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In general, when we talk about history, we are looking back on our experiences and our journey.  These experiences mark us and guide us as we confront challenges presented to us in our current reality.  Another important factor is that history helps us to not make the same mistakes of the past and this is extremely important when we turn to look at the histories of communities we are accompanying as a Seed program.

In this bulletin, the Seeders have used different ways to tell the history of their community.  One of these ways is through photography, which Anna uses to present us the history of Mampuján and how that community is bound to a larger history of black communities in the country, as well as tracing roots back to Africa.  Cellia and Carolina, in Chocó, give us a small video to see the history of the Mennonite Brethren Church in the region, showing the church’s challenges, persecution, and lessons learned.

A personal life history is a method that allows us to see a situation through the eyes of a personal experience.  Jessica Sarriot uses the history of a community member to help us understand the history of the Ceja.  In the same way, Erica and Daniela share the history of a community leader in their neighborhood, El Progreso, in Cazucá, who has lived there almost the entire life of the neighborhood and currently works with youth in the area.  In Caño Berruguita, Larisa introduces us to three members of her community, who tell their life stories, which gives us a personal look into the history of their community.

To tell the history of the Mojana, Leonel uses a timeline, where he collects important dates of the community.  Finally, we have a legend and an article written by Will about the history of Carmen de Bolívar, his town, located in the heart of the region, Montes de María.

When we see the histories of other places, we compare them with our own histories, the stories of our lives, of our community and our country.  We hope that in reading these documented histories here, you can know and understand better the communities we work with here, but also we hope that they challenge you to reflect on your own histories.  The human story has a tendency to repeat itself all across the globe, as well as to connect separate groups’ histories together, and when you read the histories of the communities we are walking with, we hope that they also serve to help you reflect on a larger scale on how your histories connect to, reflect, or participate in these stories here.