Sunny Sophia

Road through Cretan mountains

As much as I’d like to deny it, there’s been a decidedly autumnal feel in the air this weekend…  I've been thinking about the lovely summer that now seems past, and in particular about the wonderful week I spent in Crete with my friend Cath. 

We were both in need of a break and some R&R and that week definitely delivered...  We basked in the sun, enjoyed swimming, reading and far too much of the wonderful Greek cuisine.  We hired a car one day and despite lack of road signs and my horrible sense of direction, managed to negotiate our way from one end of the island to the other.  Along the way we passed through mountains, olive groves and canyons and the detours (unplanned and occasionally tense!) presented us with some beautiful interludes.  We bought fabulous olive oil and honey from a roadside stall enterprisingly positioned at a beauty spot, discovered a cliff top café serving the most delicious salads and best of all, stumbled upon the cave of Agia Sophia. 

Icon of Agia Sophia 

The unplanned stop was made out of sheer nosiness when we saw a number of cars parked on a road in the middle of nowhere.  We followed stone steps up the mountain side and after a hot climb, found ourselves in a gratifyingly cool cave.  The cave has various legends and historical stories associated with it, and has been dedicated to Sophia, the Wisdom of God, for centuries.  In amongst the impressive stalactites and stalagmites are dozens of icons and candles.  One icon in particular really spoke to me.  At the time I could recognise it as the Divine feminine but it wasn't an icon I had ever seen before and I couldn't explain the three female figures at the feet of what I now know to be Sophia. 

On a Sunday visit to Chania, we met a delightful elderly woman, Caterina, who had a shop selling religious artefacts near the church.  I described the icon to her and after some rummaging she produced a beautiful copy and explained that the large figure was indeed Sophia and the three smaller ones represent Love, Peace and Help.  The detour and the meeting with Caterina felt Providential – the power of the Divine feminine and the love, peace and help on offer from Her such a gift.  My Sophia icon is now treasured and I feel sure She has much to teach me!  

And we're in!

The prayer turret at 'The Circle'

The Circle is finally finished!  Well, almost – there are still some things like an amazing mould growing room in the basement to be sorted and a working front door to be achieved.  But we are in.  It has been very touching to see the enthusiasm of the neighbours.  One day we came home to find a beautiful plant on the porch, no card, just the plant.  The house had been effectively derelict for a couple of years and had become a magnet for a local gang.  Some of the rooms had been so well ‘tagged’ you could barely see the walls and we spent hours scrubbing graffiti off the marble in the hall.  Who knew marble was quite so porous?!  

Bienvenedas bunting - welcoming women to 'The Circle'

It has meant a lot to the local community to have the building bought and renovated.  Some of them confided in Licha that the houses opposite had all started to fix their porches and buy plants for the garden.  Already they are feeling so much better about the area. 

Helpers celebrating the move in....

We had a gathering of Helpers here last weekend to see the place in its post-renovation splendour.  It was fun showing them round and imagining the life that will go on in these walls.  It brought it home too, how much of a shared project this is.  Many people had already contributed furniture, pictures, equipment, prayer and enthusiasm.   As attention turns to the programmes, classes and support ‘The Circle’ will offer, this just continues.  We met this week with a doctor who is also an acupuncturist and keen to offer group sessions at low prices, there is a nutritionist offering teach nutrition and cookery, psychotherapy students coming to do their internships  and a number of young bilingual women ready to offer their time.  Every week, someone else seems to come on board. 

So although there are still rooms to be furnished, the parking lot to be laid, the garden to be landscaped and the program to be finalised - it really feels like things are taking shape.  It has been a lesson in trusting in Providence, if ever there was one!  

Evolution of The Jungle

The gate to the old Stockyards 

When I’m abroad, I like to try to read novels set in those places.  On learning of my south side location Maureen recommended that I read Upton Sinclair’s ‘The Jungle’ which was set in what is now the ‘Back of the Yards’ neighbourhood.  Lured into the book by the hilarious description of the main characters’ Lithuanian wedding, it soon became one of the most bleak, stomach churning books I’ve read.  Recommended by a vegan and describing the revolting practices of the meatpacking industry at the time – I suspected an ulterior motive and there was very nearly one more vegetarian in the world.  But the human suffering and degradation of the migrant workers surpassed even that. 

