they took the time to get some more training that would
enhance the orientation and training they provide their short-term
mission leaders. What a fantastic experience!
Before closing, we wanted to leave with you a poem “The
Power of the Embrace,” written by a Uruguayan author who
is an incredible witness to the joys and sufferings of Latin America.
We want to send all of you our best wishes for Advent and for
the new year starting so soon! Lord willing, we should be back
in the United States in July 2004 for a year of furlough.
Un abrazo (an embrace)
Juan, Manuela, Laura and Camila Kauer
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
257
The Power of the Embrace
We have the joy of our joys and also the joys of our pains, because
we are not interested in a life without pain that this society
of consumerism sells in supermarkets. And we are proud of the
price of such pain that we pay for so much love that we have.
We have the joy of our mistakes, stumbling that proves the passion
of our walk and the love in our path and we have the joy of our
defeats because fighting for justice and for beauty is worthwhile
even when we lose. And above all we have the joy of our hopes.
When what we feel is disenchantment and when this disenchantment
has become a universal and mass product, we continue to believe
in the incredible power of the human embrace.
Eduardo Galeano
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