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Yes, there were llamas in downtown Aurora Friday.
The national animal of Bolivia was right at home during the raising of the Bolivian flag in One Aurora Plaza, where flag-raising for different nationalities and causes has become a symbol of the “diverse, multi-faceted” nature of Aurora, according to Clayton Muhammad, the city’s chief communications and equity officer.
“Your cultures, your individual communities matter to the bigger community of Aurora,” he said.
That was good news to Kareena Suarez Darden, an Aurora educator and counselor who was honored Friday, and actually raised the Bolivian flag.
“It means so much for every single Bolivian,” she said. “That sense of belonging is so important to foreigners like us.”
Darden came to Aurora when she was 16 years old, following her mother, and ended up graduating from East Aurora High School and St. Augustine College. She now works at the city of Aurora.
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A year ago, she was on hand in downtown Aurora at the opening of Alice’s Corner, Aurora’s first Bolivian restaurant.
At that time, she predicted the city would raise the Bolivian flag as a paean to the growing Bolivian community in Aurora.
“Today is a dream come true for Bolivians who live here,” Darden said.
Darden was honored with the La Paz Excellence Award from the city, not only for her work at the East Aurora School District and at the city, but for work she did at VNA Health during the pandemic, helping get people vaccinated.
Also honored were Alice and Oscar Bruton, owners of Alice’s Corner, which Muhammad called “not just a restaurant, but a home to so many.”
The city also honored Dr. Jorge Sfeir, a longtime physician in both Bolivia and Aurora, who spent time working for the health ministry in Bolivia, but also came to America and joined the U.S. Army Medical Reserve, spending time in Iraq.
He had hundreds of patients in the area.
“It’s been a pleasure, it’s been an adventure,” Sfeir said. “I hope I did OK.”