Compadres trips to El Salvador - why do we do this?

Very often I get the question - why are you doing these trips?  Is it eco-tourism, volunteer action, social justice?  Its a great question, and I want to see if I can come up with an articulate answer.

I have been doing trips to the Global South - always somewhere in Latin America for over 20 years now, sometimes with students, sometimes with adults - teachers and school staffs - and sometimes by myself.

My reason for doing these trips has changed a little over the past two decades.  First, I have to admit it was simply the thrill of seeing new cultures, learning new ideas about real social justice and quite frankly, I felt I needed to be exposed to the incredible poverty I have witnessed on every trip over the years.

Now its deeper than that.  To me it seems that for most of us to have a real conversersion, to really see the terrible injustices that exist in this world we need to bear witness, we need to go there and see what is going on.  All the charity drives we do will not make a huge impact on the problems of Latin America and the Global South.  We need to see the world through their eyes, even if it is only for a few days so we can begin to understand that we live in a world where resources are not shared in a fair manner.

As I write this, I have mental pictures flashing past me.  The poor rural schools of El Salvador that never have the resources they need to do their work, the poor children of Cuernavaca, Mexico who sell gum and candy on the streets to make a little more income for their families, the terrible working conditions of Haitian sugar cane planters in the Dominican Republic.

These images can paralyze you, make you feel that there is nothing you can do.

But that is not the right reaction.  There is so much one can do by taking part in these experiences. Most importantly, by going to Latin America you are showing the people you meet that you are in solidarity with them and that you want to be part of their story.  By going down there, you are converted to seeing the world in a very different way, you can't return home and live the same way knowing there is terrible inequity and injustice so close to your home.

So, I will continue to bring people down to Latin American whenever I am capable of doing so.  It is so important to see how others live.  We deprive ourselves of an important life experience if we don't make the effort to go down there.  We allow ourselves to stay shielded.  We really miss something special.

So, is this tourism, volunteerism or social justice?  I think it is all three and much more.  It is also what you make it.  If you are open to the experience you can gain so much.

Thank you El Salvador

I was one tired, rather dissolute chica when we boarded the first plane on our way to
San Salvador on July 2nd at 6 am. It had been a very long stressful year, personally and
professionally. I had hardly thought of the trip before departure given a host of work and
personal responsibilities.

And then we were in the air, in a crowded vessel full of sleep-deprived, fellow passengers.
There was no turning back. We were on our way. Two flights later and I was still in a drowsy,
half-conscious state, lulled by the drone of the flights and the lack of fresh air.

Breathe in! San Salvador airport at 9:30 at night - vital, hot, humid, teeming with people. Past
Customs with my pitiful Spanish and navy blue Canadian passport. Tropical, fragrant air, people
laughing, patched up suitcases and boxes everywhere. Smell of petrol and sweat. Beaming face
of Miguel, our guide, waiting for us all. Unbelievably, luggage of all 6 passengers intact and we
pack ourselves into a blue passenger van in the dark. On the way to the Capital on dark, tree-
lined roads. How many people have been here before me, I ask myself in the dark, aware of a
dark history and sadness.

Our first blessing. At eleven at night, a lovely snack waiting for us in the heat of the guest house:
guacamole, fresh bread and tall glasses of ice-laden coke. We beam, gulp and slurp happily.
We retire to our rooms, fans slapping the air.

The malaise of the year is dissipating. I drink in the city air of morning in a small courtyard, my
incredibly amiable, new friends sipping coffee around wrought-iron tables, laughing and talking.
The morning is alive, in the flowers and plants, in the concrete walls hinged with barbed wire, in
the city buses wheezing and screeching down the steep streets. Our adventure has begun and
there is no turning back.

Thank you, El Salvador, for returning my sense of gratefulness. Thank you, Miguel, Nelson
and Nixon for caring for us and keeping us safe. Thank you, Donna, Tracey, Anna, Marta and
Nancy for your insatiable curiousity, humour and energy. Thank you, Paul, for your leadership
and quiet enjoyment of our first witnessing of this amazing country. Thank you to the many,
intelligent and committed people who told us their stories. Thank you to all, who unfailingly,
greeted us in the capital and the many towns and villages we visited. Thanks you to all,
including my young Spanish instructor, Beatrix, who suffered our attempts at Spanish and were
gracious.

Thank you El Salvador for returning my sense of humour and pathos. Stories of horror, outrage
and courage were often told with a smile, the small distance between joy and sorrow. I will
never forget what I heard and I now hold in my memory the lives of the thousands of people lost
in the struggle.

