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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Solidarity

Before coming to Paraguay solidarity was not a word that often appeared in my vocabulary. I knew what it meant and thought of it in relation to Girl Scouts or perhaps ideals presented by political parties. Its not one of those words that pops out when you ask an American about his or her values. But here in Paraguay when you ask someone that same question solidarity tends to be one of the first that they list. For a long time I assumed this was something they had learned early on in school, one of the many things they memorize from the age of five to spit out when someone asks. And maybe it is, but in recent months I have learned that when things get rough they actually do come together and show their solidarity.

On November 7th, the day of the big municipal elections, a fire consumed three houses in a marginal neighborhood called an asentamiento. The asentamientos are small neighborhoods of government or donated housing that everyone claims are super dangerous, mostly because they are full of people poorer than themselves. The next day, Monday, Radio Coronel Oviedo, where I host a weekly radio program, conducted a drive for donations to replace what was lost in the fire. There were donations of everything from clothes, to furniture to building materials. A young girl lost her bike in the fire. The bike had been used as transport to sell cooked yucca/maniac around the neighborhood, one of the few sources of income for the family. Several bikes were donated to the little girl so that she would still have transportation. The houses are nearly rebuilt now.

Just a few weeks later my neighbor's house burnt down. The next day the radio repeated its donation drive for the victims. Although many had given just weeks before, people from the town opened their hearts and donated to this newly homeless family. Everything from a crib for the baby to materials to rebuild, just about everything that could be replaced was. While the home was engulfed in flames neighbors and friends ran in and out carrying whatever they could grab. As in most Latin American countries the firefighters are volunteers and don't have many resources, but they were on the scene quickly and worked hard to put the fire out.

The community really seems to come together in times like these. They give support to their fellow citizens whether or not they know the victim. Often times I see the negative things about Paraguay while living here, such as the rampant gossip and even more prominent corruption, but I also see that Paraguayans are generous and loyal. And when they list solidarity as one of their values, they mean it.