ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NUEVA VIDA PROJECT IN GUATEMALA

Sixty-six years ago, a little girl of six arrived at Colegio La Inmaculada in Cobán Alta Verapaz. That little girl was me, and the nuns who ran the school were the Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary. I was scared to death because I didn’t know what it was like. At that time the nuns wore dresses that covered everything, only their hands and faces were visible, and I had never seen anything like that. My father had died 6 months ago, and I was still very sad because I missed him very much.

In that school and with those strange women I found the love of God, the Virgin Mary and respect for many saints and exemplary people. These sisters taught me to make my bed, to keep my things tidy, to eat what was on the table, to respect and help my classmates and to find God in everything and everyone.

Thirty-four years later, I knocked on the doors of the sisters’ house again, now in Zone 8 of Guatemala’s capital city. At that time, I was already a woman with two children and in the process of divorce.

The sisters welcomed me with the same love they had welcomed me when I was five and a half years old, they extended their arms to me and gave me love, understanding, responsibility and the job that gave me back the will to live.

The job was the New Life Project. This project opened my eyes to the way of life of the people of the marginalized area around, it took me to meet magnificent teachers, brave and determined fathers and mothers, strong women who faced every day what life brought them and many children, many….

I cannot forget the doctor who attended the clinic in zone 8, the nurse, Berta the accountant, Aura Marina Vides the social worker, Doña Luz the cleaning lady and Carlos the guardian of the facilities. We all formed a big family.

The Nueva Vida project also brought me closer to a very special man, someone who I found to be very intelligent, very handsome and full of heart. That man was the psychologist who helped some of the people in the project and to whom I have been married for 39 years. Nueva Vida has given me a lot.

I witnessed the immense work of mother Amábilis in the Colonia Nueva Vida in Coy, the organization, administration capacity and the firm and determined character of mother Matilde running the clinic and the dining room; and the total dedication of Mother Dolores who gave her life for her children and young people of Fe y Alegría in Coy and in zone 10. Mother Pilar was that quiet and serene presence who ran the school in zone 8 and made sure that everything worked well and still had time to encourage and accompany each one of us. I still keep some of her letters. They are more than forty years old, and I still read them sometimes to remind me that God is in everything and everyone and that the force that moves the world is love. The presence of God, that God who is not only in the altars, but in the heart of each one of us has been, is and will always be.

Today we celebrate 50 years of the Nueva Vida Project and for many, today a new project begins. Today there are other faces, other sisters, teachers, fathers, mothers and children who will one day celebrate 100 years of Nueva Vida. Because God continues in each one of us. Life goes on.

Let us have a special prayer for the sisters: Amábilis, Matilde, Lucía and Dolores, also for Ligia Vargas, Aura Marina Vides and dear Sandrita Berducido. God rest their souls.

Let us not wait for God to come down and tell us what we must do.  Let us listen to the God inside us who tells us that we are his children, his creation, who tells us that we are worth a lot, that we can give a lot, and let us make the name of this project a reality.

Thank you, Mother Pilar, for everything, for so much. You have been the instrument God has used to teach me what love, patience, understanding, joy and responsibility are.

Thank you, Blessed Ascension Nicol for the Missionary Dominican Sisters of the Rosary,

Thank you, Nueva Vida Project.

Thank you, Lord, for everything.

Lucia T. Varona

Ph.D. in Multicultural Education

Senior Lecturer Santa Clara University