With the help of Daniel and Julia, former students of the Romareda School in Saragosa, we are getting closer to the volunteer work of the Augustinian-Recollect International Solidarity Network ARCORES, this time through their experience in the Peruvian mission of Chota.
The ARCORES volunteers in Peru have spent part of their school holidays in 2024 in the Andean mountain range, in Chota, at 2,400 meters above sea level. There, the Augustinian Recollects and the Augustinian Recollect Missionaries accompany the People of God in their daily reality and act, in addition to pastoral service, in broad educational, human promotion and social development programs.
In addition to Chota, they have had time to visit various places in the mission, some very distant and isolated: Cochabamba, Llanduma, Atumpampa, among others. They have spent time with the elderly who live alone or in almost isolated communities. There was also a presentation to the local society through Radio Santa Monica.
The center of their operations has been the Pythagoras School of the Augustinian Recollect Missionaries. Prior to the activities, they enjoyed a day of coexistence with the teachers, they were able to introduce themselves and get to know each other. Nieves Maria Castro, who has previously been superior general of the Congregation and who has great experience in the educational field, directs this center.
The School offers a curriculum from first to sixth grade of Primary and from first to fifth grade of Secondary. The activities of the volunteers have focused on promoting reading and writing, stimulating mental agility, physical education, teaching values, activities to promote ecology, art or culture through creativity or reinforcing the subject of English.
The students created an intercultural mural using teamwork techniques. Later, workshops were given with a participatory methodology and realistic, figurative and abstract artistic styles. The volunteers also helped with maintenance, painting the walls, refurbishing a kiosk and improving the library and gardens, helping to create an open, happy, healthy and sustainable environment.
Daniel Losilla is 19 years old, a chemistry student and former student of the Romareda School of the Augustinian Recollects in Saragosa, Spain. Knowing about the Recollect missions since he was a child, he has seen volunteering as an opportunity to “get to know other realities and collaborate in everything, learn as much as possible about the culture, the people and their way of being.”
Daniel has seen that closeness is a characteristic of the people in Chota. “They have welcomed us with great enthusiasm, with great joy,” he adds. And he believes that everyone should look for their own way of building a better world: “To combat inequalities, it is not necessary to go to another country, there are also inequalities near us, even if they are not so visible.”
Julia Cueto, 30 years old, is also from Saragosa and a former student of the Augustinian Recollects. Specialised in marketing, volunteering is the result of a concern: “I am aware that I am very lucky to have been born where I was born and, in a certain way, I feel indebted to those who have not been as lucky as me.”
Julia has felt supported and safe, integrated into the ARCORES Solidarity Network, thanks to the previous training before starting her international volunteering. In Peru, that familiarity did not end: “Everyone has treated us in an extraordinary way, we have felt welcomed from the first minute. They welcomed us with open arms, with more desire to give than to receive and tremendously grateful for our collaboration.”
What she values most about volunteering is that “it makes you gain perspective on how lucky we are; but, above all and most importantly, although one thinks that one is going to help, in the end one does nothing but receive. It is an incredible way to meet incredible people with cultures and situations very different from ours. It has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life, it has improved me as a person, I 100% recommend that everyone try it.”
Julia is quite clear that to end inequality and injustice we all have to collaborate: “We can help by simply being generous and empathetic, putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes and doing everything we can to improve their situation, especially if it is unfair. International volunteering is an incredible option, but we can all help in our own communities, just think about how“.
