Richard Flamer’s life is like a movie,
his story is so amazing. In fact,
his story is going to be made into a movie in 2008 by the San Damiano
Foundation. This is the
prospective for the movie and it does an excellent job of telling how Richard
found himself the proprietor of a Catholic Worker farm in the mountains of
Chiapas Mexico. (By the way,
Richard hates to have the spotlight shining on him but it would be impossible
to tell this amazing story without making him the central character.
The San
Damiano Foundation
Presents
Night Into Day
The
Story of the
Catholic
Worker Community
in
Chiapas, Mexico
a film by
Gerard Thomas Straub
Ó 2007 The San Damiano Foundation
P. O. Box 1693 · Burbank, CA 91507
Night into Day
A Film about the Life and Work of Richard Flamer
and the Catholic Worker Movement in Chiapas, Mexico
“I
firmly believe that our salvation depends on the poor.”
-Dorothy
Day
Night into Day is the story of a man’s transformation
– going from a soldier in Vietnam to a carpenter with Catholic Worker in
Chiapas, Mexico – and how God works through broken, ordinary vessels to achieve
mighty works of love and redemption. It’s the story of a soul’s journey to God
through love of neighbor and the revelation that all of humanity, especially
suffering humanity, is our neighbor and, ultimately, wrapped up in our
redemption. Richard Flamer’s story is that of courage and sacrifice,
surrendered to God in vulnerable trust and given to others in self-emptying
love.
Richard served in the U.S. Army in
Vietnam as a tactical strategist for B-52 targeting, and although far removed
from direct conflict, the reports of the effects of bombing began to haunt him.
He returned to the States, like so many other Vets, wounded in spirit and hopeless.
While at Goddard College in Vermont, he became a rare book dealer…a job which
“did not hurt anyone.” Slowly he
found himself being drawn into the anti-war movement as he met people who
struggled for peace as hard as others struggled for war. He landed in jail with
others from the Catholic Worker Movement for nonviolent civil disobedience at
the SAC Airbase in Bellevue, Nebraska.
“Cardinal Newman in the
19th century drew a distinction between real knowledge and notional
knowledge. Notional knowledge is the assimilation of facts leading nowhere;
whereas real knowledge is some mysterious alchemy whereby the truth of
existence, including facts, leads one to moral development or simple actions on
behalf of people, on behalf of actual needs.”
-Daniel Berrigan, Absurd Convictions, Modest Hopes
After this refreshing experience with
Christians actively following Christ, Richard traveled to Nicaragua to
experience first hand the lived reality of Liberation Theology. He spent time
with Ernesto Cardenal, Minister of Culture and one of his customers in the rare
books trade, and was deeply moved by his interpretation of the life and
teachings of Christ and the movement in Nicaragua. Months later he sold the
book shop and most of his belongings, moved to Guatemala and began studying
Spanish. Richard worked for ten years as a photojournalist in Central America,
covering the mass graves in Guatemala, the fighting in El Salvador, and the
U.S. invasion of Panama.
His photojournalism brought him
alongside the work of various nonprofit organizations in Central America. He
worked with Bishop Gerardo Flores during the return of Guatemalan refugees from
camps in Mexico and with Bishop Samuel Ruiz in the refugee camps in Southern
Mexico. All of these experiences drew him closer to the mission of the Catholic
Worker and the life and spirituality of Dorothy Day.
While in Central America, Richard’s
mother died. He returned home to care for his father, an alcoholic who had
remained sober for 30 years because of his wife. When she died, he began
drinking again. During this time with his father, Richard converted to
Catholicism because of the power and love he experienced through Christians
working for peace justice in the name of Christ. After his father died, Richard
fell into a deep depression from the pain of loss and the unshakable memories
of war and death. The Catholic Worker community in Des Moines surrounded him
with love and put his carpentry skills to work. This move eventually led him
back to Chiapas to work with Habitat from Humanity and SYJAC (“Service to Our
People” in Tso Tsil).
“Everything we do can be
found in the Sermon on the Mount.
We simply try to serve the least among us, in a way that Dorothy Day
would find fruitful. It is, I
think, about atonement and redemption.”
-Richard Flamer
Chiapas
“The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a
revolution of the heart,
a
revolution which has to start with each one of us?”
