Bolivia – Apthapi, a time for sharing
Among the indigenous peoples of the Andes, every detail of life has a fundamental meaning because it strengthens one’s identity’. One example of this is the Apthapi: sharing food. The coexistence of the Andeans is interconnected with three existential spaces: Janaq Pacha (sidereal space), Kay Pacha (local space) and Ukhu Pacha (the space of depth) […]
Brazil – The Tree of the Land of the Free People
To be a people and to make theology with the people. Living the experience of God, the Liberator in the sequela of the Jesus of the Gospel. The experience of a woman theologian on a journey towards “feeling oneself as belonging to a people and understanding the people”. The territory where I live is on […]
Bolivia – Under the spell of the rich mountain
They toil in dark and poorly secured tunnels – always looking for the one good mine that will make everyone rich. But what the miners find in the silver mountain of Potosí in Bolivia is hardly enough to live on. A community of Catholic Sisters is helping the miners’ families in this particular moment of […]
Mexico: Tortillas – God’s food
Mexican people and other cultures have been a corn-based diet culture since ancient times. Mexican creativity has no limits on corn. Proof of this is the multiple ways in which this grain is integrated into our table: tortillas, quesadillas, chilaquiles, chalupas, tamales. But also as a drink. Let’s discover the great richness of Mexican cuisine. […]
Oral Literature: The Tortoise and his Broken Shell
There was a famine in a certain town. Every creature in that town was hungry except a dog who knew of a tree in the nearby forest which supplied him with food. No one but the dog knew where he obtained his food. Now there lived in the town a tortoise. He was so hungry […]
The papaya: God created a fruit
Sweet as honey, just slightly acidic with a pulp that varies in tones ranging from intense yellow to orange, terracotta, salmon pink and fiery red. With a skin smooth and delicate to the touch. And powerful medicinal properties. According to people from the Americas, for the pleasure and health of humankind, God created a fruit […]
Azerbaijan: Unique Carpets
The Azerbaijan art of weaving is unique: it is an ancient tradition, a mystical and pedagogical language and a sign of Azeri identity that has now become the Heritage of Humanity. In Lahij, on the mountains of Azerbaijan, four generations come together around the loom on which carpets are woven. The woman doing the weaving […]
Ecuador: The Shuar – The people of the sacred waterfalls
The Shuar are an Amazonian indigenous people whose culture, life, and spirituality are based on water. The Shuar people live in the foothills of the Andes, Cutucú and Condor mountain ranges in the Amazonian provinces of Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe in Ecuador. This is an area characterized by abundant rivers that form wonderful waterfalls, […]
Ethiopia: Maqbasa – Name-giving
One of the greatest feasts among the Guji – an Oromo ethnic group – is that of name-giving. Like all other great feasts, it is sealed with the sacrifice of a bull, dancing and youthful games. In speaking of the maqbasa or name-giving ceremony, we must first mention the gadaa system which divides life from […]
Women Rangers: Defending Mother Nature
From Zimbabwe to South Africa and Kenya, Women Rangers are fiercely defending wildlife against poachers. In their camouflage uniforms and armed with assault rifles, they scour the Phundundu Wildlife area in Zimbabwe, the natural habitat of 11,000 elephants. These are the Akashinga women rangers, a name that means courageous in the Shona language. As part […]