Caught between two worlds

A Wichi indigenous woman, Griselda Arias, left, discusses natural fibers used for creating bags and jewelry with Sr. Norma Chiappe, at Arias' home in Lote 75, an indigenous neighborhood of Embarcacion, Argentina. (Paul Jeffrey)
A Wichi indigenous woman, Griselda Arias, left, discusses natural fibers used for creating bags and jewelry with Sr. Norma Chiappe, at Arias' home in Lote 75, an indigenous neighborhood of Embarcacion, Argentina. (Paul Jeffrey)

Join the Conversation

Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more

They arrived in northern Argentina in the 1980s, a time of change and hope for a country that had grown weary of a military dictatorship.

Wanting to try something new, the Catholic sisters eschewed paternalism and instead chose to “accompany” indigenous communities in this often neglected region in their quest for recognition, justice and concrete improvements in day-to-day life.

Today, their mission is still at work, but wrestling with questions of its role in a new time of rapid change. And the sisters sometimes wonder if their work is still relevant

“We’ve been enriched living here, and we’ve been accepted here. We have people’s trust,” said Sr. Norma Chiappe, 59, a member of the Franciscanas Misionera de Maria – the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary.

But the changes afoot in Argentine society – including the embrace of what Chiappe and others call a consumer society – are worrisome, they said. “Dangerous,” Chiappe believes.

Not all agree with Chiappe, and therein lies a story of encroaching modernity in the Gran Chaco, the largest dry forest in the world, an area twice the size of California that spreads over three countries – Bolivia and Paraguay, as well as Argentina.

Read the full story at Global Sisters Report.

Latest News

Advertisement