Fresh from ‘The Jungle’, I found myself in Back of the Years twice this week.  It remains an immigrant neighbourhood, but the Lithuanians, Poles and Irish have been replaced by Mexicans.  Angie, a Helper working in a large, active parish there asked me to be part of a team interviewing high school and college students for scholarships.  A few weeks ago, I attended a fundraiser for this so it was really nice to meet some of the young people who will benefit.  And what an impressive group they were!  One of the provisos for applying for a scholarship is that they must be involved in community work locally.  Talking about this put most of them at their ease and it was evident how much they benefited from their involvement.   Given the violence and poverty they grow up in, the fact that their dreams, optimism and motivation are so intact is a real credit to them and those who work with them. 

My second visit was to an after-school program in the parish.  This is mostly funded by the government as part of their violence reduction strategies.   The young people and their tutors (mostly young adults who have gone through the program themselves and are now in higher education) had organised a ‘carnival.’  There was lots of games, with highly sought after goldfish prizes and food was provided from the nutrition team who prepare full meals for the children every day after school.  Nutritional ideals were relaxed however and everyone tucked into a BBQ and cheesy nachos – not to mention a pie eating contest by four of the tutors!  There was a real mix of ages and it was great to see plenty of teenage boys and young men helping out, supporting the event and entering fully into the water bomb catching contests!

Tutors' pie eating contest

In many ways the Back of the Yards is unrecognisable from the early twentieth century when ‘The Jungle’ was written, but some of the same problems do remain, albeit manifesting in different ways – there is high population density, violence, poverty, lack of opportunity... But I saw huge community spirit, commitment, determination and no small amount of hope.  

Proud goldfish winners

Work and Play

Licha & Veronica potting plants for The Circle

The past couple of weeks have been busy.  I’ve been volunteering at Taller de José, a community resource centre offering accompaniment to people in need by connecting them to services and enabling them to access those services.  The staff, interns and volunteers work as compañeras, accompanying clients to court, medical appointments, social and legal services, referring them to partner agencies, translating documents, helping to fill in applications and assisting with reading letters or documents.  The majority of clients are Hispanic and my lack of Spanish means that I’ve been limited to reception - along with smiles and gestures, I can just about manage “hello, please wait there, your compañera will be with you...!”   Most of my time has been spent on data input of the clients’ questionnaires (essential for evaluation, development and funding applications).  This involves attempting to decipher comments made in Spanish which can be challenging particularly when the client’s written Spanish displays spelling even worse than mine... It took me a long time to realise that ‘ven’ was bien and ‘ke’ was que...

Cleaning one of the 75 windows...

Meanwhile the end is finally in sight of the renovations at The Circle.  This week the Big Clean commenced.  Cleaning the new windows (sticky labels, plaster and all) is no mean feat in a building with 75 generously sized windows...  We’ve had the help of a few volunteers though and people keep popping in to what is going on, which is a good excuse for a rest and another tour to begin!

Silver beach lighthouse, St. Joseph, Michigan

There have been opportunities for play in amongst this though.  This weekend was particularly good fun as Moe, her mum, Marty, and I took a trip to St. Joseph in Michigan, a charming little beach town on the Lake.   We took in a local craft fair, walks on the beach (a beach wedding provided excellent people watching), al fresco dining, a beautiful sunset and after the sunburn of Saturday, a day sharing round extra clothes and shivering on Sunday – I still can’t get used to the huge swings in temperature from one day to the next!   In a variety of attire then, we meandered back via the Indiana Dunes so I could feel justified in claiming my 13^th visited State.   

Waves of Contradiction

I love Chicago. The more time I spend here, the more I love it but the more I see of its underbelly too...  I had another ‘take-the-novice-to-work day’ today - this time with Jean, a senior Social Worker with ‘Catholic Charities.’  Again, what an eye opener!  I spent the day visiting numerous innovative projects including shelters for homeless families, a centre providing nutritious food for pregnant women, babies and children, and a programme trying to assist homeless single people (for whom there are no state benefits) to find and maintain housing.  I met a series of energetic, committed, passionate, people working so hard to provide opportunities for some of the most vulnerable and needy. 

