20 days without clean clothes. Not my proudest accomplishment, but it is up there with the best. Locating a lavanderia proved much more difficult than anticipated, although not unconquerable: we have met much graver foes in recent days. Dirty laundry was delivered to the lavanderia yesterday. And since all of my clothing has been used and dirty, it was all taken to the cleaners. Except for a pair of spandex and an x-large t-shirt which had been packed as pajamas and still never worn. As laundry requires 24 hours, and we had to leave for the site before it was returned, I made quite the fashion statement. I was asked repeatedly if I was going to the gym or possibly going to pick up my kids from soccer practice. The answer is yes, if by the gym they meant balancing on planks of wood suspended 15 feet above the water.
A note on the architecture of Villa De Barca: where the CDI school is located is on land, as one extends deeper into the community the city crawls out into the bay and is built on stilts in the water. Instead of sidewalks, there are planks of wood laid parallel to each other over three longer perpendicular beams. “Please remain in the center,” our guide told us. However, we appeared to be the only ones following the rule as I placed one foot directly in front of the other the entire walk. Dogs, people, children age three, girls on bikes, girls on bikes with merchandise, and many others did not have the patience to walk behind us and strayed to the edges of the path.
It appears entirely symbiotic, the water providing space for a people who could architecturally adapt, until a huge gap to our right and a drop fifteen feet down entirely covered in wood that used to be a house rocks gently with the tide and reminds us that nature ultimately has the last say. The ocean breeze moves in time with the waves and the whole of Villa De Barca seems to teeter. Or perhaps that is my stomach.
After the tour we have a chance to chat with Leilian. She used to deal drugs until a fight between her boyfriend and a rival drug dealer meant a threat to her life. After living in hiding for a while, her uncle offered to pay for her to take computer classes. She had never even been to high school. With nothing else to do and her boyfriend’s son on his way she enrolled in a private school in the middle of the city. She did not have money to take the bus one day. The next week she asked the teacher what had been gone over the week before. The teacher said that Leilian’s absence was not her problem. Leilian did not return.
Leilian heard about the CDI initiative in Villa De Barca and enrolled to continue her education. Francisco recognized her talent immediately and encouraged her to attend a computer class at the university. It was not easy. The other students were not from the slums and had years of private school experience. But Francisco encouraged her until her drug dealer boyfriend began appearing at the school and threatening the classroom. She had to go into hiding.
But she is back. Issues managed to resolve themselves and Leilian has made herself a servant of her community. She and Francisco are battling the prostitution and hopelessness-bred apathy toward the future. Her life is not only about her anymore but also about her son and her neighbors. The task is a daunting one, and not with an easy remedy, but the emphasis of the community, of the 60-year-old club role models, of CDI in Villa De Barca, provides an avenue for change, one that can be well trodden together.
-Dani