Thank you, El Salvador, for returning my appreciation of beauty. Lung-gasping foliage,
mountains, volcanoes, mango trees and blue skies that pierced the eyes.

Thank you for returning my passion and love of life. I was awakened, in a riot of colour, noise
and emotion, after a long winter. I am grateful for all that I experienced, heard and understood.

May I have the grace and fortitude to carry what I learned into my life here in Ottawa.

Reading about El Salvador

Tim's El Salvador Blog 

This is a good time to pick up something to familiarize yourself a little about El Salvador.  I am going to start reading Bitter Grounds by Sandra Benitez.  The story starts in 1932, a pivotal time in Salvadoran history.  I'm reading this book because it is recommended on Tim's Blog and it covers a time period that I don't know much about.

In this post, I am sharing a great blog on everything Salvadoran with you - Tim's Blog.  I strongly suggest, as part of your preparation for this year's trip that you start reading his posts whenever they come out.  He covers a wide range of topics including current affairs, politics, lifestyle and Salvadoran history.  He introduces his readers to new blogs about El Salvador on a regular basis.

Tim also has a great collection of books and resources for those interested in El Salvador.  It is a list that grows as he receives new recommendations from his readers.  You can find this valuable post right here.

What preparation will you be doing?  Does anything appeal from Tim's list?

Happy reading!

a small selection from Tim's book list

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Day by Day in El Salvador: Day Four - The Romero Tour

Day Four: Beginning of the Romero Tour

First stop

The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Holy Savior (Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador) is the principal church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador and the seat of the Archbishop of San Salvador. The church was twice visited by Pope John Paul II who said that the cathedral was "intimately allied with the joys and hopes of the Salvadoran people."^[1] During his visits in 1983 and 1996, the Pope knelt and prayed before the Tomb of Archbishop Óscar Romero, assassinated in 1980, whose tomb here is a major pilgrim draw. President Barack Obama visited the Cathedral and the tomb during his March 2011 trip to Latin America.

How does this fit into the tour?

From BBC On This Day

1979: El Salvador cathedral bloodbath

At least 18 demonstrators have been killed and many wounded after police opened fire on anti-government protesters outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Salvador, capital of El Salvador.

The protest in the Central American country was organised by the left-wing group known as the Popular Revolutionary Bloc.

People started screaming and running to the church but many were hit before they could get there Ken Hawkins, eyewitness

Witnesses said the steps of the cathedral were littered with bodies. Freelance photographer Ken Hawkins told the Los Angeles Times there had been no warning from government forces before the shooting started.

"There was a continual burst of very heavy fire for about two and a half to three minutes," he said. "People started screaming and running to the church but many were hit before they could get there."

The Romero Tour is another new activity for us.  You can see a description of the entire tour here.  
We have visited most of these sites on previous tours - it is really good to visit all these locations at the beginning of our trip.  The sites connected to Oscar Romero set the context for the entire trip. Archbishop Romero is a national symbol for the people of El Salvador.  He is an inspiration to the social justice movement in El Salvador and to people around the world.  No trip to El Salvador would be complete without at least a day focusing on Romero.

Below are a series of images associated with Archbishop Romero including the chapel where he died and his tomb, located in the basement of the Metropolitan Cathedral.

What do you think of this day?  Do you know much about the archbishop? What are your expectations for the day?

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Day by Day in El Salvador - Day Three

Just adding this in because it is so fun!

We will be spending all day at UCA - Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas" (UCA)

UCA played an important part during the war sadly because of the massacre of the Jesuit priests and their housekeeper and her daughter.  

Now UCA has satellite campuses in various parts of the country including San Jose las Flores where they are training teachers.  This will be a good day!

All day:  Seminars at Central American University (UCA – Jesuit University) covering education topics, e.g. liberation theology, critical pedagogy, popular education, the role of the Church in social struggle, the legacy of Archbishop Romero and the Jesuit scholars.  Here is more about the university from Wikipedia:

"José Simeón Cañas" Central American University[1] (Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas", UCA) is a private university with non-profit purposes in San Salvador, El Salvador, Central America run by the Society of Jesus. It was founded in September 1965 at the request of a group of Roman Catholic families who appealed to the Salvadoran government and to the Society of Jesus to create another university as an alternative to the University of El Salvador (Universidad de El Salvador).

