Agros Blog

The following was written by Sabine Bernards, Agros International Service Teams Assistant:

In a culture where success is often measured by making, doing, and achieving, it is a challenge to step back to simply “be.” Members of Agros Service Teams traveling to Agros villages often find themselves confronted by this challenge, trying to reconcile their notion of what service means with the ideas of solidarity and accompaniment.

My own understanding of the concept of solidarity came on a recent four month long study abroad experience in El Salvador.  Before arriving, I expected to be doing some sort of tangible work—teaching English classes, working at local schools, or helping with community projects.  Spending two full days a week in the small community of San Ramon, however, I quickly learned that what I was there for was not to offer my services or my knowledge.  Instead of “doing” something, we spent much of our day simply spending time with the families of San Ramon, sitting in living rooms, drinking cafecitos, and talking for hours.

All around me I could see the effects of poverty and marginalization on the people I had grown to know and love; San Ramon is dangerously located at the base of an active volcano, children often leave school at early ages, and gang violence is escalating in the community.  It took me some time, but I finally came to understand that I, as an American college student visiting and living for four months, could not do everything.  What I could do was to graciously accept coffee and pandulce from Aida, Hector and Silvia, Areli, Anita, and so many others and simply “be” with and learn from the people of San Ramon.

Arriving in an Agros village, most Service Teams wrestle with similar tensions as I did in El Salvador.  They are ready to be put to work, hopeful to finish a project, or teach a class, all with the wonderful intentions of serving the community in tangible ways.  Despite these noble intentions, astute teams realize that their physical labor and their knowledge are not the reasons why they are so warmly welcomed into an Agros village. 

Villagers do not rely on teams to fix problems or finish projects; they welcome groups to “convivir,” to come and experience life with them and share in their hopes and dreams. People, not projects, are at the center of an Agros Service Team experience.  Physical labor, while at times very helpful, may not foster conversation, sharing, or relationships quite like sharing meals or cultural exchanges can. 

Slowing down to truly experience the reality of an Agros village opens service team participants and villagers up to a deeper understanding of the each other’s world.  In this deeper understanding lies solidarity, a sense of compassion and accompaniment that can last, both in the village and in the service team group, long after the team leaves.

For Agros service teams, this sense of solidarity can be humbling.  Learning about poverty and visiting Agros villages can often be overwhelming and instill a deep desire to solve problems or offer help.  After the experience of being in a village, participants realize that one week of work is a small but significant component of the complex and long-term work toward village development. 

As teams come to the honest realization that they cannot “fix” everything, they can step back from the need to accomplish tangibles and focus on intangible matters: relationships that can last and continue growing year after year with each service team trip.

Cross-cultural exchanges can be eye-opening, humbling, and transformative experiences for everyone involved. Learning about a new culture and experiencing life in another context can open one’s eyes to not only the differences, but also the many similarities. Perhaps most importantly, we can experience different ways of life and the values of another, especially through the generosity and humility of hosts who offer up their time, their homes, and their lives to guests for a week.  This, and many other aspects of the culture of Agros villages and of much of Latin America, can encourage us to slow down, to graciously accept kidnesss, and to begin to see past our desire to “do” and truly appreciate being in solidarity with others.