For the next few days, I will share my experiences from a March 2025 pilgrimage to Argentina. I traveled with three Methodist Ministers from Florida and two other Lay Leaders. This experience forever changed me.
“You are not traveling in order to prove that you have a better life than other people–your aim is to find out how other people live, what they can teach you, how they deal with reality and with the extraordinary.” Paul Coehlo
Our goal for this pilgrimage was simple: to learn together. Argentina is a country of immense beauty with a complex past that is ever-present. During our journey, we would participate with the Methodist Church in Buenos Aires in a March to recognize the Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice, a national holiday to mark the start of the military dictatorship in 1976. During the dictatorship, some 30,000 people disappeared, most would never be heard from again and most families are still looking for answers from the government.
To prepare, we studied before our journey, watched documentaries and movies, and read up on the history from multiple perspectives. In Argentina, we listened to the story of a son of two missing parents, heard the letter from his mother, met with churches and talked with religious leaders, and visited the site of conscience, the Museo Sitio de Memoria ESMA.
It was the courage of a group of Grandmothers, whose children were among the missing, who became known as the Abuelas de Playa de Mayo who fought to end the dictatorship. They are faithful witnesses.
Here is a commercial run on Argentinian television trying to find the missing children of the disappeared.
This pilgrimage reminded me how important it is to learn all of the parts of our history, even the parts that are uncomfortable and sad and may make people uncomfortable. It is the only way to build a country where the mistakes of the past are not repeated and where its residents heal together and build a brighter future for all.
Shared by Marcie Doll
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