Searching for a Ministry

Today is my first day out of language school, so I have begun to scope out different ministry options. I had an appointment this morning with a human rights organization in San Salvador, called CODEFAM. I met with the directora (Madre Lupe) at the office, and we talked about two different projects that interest me. One is located in Paisnal and is focused on informing youth about human rights. The woman who runs this project gives workshops to the youth at a central location (because the youth come from surrounding communities) but also visits each of their communities as well. La Madre Lupe has promised to arrange a meeting where the three of us can get together to discuss the possibility of me visiting this project and getting involved. The second project is located in Zacatecoluca and involves working with the families of victims of the war through a committee dedicated to preserving the memory of this tragic history. I´m not sure exactly what my position would be, but la Madre Lupe has also promised to set up a meeting with one of the committee members. Hopefully something will turn out!

Another avenue that I am looking into is working in the small, indigenous town of Panchimalco. I have visited there several times, and I have fallen in love with the effort being made to revive the indigenous culture, which has for the most part been non-existent since the massacre of thousands of indigenous people in 1932. I have been going there each week to take weaving classes with a woman at the cultural center, Doña Claudia (pictured above). This art form, called el tejido de cintura, is practiced only by a few people now, primarily in her family. Leave it up to the gringa to want to continue it!! I have to start with a more basic material before I can make the beautifully colored cloth that I am holding in the picture. We shall see how that goes! I am interested, though, in learning more about the effort to revive the indigenous culture, so I am going back to Panchimalco on Saturday. I will be accompanied by one of the workers at Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad (where I studied Spanish). She knows a married couple who runs a school there, which is connected to a cultural center that offers activities for youth and adults. I would be very excited to see if there is a possibilty for me to support their work.

For now, these are the two that interest me the most. Of course I have plenty more time to keep looking, so who knows what my camino will be!

Cutumay Camones

I arrived in El Salvador almost a month ago. I have been busy at language school and just getting settled into the culture here. I have been attending services with a faith commuity in San Ramon, a neighborhood in San Salvador. They are very participatory in their services and they find ways to link their faith with the reality of the Salvadoran people. One of the ways they do this is honoring the the victims of the massacres that occurred during the Civil War here in the 80s. One of these happened in Cutumay Camones. I think about 95 people were killed. I was invited to join the community in travelling out to this rural town just last Sunday. It was very powerful to listen to the various testimonies, although of course I didnt catch it all.

In the picture above, I am sure you can tell I was not the only gringa there. The other young girl, Annie, studied abroad with me in El Salvador when we were in college. After graduating, she returned and has been here for over 2 years. It has been great to reunite with her here. The other two gringos are her parents who were visiting at the time. They were generous to offer me a ride to this site. The woman to the far left is one of the leaders of the faith community in San Ramon. The woman next to her was a part of the ¨pequena comunidad¨ which included Archbishop Oscar Romero and Hermana Silvia (who was killed at this massacre at Cutumay Camones). The other two Salvadorans work with Annie in Nueva Amanecer.

The other picture is the little monument they have erected to honor the victims. It is decorated here by the group I came with. The people here are dedicated to never forgetting what has happened in their past. The victims are still very much present in their hearts and give them the strength and hope needed in the continuous struggle for justice.