REPORT OF THE JUBILEE CELEBRATION:
OCTOBER 27-29, 2006
Now over fifty years ago, Ed Duckles drove around
Mexico City in his banged-up truck, called “Nunca Tomo”, with a copy of
the Excelsior classifieds in the backseat, the notice circled
for Ignacio Mariscal #132. Buying the house was a bold move for
the visionary Friends who wanted to create “a meeting place to
strengthen and affirm the bonds of true [sister and] brotherhood.”
This October, friends of the Casa de los Amigos traveled from near and
far to celebrate a half-century of Quaker service, community, and
peacemaking in Mexico. The anniversary was the Casa’s fiftieth year as
a recognized civil association, a “Jubilee” watermark and a time for
sharing memories, forgiveness, and renewal.
A Jubilee Celebration
From October 27-29, over 120 people of all ages and backgrounds, from
places as far as Uruguay and as near as our neighborhood, attended the
Casa’s Jubilee Celebration. Guests included former volunteers and
staff, previous Casa directors and program coordinators, Quaker workcamp
alumni, Mexico City Friends Meeting members and attenders, and visiting
Friends. Gathering together were fans of the Friday night
Charla, Sunday potluck junkies, backpackers, members of the Casa’s
former Grupo de Jovenes (youth group) representatives of Friends’
organizations, and of Mexican and international peace groups, members of
other faith groups, folks from the neighborhood, at least one person who
helped found the Casa de los Amigos, and as always, a number of people
getting to know the Casa for the first time.
For each person who was able to attend, a dozen others wrote to
tell us how much they wished they could be with us and how strongly they value
the Casa. We felt their presence, alongside the spirit of all whohad come
before: hundreds, thousands of people from all over Mexico and the world who
have given of themselves in service at the Casa de los Amigos and laid the
ground upon which we now stand.
The Jubilee Celebration included morning Worship Sharing groups,
shared meals and fellowship, piñata-making, Mexican folk dancing, presentations
by Mexican organizations working in peace and justice, a talk with the Casa’s
former Grupo de Jovenes, and of course a talent night that (almost) brought the
house down! . Members of the Casa’s reconstituted Asamblea (board) opened
the Jubilee, new executive director Bridget Moix unveiled the Casa’s future
program directions, and Casa co-founder Jean Duckles unveiled the new bronze
plaque on the front of the Casa reading: “Centro de Paz y Entendimiento
Internacional” (Center for Peace and International Understanding).
More than 45 people gathered for Meeting for Worship with the Mexican Friends
Monthly Meeting on Sunday, filling the small meeting room, and an Open House
that followed provided a time for relaxing and cracking open birthday piñatas
for the Casa.
The Jubilee Celebration was also a time for renewing
the Casa’s mission of fostering peaceful cooperation among peoples and
launching new program directions for the coming year. The ongoing
conflict in Oaxaca and recent electoral crisis provided the political
background to our gathering, and a roundtable discussion with Mexican
and international peace organizations to discuss prospects and
challenges for peacebuilding in Mexico provided new ideas and insight
for our future programs. During our keynote dialogue, Pablo Romo
of SERAPAZA.C. (Servicios y Asesoría para la Paz) advised us to carry on
and strengthen the work of the Casa as a “space for reflection and
action for peace.”
Following the organized events at the Casa, on
October 30th a group of 16 people visited the small community of Vicente
Guerrero in the state of Tlaxcala. The Grupo Vicente Guerrero had
invited the Jubilee to visit the community and tour its sustainable
development projects, initiated in the 1970s through a collaboration
with the Comité Juvenil de la Casa de los Amigos (CJCAM) and the local
community. The remarkable community organization of Vicente
Guerrero, its commitment to service and self-reliance, and the many
projects that are succeeding there provide a testimony of a different,
more holistic and people-centered, approach to development.
The next day, another small group traveled to San Francisco Tepeyecac,
Puebla, another long-term Quaker workcamp site that hosted hundreds of
volunteers in the 1960s. The project created many lifelong
friendships and at least a few marriages. The pines that blanket
the village’s main hill are evidence of the reforestation and
well-digging that international teams of young people did forty years
ago.
Our Gratitude
Our deepest gratitude goes to all who participated in the Jubilee
Celebration of the Casa de los Amigos and made it such a wonderful time
of sharing, remembering, and renewal. As always at the Casa, the
event was a success because of the people who attended. Many of
those that gathered with us, through their long years of experience with
the Casa, already knew experientially of this small Quaker
organization’s profound potential, and many felt a renewed faith and
commitment to the Casa’s future. The house is quieter now, and
much work lies ahead. The feeling of the Jubilee remains, as does
the presence of the many friends who gathered with love and hope to
honor the Casa’s past and inaugurate the next chapter. Gracias.
