Walking together: Healing and hope for Colombian refugees

w a l k i n g
t o g e t h e r
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Gestures: A human being’s height is always demonstrated with the palm of the hand held out facing
sideways while the height of animals is demonstrated with the palm of the hand facing down. Most
Colombians are shocked when they see a Canadian indicate the height of a person with a downward
facing palm.
Yawning may indicate hunger as well as tiredness.
Last Names: Colombians have two last names, the first one inherited from their father and the second
from their mother. Colombian parents pass on the first of their own two last names to their children. For
example, if Pablo Ortiz Padilla and Sara Herrera Dominguez have a child named Ana, Ana’s full name will
be Ana Ortiz Herrera. Both parents’ first last names are taken into account when referring to the family
group, thus Pablo, Sara and Ana will be known as the “Ortiz Herrera family.” A common mistake for
Canadians is to assume that all the members of a Colombian family will share a common last name, and
that this last name will be the father’s second last name (In the case of our example, many Canadians
would mistakenly assume that Pablo, Sara and Ana are the ‘Padilla family’ - this will sound very odd to
the Colombian family.) For most Colombians the idea of a woman changing her name at marriage to
her husband’s last name seems both archaic and sexist. Occasionally a mother will pass both of her
last names on to her children, especially in situations where the father is not present or does not take
responsibility for the child.
Religious Composition: Most Colombians consider themselves to be religious, with some 90%
identifying as Catholic. Most of the remaining 10% belong to Protestant denominations, especially
common are the Evangelical, Pentecostal and Neo-Pentecostal movements, however there is also a
small but significant presence of historical churches such as the Lutheran, Mennonite, Presbyterian,
Baptist and Methodist. Along with indigenous religions, a minor percentage of the population identify
as Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Muslim or Jewish, while others identify as Buddhist or atheist. The
Constitution of 1991 recognized freedom of worship and no longer identified the Catholic Church the
official state church. Prior to this, in the 40s, 50s and 60s, during a time known as “The Violence,” there
were periods of fierce religious persecution and violence, primarily directed from Catholics towards non-
Catholics, and only recently have ecumenical movements begun.
Importance of Class: Colombian society is heavily stratified, based on an economic class system.
One of the clearest ways in which class divisions are marked is that of the “strata” markings of each
neighbourhood. Throughout Colombian cities, each neighbourhood is assigned a number, from one
to six, with one being the lowest stratum, and therefore the poorest neighbourhoods and six being the
highest stratum and most affluent neighbourhoods. The cost of rent and public services such as water,
electricity, natural gas, telephone lines and internet are priced respective to the strata, with lower costs
in lower strata and higher costs in upper strata neighbourhoods. In some cities neighbourhoods from
different strata are intermixed, while in other cities there is great separation between neighbourhoods of
high and low strata. In many cases Colombians from the highest strata may have never set foot in strata
one or two neighbourhoods. The decision to geographically stratify cities was a government decision,
made in order to organize the payment of taxes and services.