In this year of 2020 with its quarantines due to the dangers of the virus, we have found the year extremely boring with no break in sight.
We’ve tried to break the monotony. We tried to go away for a few days as the Jubilee House Community…to see and do something different but Hurricane Eta hit; so, we rescheduled and Hurricane Iota hit. We went back to the same old same old.
Until yesterday…and yesterday we celebrated with fanfare Becca and Paul’s daughter, Eibhlín, turning 15 years old. We had her quinceañera.
We all dressed up. A masked photographer came and took loads of photos. Eibhlín and her sister, Orla, had fancy dresses made, and bought fancy shoes. They even had fancy masks to wear. Sarah cooked a great Chinese feast. Daniel got balloons galore. Claudia and the girls’ friend Abril decorated. There were presents, speeches, music, Zoom calls and - as I have mentioned above - lots of photos. Even Samantha, the Community’s toddler, after a cool down and rest, dressed up in her fancy dress to match Eibhlín’s.
Quinceañeras are a Latin thing and usually very big…I have issues with them by-and-large. In some ways they remind me of debutant balls…or events that announce “Here she is, ready for the picking!” Boys do not have quinceañeras, neither do they have debutant balls.
A quinceañera is also a time that the family spends way too much money. For poor Nicaraguans, they will often times go into debt to pay for the festivities. I have issues with spending too much money for frivolous things when the family might suffer…but last night taught me an important lesson…JOY is as important for the soul as bread is for the body.
Being poor is like quarantining. It is boring. You can’t afford books, outings, puzzles, games…it is the same old same old every single day. It is worse than quarantining because you sweep the same dirt floor, eat the same rice and if lucky beans, scrub the same clothes on a washboard, cook over a wood stove with the same pot…day in and day out. It is dreadfully boring, so when there is the chance for a break in that boredom…for JOY, the poor jump at the opportunity.
In 2003 we went to El Porvenir, the remote, rural coffee cooperative, with volunteer Lisa and her mother Dottie and brother Josh who were visiting. Dottie did medical consults and I handed out medicines. Lisa and Josh made balloon hats for all the kids of the cooperative. Word went out through the cooperative and kids kept coming from down below the mountain. It was the most fun I had had on top of that mountain, watching the different creations and the children’s delight in the hats. JOY was so prevalent that I was surprised a beam of happiness was not lighting up the sky.
A quinceañera is also a time that the family spends way too much money. For poor Nicaraguans, they will often times go into debt to pay for the festivities. I have issues with spending too much money for frivolous things when the family might suffer…but last night taught me an important lesson…JOY is as important for the soul as bread is for the body.
Being poor is like quarantining. It is boring. You can’t afford books, outings, puzzles, games…it is the same old same old every single day. It is worse than quarantining because you sweep the same dirt floor, eat the same rice and if lucky beans, scrub the same clothes on a washboard, cook over a wood stove with the same pot…day in and day out. It is dreadfully boring, so when there is the chance for a break in that boredom…for JOY, the poor jump at the opportunity.
In 2003 we went to El Porvenir, the remote, rural coffee cooperative, with volunteer Lisa and her mother Dottie and brother Josh who were visiting. Dottie did medical consults and I handed out medicines. Lisa and Josh made balloon hats for all the kids of the cooperative. Word went out through the cooperative and kids kept coming from down below the mountain. It was the most fun I had had on top of that mountain, watching the different creations and the children’s delight in the hats. JOY was so prevalent that I was surprised a beam of happiness was not lighting up the sky.
I have heard volunteers say “Oh! They are so happy!” wondering if the “simple life” of poverty makes one happy. What actually happens is that having new people around and dressing up for those on delegations breaks the monotony and gives people a little JOY.
JOY feeds the soul.
When we ran shelters in North Carolina in the 1980s, we laughed all the time. Mike and our late dear friend Margaret kept us in stitches. As we have aged laughter comes more slowly to us, but it is there. We understand dark humor and the need to laugh at things that most nice, white folks would find appalling. Our humor has an edge to it as does the humor of the poor.
When Pat died Joseph and Daniel kept making jokes. While trying to be “Mama”, I fussed at them. Their response consistently was “that is how we grieve…you know this.” And I did because they grew up with us.
Laughter cleanses the soul of all the negative build up and allows JOY to break into the soul. As People Into Giving a Sh*t we must be aware that spreading JOY is as critical as spreading justice, peace and hope.
I love our Chinese dragon…our symbol of JOY…the glittering fire burning away the pain and hurt to allow the bells to ring and my soul to fly.
-Kathleen
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