On language and friendship

We are in the city of Santa Cruz, which has grown from a mere 60,000 or so fifty years ago to over a million today. There are several Rotary Clubs here, perhaps six, and we are hosted by a new one almost every day. So we’re meeting a steady stream of new people who come into and out of our lives with maddening speed and frequency.

Yesterday, the Rotary Club of Santa Cruz, which is the first club here and the “mother” of the others, was our host. The president of the club, Bolivar Carvalho, and several club members escorted us to a rehabilitation center that they have funded and built since Rotary International’s 100^th anniversary six years ago. "Rotary implored us to think big, and we did." It is a totally modern, spotless facility. It is not a hospital for acute injuries but a rehabilitation center where victims of accidents, mostly burns, can receive longer-term care.

Much of the tour was given in Spanish, but the Rotary guides and my teammates were quick to provide enough translations for me to hopefully understand what was going on. One of the Rotary members, Fernando Soriano, spoke fluent English (more about him in a moment), and he made sure we all understood the vital work being done.

Burns are a frequent accident among the poor children of the country. “Here’s a typical situation,” we were told. “Imagine a family of three children where the six-year old it left during the day to care for a 3-year old and a 1-year old while the parents – or single parent – is away working. No six-year old child is prepared to take care of him- or herself, not to mention other children. Many families heat and cook over open fires. Children are often burned. When they are burned, they not only suffer the intense pain of the injury, but they feel shame and often leave school and become withdrawn.”

The center can always use more money because the needs are overwhelming.

Driving back into the city center for lunch, Fernando spoke in perfect English about his intimate familiarity with and fondness for Southwest Virginia. One of his twin sons, Javier, attended high school in Abingdon, as an exchange student. Javier loved the area so much that he stayed and earned his bachelor’s degree at Emory and Henry College and then a master’s degree at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. Fernando and his wife had made several trips to the area where their hosts never let them stay in hotels, only in their home.

Later that afternoon, we met Javier. He is a totally engaging, bright young man. He spoke about his admiration for his dad and for the Rotary club and the work they were doing for the community, and of his experiences in Southwest Virginia. I liked Fernando, his wife Mealy, and Javier, very much.

Still later, Bolivar escorted us around the old city center, into various museums and the impressive cathedral. Bolivar made the effort to speak English for us whenever we didn’t understand what we were being told, while Judah carried most of the translation task.

That evening, we gave the program at their club meeting, which began with dinner shortly after 8:00 p.m. and lasted until 11:00 p.m. or so. I had several conversations with club members, some who spoke English and some who did not.

One man was an engineer, a graduate with a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from University of Texas. My degree is in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech, which he knew about and spoke well of. We talked about the Bolivia’s infrastructure and power generation systems. Another man was a former Davis Cup tennis player, and he worked in coordination tennis activities in Bolivia. He was in charge of the student exchange program. He admitted to me that getting students from the USA and other first-world countries was a hard sell. “Few of them want to come to Bolivia.” I told him that the challenges for an American here would be great, but worth it, and to look for student looking for a challenge.

Everyone was extraordinarily warm and welcoming. We were treated like celebrities.

I left the meeting with the profound realization that speaking different languages is a barrier to communication but no barrier whatsoever to friendship.

Michael