-Dorothy
Day
Racism and the unjust gap between rich
and poor divide the impoverished state of Chiapas, Mexico. Most of the Mayan
Indians and other indigenous groups have been internally displaced and barely
survive in wood slat and mud houses with dirt floors. These tiny homes, many
without running water or electricity, are congested with eight to ten people
who sleep together in one room. Most have access only to dirty water from a
nearby stream for cooking, cleaning and drinking, and for dumping their own
waste. Children readily die of diarrhea and dehydration, of tuberculosis, or of
some other preventable or curable disease that stalks their malnourished
bodies.
Today there are approximately 12,080
displaced people in Chiapas, the majority of whom come from the Northern Jungle
Region – municipalities of Tila, Tumbalá and Sabanilla, and from the Highlands
Region, municipality of Chenalhó. Chiapas has a rural population of over 60%
with a literacy rate at just 69%. Protectionist policies for Mexican farmers
ended in 1982 under President Miguel de la Madrid. The problem was later
exacerbated by the initiation of NAFTA in 1994, which effectively closed the
market to Mexican farm goods. This
crisis has forced thousands of Chiapans to abandon their homes and communities
in search of a way out.
“We
have nothing to lose, absolutely nothing, no decent roof over our heads, no
land, no work, poor health, no food, no education, no right to freely and
democratically choose our leaders, no independence from foreign interests, and
no justice for ourselves or our children. But we say enough is enough! We are
the descendants of those who truly built this nation, we are the millions of
dispossessed, and we call upon all of our brethren to join our crusade, the
only option to avoid dying of starvation!”
-Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN)
Declaration of the
Lacandon Jungle, 1993
U.S. crackdowns on the Mexican border
have pushed Mexico to control its southern border with Guatemala, which has
increased the number arrests from an average of 40 a month to over 150. The
crackdown in Mexico carries with it increased bribery, extortion, rape and
violence. The Federal Army in Chiapas has been denounced for human rights
violations against civilian communities belonging to the EZLN or other
organizations. The violations include harassment, threats, illegal seizure of
land, executions, torture, forced displacement, and the introduction of
prostitution, alcoholism, and drug addiction, which have fragmented and
ruptured the social fabric and violated the rights of the communities to enjoy
and develop their own culture in conditions of equality.
“Torture was frequently
used by law-enforcement agents, particularly the state and judicial police,
throughout Mexico. Most of the victims were criminal suspects but some,
including leaders of indigenous communities and human rights activists, were
apparently targeted solely for their peaceful political activities. “
-Amnesty International, 1993
The Catholic Worker Community in Chiapas
“We have all known the
long loneliness
and we have learned that
the only solution is love
and that love comes with community.”
-Dorothy
Day
“Building community,
repairing the breach and restoring the streets to live in as Isaiah talks about
(Isaiah 58:12), learning to love my neighbors…all the gospel stuff that is so easy
to read and so hard to practice. Ours is a messy life. Our life in San
Cristobal is a life working with the poor and most of the time being poor.
Every aspect of our daily life
is a little miracle.” -Richard
Flamer
Growing
up in the U.S., even in our poorer neighborhoods, it is easy to be unaware of
the many hardships that others in the world experience. Access to health care,
food and potable water, indoor plumbing, public education and employment
opportunities are but a few of the more obvious ways that the average life
experience in the U.S. differs from the life of indigenous peoples in Chiapas,
Mexico. The hardships and trials daily facing the people of this forgotten
region of the world contain a pain so deep and require an endurance so
persevering that most citizens of the first world cannot begin to
understand. To understand is to
live with, to walk with, to suffer with. Only then can one empathize and offer
the kind of love and assistance that will bring about real change, real justice.
Richard and his wife Araceli Benitez
Moya, a Zapotec originally from Southern Oaxaca, are committed to working with
the poor in their everyday lives.
They works with the poorest of the poor in that region, many of whom are
among those expelled from their native lands, some 30,000 in San Cristobal
alone. The work includes a daycare for children and single mothers (many of
whom were raped by military during the conflict with the Zapatistas), a small
carpentry shop, an adult literacy program, a sewing center, and the beginnings
of a computer center teaching editing and producing DVD’s amongst the
indigenous peoples. This work in film is connected to Fr. Lee Lubbers who set
up SCOLA television to introduce languages to the world, with five channels and
a presence in over 87 countries, in 120 languages. Fr. Lubbers asked Richard to
help him get videos from the regions in Southern Mexico in native languages, as
there are 14 native languages in Chiapas alone and a total of 62 in Mexico.
