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

San Vicente

Last weekend I ventured outside Suchitoto.  I was mindful to stick around here on the weekends my first four months but now I'm ready to explore other parts of El Salvador.  My friend Rachel invited me to crash her weekend with the Fulbrighters (and Brazilian UN workers).  We visited Luke in San Vicente who spends most his time researching volcanoes and organizing communities in landslide areas.  

We celebrated the weekend with Luke's Brazilian friends who work for the UN organizing groups, activities, and education for youth in San Vicente communities.  This is an important movement as gangs are very attractive networks for youth in this country.  The UN sponsored organizations encourage purposeful action and support networks.

We attended a sugarcane festival, where they kicked off one of the new youth groups.

 
Below the Brazilians are dancing to the drum beat in celebration of the new youth group!  Our weekend was full of dancing, singing, eating, and drinking.  We had a blast together!

Above is a traditional sugarcane harvesting dance.

This is the machine used to squish the sugar out of the sugarcane plants.  The juice is then boiled in a huge vat where the water evaporates and the liquid turns to syrup.  Then it's poured into a wooden form to dry in blocks.

These women are packaging the blocks in the dried sugarcane stalks.

Brent, Rachel, and Julia rocking the Pupusas.  We eat pupusas for dinner two to three times a week.  A pupusa is traditional here and is similar to a thick, heavy corn tortilla with cheese and/or beans inside.  The ingredients are not wrapped inside, like a burrito, but cooked inside the thick corn tortilla.  Pupusas are on every corner in El Salvador.  Yum!

Fire kites are a common way to celebrate festivals.  Our day at the sugarcane festival concluded with a wildfire.  One of the fire kites landed in the field of dry, cut sugarcane.  The field caught fire.  People ran with buckets of water.  Others stomped the ground.  After ten minutes or so, everyone just stood back and watched the fire claim acres of land then spread into the unharvested crops.  It was devastating to watch.  When the firemen arrived a half hour later, they also stood and watched.  The fire was bigger than they could handle.  Winds guided the fire in all directions.  After an hour, we hitched a ride back to the town of San Vicente.  I'm unsure of the final outcome...

Flavio (Brazilian friend) and San Vicente's Governor trying to coordinate ways to persuade food vendors to move their propane tanks away from the fire.  Isn't it crazy?  Could you imagine the Ice Cream Man ignoring Jerry Brown, Governor of California, when he tells him to move his ice cream truck because there is a wildfire ten feet away?  Their food stands were full of smoke from the fire but they still wouldn't move.  Logic is often missing here as is governmental power.

Luke and Flavia on the way home.

Rachel, Etel, and me.

First Two Computer Classes

I was hesitant when Peggy asked if I would start a computer class here at the center as we just received twelve "new" computers.  I told her that I could but that my current knowledge of computers is very limited.  She told me not to worry.

Twelve students (ages 14 - 50) arrived the first day sharing that they had never touched a computer.  After learning to turn them on, we began practicing using the mouse.  A few were quite surprised when they figured out they were controlling the moving cursor on the monitor.  The expressions on their faces were like that of children at a magic show. 

The double-click is quite a challenge as they are pressing the clicker too hard to complete two clicks quickly.  By the time they finish pushing the button, the cursor moves off the icon and the second click is elsewhere.  In this way, two single clicks doesn't equal a double-click.  Last class we stood up and practiced saying and motioning "click-click" quickly in hopes that they could begin merely touching the button twice in the allotted time period and perfecting the double-click.

Our next battle is typing using the home row.

Peggy was right,  I have content knowledge to teach this class for at least a few months.

First Yoga Class with Women in El Sitio

Wednesday, I hopped in the back of a pickup as the sun was rising.  When I arrived at the lake, I climbed into the a boat to cross to the far-off bank of El Sitio.  This is one of the communities in Suchitoto.  I hiked up the dirt path that weaves through homes and arrived at Mercedes' house, where I spent Christmas.  She guided me to the highest point in the community, the Clinic.  I climbed the hill via her yard.

Looking back at our boat from the path.

El Sitio's Clinic/Yoga Studio

The Clinic's Bathroom.  Good aim is needed but privacy isn't...

The clinic is a vacant, four-room facility with a wide, tile, outdoor hallway.  It is the only building in the community with a level floor, beside the chapel and school.  I borrowed a broom and mop from Mercedes and transformed the dusty hallway into a yoga studio with a view of the lake and surrounding mountains.  At 8:30am, class was supposed to begin, but no one was there.  I rushed down the hill to ask Mercedes where the main entrance to the Clinic was, thinking there had to be a main pathway.  She proved me wrong.

I stood in the "yoga studio" a bit bummed for a few minutes, then I heard rustling in the bushes.  A little, old woman appeared in her faded skirt and apron.  We chatted for a bit, then a woman missing most her teeth appeared from another patch of brush.  We greeted each other, then I heard a loud speaker announcing the yoga class.  More and more women appeared from all directions.  It reminded me of the movie Field of Dreams.

Waiting...

Throughout the class we laughed at ourselves and with each other.  It was a unique grace-filled space.  There was something extremely special about the inter-generational group of women moving our bodies in new ways and meditating together.  I also cherish the conversations we shared before and after class.

Part of our group...

Also, thanks to Damian Cohen and Patrick Tornes (Priory Student) for donating money to buy mats for each of the women!  Thanks to John Guiliano (Tamarindo Foundation) for sharing his Salvadorian athletic connections and providing transportation for the purchase.