The shelters are doing amazing work but face inordinate difficulties.  Here as at home the weak economy has meant that the numbers of people needing help has increased at the same time that budgets have been slashed.  Among the clients (and sadly their children) mental illness abounds and motivation is lacking – which means that even when there are programs in place to help them move forward, some are unable to benefit fully from them.  There are success stories though and without exception, the staff glowed when they talked about those people who have succeeded in getting and keeping a job, making their own home and providing a settled base for their children.  There were also many stories: sad stories, shocking stories, funny stories – often all three. 

Last night Licha and I were down at the Lake watching huge waves crashing onto the shore.  It was a spectacular sight standing at the southern point and looking over to Chicago’s beautiful skyline as a full moon emerged and the buildings began to light up against a orange sky.  I was in awe and busy taking photos (of course) while every so often being soaked with spray from the crashing waves.  It struck me that that is exactly what Chicago is like:  beautiful, dramatic, noisy, violent -  all at once. 

St. Louis

Last week I was invited to go down to St. Louis to visit two Helpers living there.  I was keen to go as I knew Mary from her time in Liverpool when I was a teenager, plus Missouri was a new state to add to my tally! 

The drive down is through flat, flat cornfields – the whole 6 hours... While my legendary travel sleepiness inevitably kicked in, every time I did come to, there they where-  the flat, flat fields. The only break in the landscape is the occasional vast hill which it transpires, are not hills at all but a giant landfill sites...  When you look closely there all ventilation pipes dotted around to allow the monitoring of air.  Where I’m living in Chicago, there is as yet no recycling collection which, along with the complete lack of any ‘fair-trade’ options in the major supermarkets makes attempts at sustainable living even more difficult.

St. Louis greets you with the beautiful ‘Gateway Arch’ though and won me over with its public art and free entrance to so many ‘attractions.’  Mary and Pat proved good tour guides covering the Missouri Botanical gardens (just when the azaleas were at their most spectacular) the zoo, and the City Park with it’s array of sculptures and resulting photo opportunities!  The pay off however was the non-negotiable daily Mass at 8am! 

A Tale of 2 Cities

Last week I spent some time with Rayo, getting to seme ore of what is involved in her ministry.  This is how I found myself amid a crowd of thousands marching from Unity Park to the Federal Square in downtown Chicago.  My first ever May Day Protest!  I was there with a group of children, teenagers and young adults Rayo works with and who were enthusiastically (and loudly) calling for Immigration Reform.   We managed to be stationed right behind a Guatemalan marching band  - just what you need to liven up a few thousand vociferous Latinos!  There were other groups matching too – including teachers against the closure of 53 Chicago schools.  Although these schools are grossly underfunded and under-subscribed  parents and children have a very real fear of the dangers involved in crossing gang territories to travel longer distances to school.

The next day I went to South Chicago with Rayo.  We met a bright, passionate young woman who despite having a good job and being well educated, refuses to leave ‘her’ community, choosing instead to volunteer with the young people of the neighbourhood.  She was distressed over the shooting of an unarmed friend earlier in the week by police – he was crossing the street trying to avoid an altercation between  the police and some gang members and he was shot three times for moving too fast.  The police are afraid and jumpy in these areas... 

We visited ‘Casa Esperanza’ http://casaesperanzachicago.org which is a Helper project serving homeless women and children as they transition out of emergency shelters, towards independent living.  The house provides a safe space, training and community in which the women can train, heal and grow and their children can find stability and security. 

I also spent time with local children who come to the parish after school.  Ostensibly they come for help with their homework, but they are fed and welcomed in a safe space that has become very much their own.  It was lovely to see some of the older teenagers from the community coming to help out.  They were very open in talking about their lives and their dreams – especially to someone with a strange English accent!  It is sobering though to see the extent of the violence and fear that is part of their everyday reality. 

Casa Esperanza (House of Hope) is well named and despite the injustice, poverty and fear – I saw hope in action this week.   By Saturday though I was ready for the other side of Chicago!  Moe and I had a lovely day up in Evanston, gossiping over lunch, walking by the lake and visiting the stunning  Baha’i temple.   The sun was out, all was suburban calmness and there was humour to be seen in the creative rock graffiti at Northwestern University’s lake side.