Richard also heads up a Catholic Worker
Farm, “La Casa de Camillo Torres,” named for the Colombian rebel priest. With
about five acres they have cleared a sight for the workshop and have begun
rabbit and red worm production, and have also planted over 300 strawberry
plants and 60 fruit trees. They
have put three local kids to work with the new block machine necessary to
create the blocks for constructing the buildings. There are plans to add a
small bakery to be run by four local widows, and they also hope to build a
dormitory to house Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and Honduran immigrants passing
through. Migrants currently sleep
in a small cabin with Miguel, the guardian.
“We plant seeds that will
flower as results in our lives, so best to remove the weeds of anger, avarice,
envy and doubt, that peace and abundance may manifest for all.”
-Dorothy Day
Richard works alongside many local
NGO’s, involved in church building, classroom building, and most of all,
community building. He worked with Habitat for Humanity and other nonprofits in
wake of Hurricane Stan, which left over 5,000 people homeless in the more
isolated regions of Chiapas.
“What miracles, every
day, if we are just willing to accept that we get what we need, not what we
want... There is a reason that the Church has a preferential option for the
poor. It is for what they can teach us.” -Richard Flamer
“I
have long since come to believe that people never mean half of what they say,
and that it is best to disregard their talk and judge only their actions.”
-Dorothy Day
Richard’s life is faith in action
through works of love, a life so full of amazing stories and small acts of love
that words struggle to capture his essence. It is best, as Dorothy Day says, to
judge his actions and know by the fruit of his life that he is a true follower
of Christ. His generous heart and compassion cannot refuse help where it is
needed, making it impossible to do justice to the work being accomplished
through his efforts in Chiapas.
From his carpentry and construction to the Catholic Worker farm to
computer classes to a literacy program to working with local nonprofits to
housing and caring for immigrants passing through from Central and South
America to work with Fr. Lee Lubbers and SCOLA, Richard Flamer’s life is truly
poured out for others. His many letters to friends and supporters in the States
gives some glimpse into the immensity of the work, and the flurry of stories he
tells shed light on his life and character.
In one letter Richard mentions in
passing that they began working with a small Weaver’s cooperative from San
Andreas Larrainzar. He helped them get organized under Mexican laws as a legal
cooperative and is working with SERVV stores in the U.S. to help get them a
market. Richard writes, “They are trying to work in their traditional way with
dying their own thread, raising their own sheep, but they are having trouble
competing with their neighbors who are starting to use Australian commercially
dyed wool in much simpler patters to sell to the tourist market. We hope to get
them marketed so that they can continue their traditions….”
Richard was on the road during
Christmas 2006, traveling through Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Texas, and then
through all of Mexico to the southern state of Chiapas. Richard comes to the
States to raise money, mostly by working for it. Last year during the Christmas
season, Richard worked at re-hanging doors and repairing a cabin on the
Missouri river, finishing a basement for a young couple in Des Moines,
rebuilding a porch in Omaha, and other similar projects. Like Apostle Paul the
tentmaker, Richard works for the funds he needs to continue the work in
Chiapas, giving away all his earnings for the good of poor community.
“The best thing to do
with the best things in life is to give them up.”
-Dorothy
Day
Richard and Araceli have reduced their
monthly living expenses to $800, which includes $150 a month for Maria who
lives at the farm and takes care of the bunnies, the strawberries, etc.; $200 a
month goes out for rent in San Cristobal; $100 for the phone and internet, and
the other $350 is used for food, buying medicines for their neighbors and gas
money.
Richard is a man of prayer and action,
living out his prayers through real acts of love and justice, which can only be
accomplished through sincere and faithful prayer. His life exemplifies the
power of one when the will is surrendered to God and the body becomes a living
vessel, weak and broken, in the hands of God. Dorothy Day writes, “People say,
'What is the sense of our small effort?' They cannot see that we must lay one
brick at a time, take one step at a time.” Richard’s story shows the beauty of
laying one brick at a time in faithfulness to the call of God and watching as
God uses each act of faith to transform a man and an entire community along
with him.
Note: The San Damiano Foundation only produces films in service to the poor. Each of their films is financed by patrons who agree to be sponsors of the film. While the following information may be out of date the Foundation is always searching for sponsors for their quality films. There is a link to their website on the links section of this website.
Production and Budget
We are slated to begin production in
January of 2008. The preliminary budget suggests the film will cost $56,000 to
produce. To date, we have one sponsor. We are hoping to find 23 people or
churches or schools or organizations to donate $2,000 each to cover the cost of
producing the film. To date, we have found one donor…and so we need 22
additional sponsors. Each sponsor will be recognized in the closing credits of
the film.