Accompaniment

One of the core concpets of the YAGM program is the model of accompaniment.  This model covers a lot of different things but the simple definition, as provided by the ELCA Global Mission unit’s handy dandy website, is “walking together in solidarity that practices interdependence and mutuality.”  I think this is a very pretty sentence. 

Before YAGM I was not familiar with the accompaniment model but after several orientations before I had learned a lot more about what it encompassed. After four high paced years of college, I loved the idea of making relationships and people more important than things like deadlines and projects and could not wait to get to Uruguay to see what accompaniment was all about.  However, even though I was excited, I still had doubts about my ability to accompany others. Would my lack of Spanish hinder me from making meaningful connections with others? Would my tendency to be introverted in new situations keep me distanced from others?  Would the fact I was living in another culture make it difficult to get closer to people?  These were just several of the many doubts I had before coming to Uruguay.  

Fortunately, I found many opportunities for accompaniment at La Obra Ecumenica.  Whether it be eating lunch with the teenagers, jumping rope with some of the kids from Club de Niños or sharing a mate with one of the educators, there is always a chance to simply be together.  I saw that my doubts about were just, simply not that big of a deal.  I learned it was more important to know how to give someone a high-five after scoring a goal instead of knowing how to say it in Spanish. After hearing so much about the accompaniment model, it was great to finally see it in real life.

Except I was not seeing the whole picture.

At one point in the past few months I found myself go through a very ugly situation, now resolved, in which my own sense of privacy, trust and personal safety had all been negatively affected. This period of time was really hard for me.  However, during this rough period, I woke up everyday excited to go to La Obra because I knew there would be smiles, hugs and a tasty lunch shared with others. La Obra, which seeks to be a safe and welcoming place for the youth of the community, became my escape from my own uncomfortable environment elsewhere.

During this year, including this rough period, I have been happy, sad, mad, frustrated, amazed, confused and just about every emotion you can think of but but what has been constant has been the way the communities of La Obra and Nuestro Salvador have accompanied me.  

I think I am finally starting to get this whole accompaniment thing.