emotional

Reflecting through Art in San Marcos, Nicaragua

by Church Health Reader Editors

This article was featured in the Spring 2013: The Model for Healthy Living print issue. Click here to see the complete table of contents.

Written by Church Health Reader Editors on March 15, 2013

Church Health Reader Editors

See all articles by Church Health Reader Editors.

Considering the eight-meter long mural just completed by the women of her community, Fabiola Cerda expressed its impact: “I didn’t know we had the ability to create something so beautiful with our own creativity. I realized the many different ways that violence can take shape. It isn’t only physical.” Last winter Fifo and Ellen Bermudez, husband and wife team at Threefold Ministries in San Marcos, Nicaragua, invited the women in their community to take part in a four-week program focused on reflecting on domestic violence through art. Machismo is a common form of domestic violence in Nicaragua, especially found in the poor, rural communities that make up most of the country. It is an attitude that says women have one role: that of housekeeper, cook, child bearer and mother in the home. While all of these jobs have honor and integrity, women often find themselves victims of verbal, physical or emotional abuse should they choose to seek identity outside the home. This abuse comes not only from fathers and husbands, but also other women in their families who have the same values. The mural was the culmination of the program that incorporated reflections on domestic violence through poems, Scripture, stories and songs. The women were asked both how they could identify with the subject matter and how they could make a change in their community. They began to draw their reflections. The final, painted mural portrays their concepts of what a truly gender-equal and violence-free home and community look like. The outcome was beautiful. Each woman was in awe of the artwork they created together through their ideas and recently developed artistic abilities. At the closing reflection and celebration activity each woman shared ideas of the strength, unity and confidence they acquired through the program that will help them promote a community without domestic violence and without machismo. Carolina Revas, one of the participants, explained, “It was a great experience because we got to escape from the daily routine. And we almost never had put these ideals into practice. We women also practice machismo. We learned to validate ourselves and realize we don’t need a man to validate us.”

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Emotional
ministry moment

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