Centro Menno

More in the informal series on what we do here in Santa Cruz Bolivia:
The Low German Mennonite Program of MCC Bolivia program has long run a drop-in center called Centro Menno. It is located near the city center, close to the popular market street, "6 de agosto." Centro Menno is well-visited by Bolivian Mennonites of all stripes: anywhere from 50 to 100 people come each of the three days per week that it is open.

Folks come for several reasons. The main draw is to pick up and/or purchase the three MCC publications (Menno Bote, Mennonitische Post, and Das Blatt) for themselves or for their colony store. Another is to purchase books, Bibles, school materials, and maps. In the last several months, daily sales of these items has often been more than $1000. Another big draw is the library. Books in German or English may be checked out for two months at a time. Based on data we keep regarding library use, many Bolivian Mennonites are big readers. Most popular are novels and Russian-Mennonite historical books; biographies, devotional materials, and family-related books are also popular. Centro Menno also provides some help with documentation for Mennonites, but the emphasis is shifting towards training colony representatives to do that for their own people. And a final draw towards Centro Menno is that it is a place to meet other people, visit, drink terere, and just hang out in a familiar place.


Ramont works at the front desk much of the time that Centro Menno is open. Willmar Harder covers it the rest of the time. Probably 98% of the business is done in Low German, 1% in English, and 1% in Spanish. Other staff are Hannah Neufeld (primarily does the finances and book ordering), Kirsten Navis (library and subscriptions superstar), and me. I primarily work on the Menno Bote (see photo below), but on days like today am at the front desk since every other person is away (it's a slow day, though, thus the blog update).



Centro Menno is a fascinating hub of activity, so our jobs provide ample opportunity to visit with a unique people-group. As Ramont says, we'll miss the daily interactions in Low German once we finish our term and return home.