Burglary

Several months have passed now since this happened, but I still believe it’s affected me a lot and feel that it’s important to share it. As I mentioned in the previous post, I went to the capital for cholera training at the end of October. As I was returning the next day with several other volunteers, I received a call from my friend who takes care of my house, who told me that my house had been broken into the night before when he had left for a couple of hours in the evening. I was shocked. I had never really worried about that happening as I’d already been living in the house for more than a year and on several occasions had gone out at night to compartir (share time with) friends in the community. Also, my house is fairly secure as far as Peace Corps volunteer houses go.

When I arrived at my house it was time to survey the damage. They had broken one of the wooden slats on the window to right of the front door of the house and reached inside and opened the lock. I’m not sure exactly what they were looking for, but they managed to take quite a bit. The worst thing they took was 5000 pesos (about $150 US) that was money community members had given me as part of their contribution for our improved cookstove project. They also took several pairs of pants and shorts, some T-shirts and tank tops, several pairs of shoes, some skirts and a dress, a bunch of paints that Mom had brought me when she came, a backpack, most of my sheets, my towel, and a damaged greca (a stovetop coffee maker).

By the time I arrived home they had three people in custody that had been seen near the house around the time the robbery happened. I had to go down and give a report to the police that evening and then return the next morning where I had to sit and listen while the detectives questioned the men one by one as they sat in a chair next to me. As there was no proof, they were allowed to go. In the end, only one is still suspected of having been involved, although the other two had information they later shared, not with police but with other members of the community which eventually trickled back to me. Another man who is believed to be involved was later arrested on unrelated charges to the robbery and is still in jail.

I have to say, I lost a little bit of faith in my community initially when I found out what happened, and definitely felt less secure in my own house, which is a terrible feeling to have. I still get freaked out every now and again and am very careful about leaving my house unattended. However, things could have been much worse. Had I been here and left the house alone at night, they probably would have stolen my computer and my camera which would have been irreplaceable as they have all of my work information and all of my photos from my time here saved on them. And ultimately, my faith was restored in my community on the night I returned from the capital. It was patronales (kind of like a festival with booths that sell alcohol and dance competitions) and as I mentioned several of my volunteer friends had come back to my site with me so we could go enjoy patronales. So while some people stayed at my house, a few of us went out. When we arrived I was immediately approached by friends in the community, who were concerned about the robbery. They all felt so horrible that it had happened to me. It was a strange feeling. On the one hand, I felt violated and like an outsider because my house had been robbed, and on the other hand I felt so loved and like such a part of the community because all these people were so concerned for me. In the end, I think it may have been a blessing in disguise. The things that were stolen held no sentimental value and could be replaced and my community banded around me.