When the poor person believes in the poor person...
One of the songs we repeat in different liturgies has the theme of belief. But it centers upon the ability of poor people to believe in others who are also of modest means. This might seem to be unimportant, but for lack of this capacity, poor people too often throw their votes to the wind by trusting in wealthy candidates who have nothing in common with them. Local elections are only a few months away and people focus their attention on the presidential candidate, ignoring other levels of government such as the mayor and the deputy mayors in the countryside.
Riocito:
After months of living with a blocked road, the community of Riocito finally had the chance to ride into town. We came out to celebrate the newly opened road together with the dancing children of Ojeda. José is pictured speaking to the families. He commutes every day to the Riocito school, which is one of the rural Catholic schools. When he speaks the people tend to listen a little better than they do to one another. He made the effort to caution the parents to keep their children away from known centers of corruption.
The dance:
When the children from Ojeda danced in the outdoor Mass, they caught the attention of the local children, with the effect of planting new ideas and interest in participating in the liturgy. The moment they moved to the music, poor people believed in others who share the same limited resources. We all experienced the grace of that event, as the visitors together with the locals forgot for a moment the political propaganda and focused upon children who enjoy dancing for the Lord.
