I welcomed in 2013 on the rooftop of el hogar enjoying the impromptu fireworks show exploding above the neighborhood while skyping with my family at home in Wisconsin so they could see the show too. After talking for awhile over the din of fuegos artificiales, I hung up wishing them a Happy New Year’s event though it would not be midnight in Wisconsin for another four hours. Still sitting on the roof, observing the neighborhood, I thought about how I spent the first moments of 2012, which was sitting next to a bonfire in the Dominican Republic.
On December 31st, 2011 I found myself seated on a bench next to a bonfire that greatly contrasted with the surrounding darkness. This difference was so stark because there is no electricity in La Piedra. Shortly after midnight the bonfire had burned down and it was time to call it a night. After wishing everyone a Feliz Año Nuevo, I left the fire and started to walk up the road to where I slept, which is when the overwhelming sensation of night hit me. I continued up the road a bit, accompanied by a few dogs that lived in La Piedra. Finally, I reached the shed in which medicines for the community were stored, which doubled as my bedroom while I was in La Piedra. I unlocked the door and fumbled around until I found the box of matches.I took one out and struck it against the box and there was a light, reflecting off the glass door of the medicine cabinet, enveloped the room. I lit a candle and read for awhile before finally blowing out the candle and enjoying my first few hours of sleep in 2012.
Thinking about that dark night in La Piedra made me think of another darkness that is not so literal. Thinking about the past four months spent at my site placement at La Obra in Barrio Borro and the individuals I accompany on a daily basis, I would say that many of them have seen a lot of darkness. One girl admits does not know how many brothers she has becuase of incarceration. A brother and sister live next to a house that serves as a center of prostitution and pasta base, a variant of crack cocaine. The darkness of violence, drugs and cycle of poverty are a daily reality for the kids that come to La Obra.
However, not all is dark. There are the older siblings that walk their younger siblings home after both finish their merienda, afternoon snack. Many in the neighborhood attended the end of year closing festival to show their support and cheer on the kids. And of course, there is the amazing staff of La Obra which strives to provide a safe, supportive and positive environment for the kids. To me, these things represent a light, a candle, in the darkness.
I admit that I do not frequently talk about matters of faith much on this blog or in my newsletters because there are many days when I truly struggle with my own perceptions of faith. For example, all you have to do is open up a newspaper or watch the news and you will find a million and one reasons to see darkness. I sometimes find the this so overwhelming that mere idea of existence of a light seems laughable. How much help could one light do, really?
Last year was not the first time I have ever lit a match in the dark. I get lots of practice as a tour guide at the Mining Museum in Platteville, WI. Each summer the museum puts on a weeklong program called Young Pioneers during which the kids get to explore the mine by candlelight. We turn off all the lights in the mine and once we are in the deepest part of the mine we blow out our candles. In this darkness, you cannot even see your hand in front of your face. Just a few seconds is unnerving, imagining any longer stretch of time would be frightening. Before everyone blows out our candles, I always have the match ready so the darkness only lasts a few seconds before re-lighting the candles. It is hard to describe how explosively bright one match is fifty feet underground unless you have seen it for yourself. Does lighting a match when we get back to the surface seem so amazing? Not so much
So it is during those times when I cannot process, fathom or rationalize the darkness that seems to exist, I try to think about how much light one candle really does cast.
John 1:5
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
**Quick side note: I spent the fall semester of my senior year studying abroad in the Dominican Republic after which I spent a month in a rural area of the island with an NGO called Centro Guanin, which works with the Dominican-Haitian community of La Piedra. Here is their website if you’re interested in finding out more http://guanin.org**
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