Monseñor Romero's Vigilia in San Salvador

Above is the banner that lead our march to celebrate Mass in memory of Monsignor Romero's assassination on March 24, 1980.  It quotes one of Romero's homilies, saying "Enough suffering for the village."

We chanted slogans emphasizing Catholic values as those of peace, justice, and options for the poor.  People held banners picturing those who were killed during the civil war for speaking out against injustices.  Others carried signs with quotes from Romero's homilies.

We marched down a main street in San Salvador for an hour and a half before arriving at La Plaza Libertad, where we celebrated Mass.

After the sun set, thousands lit candles and processed together.  It was beautifully powerful to witness little candles as far as the eye could see.  People traveled from many Latin American countries to participate.  Bus loads of people from all over El Salvador attended.  There was an especially large amount of people from rural areas present to celebrate Romero's life.

Currin, Peggy, Gilda, and I ventured to the vigil together.

If interested in Monseñor Romero's life and death, click on BBC News on Romero

Small Business Conference for Women

A few ladies from Mary's Pence invited me to join their Central American conference in La Palma this weekend.   I accompanied women from Suchitoto who have created small businesses with their Mary's Pence loans.  The format of the conference was familiar but the women, their stories and relationships were unique and inspiring.

Lilian (Mexican), Gilda (Mexican), and Eva (Salvadoran) organized a thoughtful, productive, and inspiring weekend.

La Palma was a fitting location for the conference.  It is a small town of vibrant creativity and hope.  Fernando Llort is the most well-known artist in El Salvador.  In the 1970's he moved to La Palma, Chalatenango.  Life was/is "simple" in this mountain village.  When he arrived people mainly worked in the fields.  Llort opened a workshop called El Arbol de Dios (God's Tree).  Since that time, this little town has been creating art in Llort's unique style and they are able to produce income for their community.

The walls, electricity polls, doors, everything in this town are covered with Fernando Llort style paintings.

Much like the retreat setting, we participated in community building activities.

 

We role-played problems that arise in the small businesses and how to respond creatively.  These small businesses range from selling milk from a cow to hand-made candles.

Margarita (Right) is Suchitoto's Psychologist.  She organized the community building exercises and helped us articulate take-aways.

We worked in small groups to discuss best-practices, needs, and solutions.

They shared life stories along with technicalities about their small businesses.

I felt honored to be in the presence of these incredibly strong women this weekend.  I'm thankful for the relationships we nurtured and the new relationships we formed.

Elections

El Grupo:  Main Election Site in Suchitoto

Sunday El Salvador held legislative and local elections to choose 84 members of the legislative assembly as well as 262 mayors.  The conservative party ARENA claimed the majority of the National Assembly and mayor positions.  Suchitoto traditionally supports the liberal FMLN party as it was a Guerrilla stronghold during the war.  We elected a FMLN Mayoress.

Rosa and Eva volunteered to work help with the elections.  They met at the school, El Grupo at 3am on Sunday and weren't able to leave until 12am Monday.  After the voting stations close, the volunteers sit in a room to count the ballots.  They divide into tables with one representative from each party (6 parties) at each table.  They count the ballots one by one with each person at the table verifying that the vote is valid.  There was a change in the ballot format this year which resulted in some confusion throughout the country.  Thankfully, Suchitoto's system ran fairly smoothly.  They celebrated with booming fireworks at midnight!

This is the first election that Suchitoto has scattered voting stations throughout the campo (communities who are considered part of Suchitoto but are up to an hour drive outside the town center).  Thankfully El Groupo was not the sight for all 20,000 people this election. 

Like all elections in the US, there are mixed emotions in response to the results.  It is interesting to listen to people's thoughts, disappointments, excitement, and hopes for the future of Suchitoto and El Salvador.

Bits of Love Love Love

I love this place more and more every day.  It's really the people.  I love the open interactions.  I love when kids call my name across the plaza and when women I don't know run up to me to ask when the yoga classes are.  I love the big laughs and deep sharing.

I spend Wednesdays in El Sitio, one of the rural communities where I teach yoga to the women in the morning then four English classes at the school.  It is a blast.

Wednesday on my walk home, I was jazzed about the day.  I love my students.  Situations in the classroom are often difficult as many of the kids come from rough home lives but we break through those times and develop deeper relationships of trust and hope.  As a result, the kids begin to believe in themselves and their study habits.  Teaching is challenging, rewarding, and a blast.

After reflecting on that, I remembered that this what I DO!  I teach!  I'm a teacher!  I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to do this every day.  I learn from my students each day and am blessed by their presence.  I also love my life because of the people in my life! Below I've attached pictures of three of my classes!

Grades 2-4

Grades 7-8

Grade 9