Quarlombia or Colombatine.

Playing in our apartment courtyard with required facemasks.

I wanted to write an update and give a bit of a picture of what the COVID-19 pandemic has been like for us here in Colombia.

Most countries in Latin America, including Colombia, were among the last to get their first cases of the coronavirus and, therefore, we were behind the curve with how the virus progressed. I think Canada was about two weeks into the pandemic when Colombia recorded its first cases in March. So we have been watching things unfold in Canada and the USA to get an idea of what we are in store for.

Doing crafts at home - Ezra's creation birds in a nest

Generally, I think getting the virus later was a blessing for Colombia as they were able to see the seriousness of the situation, how easily the virus spreads, and how best to prepare for it. In response, the Colombian government has been pretty strong with the policies they have enacted, which has been mostly good – but not without consequences. Since March 25 we have been in quarantine and schools have been closed (although classes have been conducted virtually). Quarantine in Colombia looks similar to what I’m sure most people are experiencing, except that it is a bit more strict. Only adults are allowed out of the house (children and elderly are not) every other day, and only for essential errands, such as grocery shopping, medical appointments, and banking. This means that the boys had not really been outside for over a month (except for our small balcony). Kids have only recently started to be allowed outside (for 30 min between 4pm-6pm, on the same days we are allowed out), but it had been weird to not really see many kids or elderly people any more.

Using the balcony a lot more, even for blowing bubbles.

Everyone in Colombia has a national ID card and the days you are allowed out of the house correspond to the last digit in your ID number. The way it worked for a while was that we both had one day a week we could go out, and then we could both go out of Saturdays. We had to try to do all of our shopping, banking and everything else we need to get done on those days. It made living without a vehicle in a mostly cash-based society difficult at times. Things have improved since the past couple weeks, as we are now allowed out basically every other day. However, the restrictions get re-assed and changed every few weeks, so we will see if the restrictions continue to slowly loosen, or will tighten up again.

Drive-by blessings from a local Catholic priest.

In terms of what it looks like for us personally, we are in the fortunate position that the majority of our work can be done online; therefore, we have been working from home during all of this. It has been difficult to juggle work and school/kids at home, as the schools have at times sent a lot of work to be done virtually (as I’m sure many of you can relate). It has been difficult not having an outlet for the kids to go outside, or for any of us to have a break from each other. We have been talking more to family and friends over skype or zoom, and the kids have talked with some friends a few times as well – which has been very nice for them. We have enjoyed participating in online church services from our home church in Vancouver, as well as attending video calls with our old homegroup.

Attending our home church service long distance.

Early into the pandemic in March, the government announced that it was shutting down all international travel, so we only had a few days to decide whether we were felt called to stay in Colombia throughout the pandemic or get out while we still could. This was also something that our exchange participants had to decide on as well.  We did end up having one of our participants leave early in order to get back to the USA. Truthfully, we are in a good place here in Cali – being able to work, having an apartment, kids are still doing school, and the health facilities in Colombia are really good. So even though we would love to be closer to family, it felt like the right decision for us to stay in Colombia. Some of our program participants come from countries and communities where the health system is quite bad by comparison and the governments can not be trusted, so their decision to stay or go has been more complicated. These are decisions that MCC staff all over the world are having to make. MCC as an organization is in the same boat as many non-profit organizations, in that their financial situation has gotten much worse. Not only are donations down, but MCC also depends on revenue sources from thrift stores and Ten Thousand Villages retail stores. Since these have been forced closed, their revenue streams have dried up. Therefore, there are some budget cuts on the horizon that will certainly limit some of the work going on in Colombia and other parts of the world.

Video calling for school.

Beyond this, it is hard to predict how this will affect the citizens of Colombia, but it will certainly not be good. Many vulnerable populations are more at risk of contracting the virus, and their means to make a living disappear during the quarantine. We have heard that many Venezuelans, who originally fled the economic disaster in that country, are now moving back to Venezuela as the opportunities in Colombia have become much more limited. We have heard that petty theft around hospitals (one of the few places with a consistent stream of people) have increased. People in the poorest areas of cities and areas in the country are receiving less support than other places. Tourism has stopped and I’m sure it will be very slow for years to come. As well, some armed groups have taken advantage of the situation and are continually expanding their control over some areas.

Fort sleepovers - one of the few perks of quarantine.

As often is the case, increased challenges have a way of bringing people together. The people of Colombia are no strangers to overcoming challenges and we have seen our partners continue their important work in creative ways. We are hoping and praying that the people here will be able to draw on their history of triumphing over adversity and be able to do the same during this crisis.