International Day of Older Person: Antonia’s Ants

Every day, very early in the morning Antonia gets up, gets dressed and goes to sit on a bench at the park to catch ants. This winter season was not as good as previous ones, as she was not able to find as many ants as she used to. She said, “There are less and less ants and its harder to catch them, they learned to run faster.” This was and still is, Antonia’s hobby, catching ants.

Mama Antonia, as her friends describe her, comes from a mining town, in the province of Bustillos in Potosi City, Bolivia. She is part of a large group of migrants that arrived in Cochabamba city where she now lives in EMAUS, a sub site of Fatima.

Antonia used to wake up in the morning worried because she didn’t have anything to eat. She would be alone for months at a time as her husband worked in the fields, stopping in when he could with something for her to eat. Antonia’s diet mainly consisted of potatoes or chuño (dehydrated potatoes) and hot tea if she had propane to heat the water. Sometimes she would just have barley mixed with water that was unsafe to drink. 

Antonia’s life changed completely when she was identified by our project EMAUS and a sponsor was found. The sponsorship came when she needed it the most. She now receives daily meals, the company from her friends from the EMAUS project and the happiness that comes with having a sponsor. Unfortunately her husband has passed away and she doesn’t have a relationship with her children but Antonia feels the love from her friends at Chalice.

Her eyes might not see well and her ears might not hear well either but she knows she has a group of friends who support her. She is grateful for her sponsor because from the time she was sponsored she has never felt alone.

Currently Antonia lives with her nephew whom she raised like a son, his wife and their grandchildren. She is now able to enjoy a warm meal three times a day, take a hot shower and finds joy each day. Her friends from the EMAUS family circles say she is a different person - she smiles more, talks more, helps out and sometimes is able to share some food with others. She lives a little far from the project but she is always the first one to arrive whenever meetings are held.

For now Antonia will keep chasing ants, talking to her friends and playing with them. They share each other’s secrets, worries and troubles. She misses them in the winter when they don’t see each other much due to the cold.

October 1 is the International Day of Older Persons.