Micheal laments: >All the while, we remain unorganized.... Many of us on this list are taechers, and I imagine many of you, like me, fancy that every once in a while something happens in a student, something important, on the basis of the learning opportunites we structure. Not organizing, I know, but a bit-o-something to hold onto in the cold winter months. Here's my story from this semester's study abroad program here in Bolivia: It has been my experience that if you don't do your teaching job well, you hear about it immediately and vociferously from dissatisfied "customers". On the other hand, if you do alright, or even great, you might get a word or two at semester end, perhaps even a small gift (I got New York maple syrup this semester). At the risk of sounding whiney, the acknowledgement is seldom commensurate with the effort, concern, creativity, even love we put into our study abroad programs. But then, every once in a long while, and often quite unintentionally, acknowledgment comes, and with a power that makes even our best efforts seem small. Such was the case this semester, and Tito Tricot's (Chile AD) essay "Pinochet Must Pay For His Crimes -- It's Something Personal" and one young man's courage were the central elements. (I should mention that we spent some time looking at the Pinochet arrest this semester. The current president of Bolivia, Gen. Hugo Banzer, was a brutal dictator in the 70s and collaborated with Pinochet in hunting down, repatriating, torturing and killing people, a program know as "Operation Condor". Thus, when Pinochet was arrested, a lot of past history Banzer wants buried became daily front-page news.) The acknowledgement came in the introduction to a student's independent study project. The project was based on interviews and participant observation in the gay community of Cochabamba. The student took a long time to choose the subject; at first he wanted to look at problems of water and irrigation in neighboring arid valleys. Clearly he was struggling with whether to do something so close to his own feelings, sense of self, and in the context of study abroad group dynamics which can be intense. Once decided, he initially intended to do portraits of gay cochabambinos in order to give young gay people references in their own processes of coming out and being gay in Cochabamba. However, he found the context and material gathered did not lend itself to that format, and instead used the information gathered to write an introductory, accessible text on the experience and struggle of feeling gay, coming out, and being gay in Cochabamba today. It is meant as a support text for gay men in Cochabamba, and it is very well done, with lots of good quotes. In addition he did an accompanying paper explaining objectives, methods, and results of the process. The following is from the Introduction to the accompanying paper. ------------------- Introduction >From my personal journal, October 26th, 1998: "Though in general I've made it a rule to not write in retrospect, I think I should record the way I felt in Sucre Saturday night ... Sometimes those things that inspire us, that hurt us, that really make us think come in the most unexpected places. After a discussion of the Pinochet arrest, Tom read us an email from one of his Chilean friends [Tito's essay]. In chilling prose, it detailed the torture the man had endured during the Pinochet dictatorship. At first I felt disconnected and guilty. My life, it seemed, never had and never would feel such pain. Then I thought of Matthew Shepard, the gay man murdered recently in Wyoming, his tortured body lashed to a split rail fence. At that moment I felt a surge of fear and pride. At that moment, I realized that, like it or not, I too am part of a struggle. For some time now, I've fought, even rejected, my gay identity. To do so is to disgrace Matthew Shepard, in fact, to disgrace anyone who has ever felt the pain of oppression however big or small. As tears poured down my face, I realized the fight before me...." After struggling with the decision of whether or not to do this project for weeks, now I ask myself how I could not. This is for Tom's friend in Chile, for Matthew Shepard, for my gay friends here in Bolivian and my friends back home. This is for every man and every woman who has ever lived in a society that chose to oppress them for whatever reason, be it the color of their skin or political ideology or for simply loving the wrong person. Most importantly, this is for me. It is an affirmation of who I am and who I am to become. I am part of a struggle. A struggle that doesn't end a the gates of my university or even at the borders of my own country. Though I am painfully aware that this project is only a small contribution to gay Bolivia's struggle for recognition and can not come close to solving all of it's problems, I think it is an important start. ---------------------- Tom Kruse Casilla 5812 / Cochabamba, Bolivia Tel/Fax: (591-4) 248242 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