UCA has since evolved to be one of the best institutions of higher learning in Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama).[2] This is the case, despite the university's focus on playing a decisive role in the transformation of the unjust Salvadoran society.[3] Such a focus within the Salvadoran context has driven the university to give priority to undergraduate degrees, research within the social sciences, popular presentation of research results ("proyección social") and local peer-reviewed journals. All of these are elements which formally reduce the university's impact in international rankings. In the 1970s and 1980s during the Civil War in El Salvador, UCA was known as the home of several internationally recognized Jesuit scholars and intellectuals, including Jon Sobrino, Ignacio Ellacuría, Ignacio Martín-Baró, and Segundo Montes. They were outspoken against the abuses of the Salvadoran military and government, and carried out research to demonstrate the effects of the war and poverty in the country. The extreme social conditions in El Salvador provided a very rich empirical basis for innovative research within sociology, social anthropology, philosophy, social psychology and theology. These scholars made important and lasting contributions within these fields. Ellacuría, Martín-Baró and Segundo Montes, along with three other Jesuit professors, their housekeeper and her daughter, were murdered by the Salvadoran Armed forces on November 16, 1989 in one of the most notorious episodes from the Civil War (see The murdered scholars of UCA).

This is a new day for us, we should take a careful look at this day - what are your impressions of this day?  Is this interesting for you?  This day was originally designed when this trip was going to be a university credit.  Does this work as an element in an introductory tour of El Salvador?  Please comment on this.

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Day by Day in El Salvador - A Discussion

Day Two in El Salvador

Day Two in El salvador looks like this:

AM: Workshop with Equipo Maíz on socio-political history of El Salvador
PM: “Contrasts Tour” of San Salvador to witness the geographical distribution of social
inequity and exclusion among some of San Salvador’s neighbourhoods

We are starting our discussion with Day Two because we will only get into San Salvador around 8:30 PM - too late to do anything but get settled and sleep - the travel days are long!

We start Day Two by visiting with Equipo Maiz.  This is the best way to start.  On past trips we have had a terrific introduction to the history of El Salvador from this group.

They have a very interesting way of teaching using popular education techniques.  Equipo Maiz has conducted workshops throughout Latin America and the United States.  They use great illustrations like the one above to build a picture of how the current struggles in this country have evolved over time.

This is really important - how can people expect to understand the current dynamic in this country unless they have some understanding of its history?

Here is an excerpt from one of my journals detailing my first visit with Equipo Maiz in 2005:

We went to a lot of meetings in the first two days in El Salvador. On our second full day 

we met with Equipo Maiz, the Corn Team, who gave us an alternative history of El 

Salvador. History is so important if we want to get a true measure of the character of a 

country. This is the specialty of Equipo Maiz. They have worked since 1983 with small 

communities to develop a greater understanding of the people’s situation. Through 

workshops on gender issues, civil participation, privatization and leadership, they hope to 

equip people with the knowledge to better understand their current situation. They also 

specialize in telling the story of El Salvador’s past.

A key point in the story. In 1932, the government exterminated over 30,000 indigenous 

people after a failed revolt. This has resulted in the total denial of the native heritage of 

the Salvadorans. Unlike Mexico and Guatemala, there is no talk of an indigenous culture 

in El Salvador. There are really only two indigenous communities now in El Salvador. 

You can see the native heritage in the faces of the people, but the culture is kept in check. 

People fear a return to the 1930’s. They have good reason for their fears. Other 

countries like Haiti and Guatemala have suffered from similar disasters. 

Our history lesson included the FMLN, still a strong presence in the country. The 

FMLN, named after Farabundo Marti, the leader of the indigenous insurrection of the 

1930’s is a coalition of leftwing groups that formed in 1980 to present an armed front to 

the military government of the country. Most of the areas we visited are controlled by 

the FMLN, now a legitimate political party. Many of the people we worked with, 

including Miguel and Damian are ex-FMLN fighters. 

The afternoon activity is new to me - I will ask Rene our trip coordinator for information about this and add this to our blog.

What questions do you have for Equipo Maiz?

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We Are Approaching an Historic Moment

Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SALSOL Observer

Donald Lee Suchitoto, El Salvador 7 february 2014

english edition – february.2014

SALSOL Observer

english edition – february.2014

The Numbers

Some say it is not impossible that ARENA could find the strength to recover from the defeat which it suffered on February 2, put it is very unlikely. At the national level, the tri-color party finished 10 points behind the FMLN which fell short by just one percentage point of the threshold for a definitive victory – 50 percent plus one vote. The rejection of Norman Quijano and what he represents is expressed at other levels and in other dimensions. Of the 14 departments in the nation’s territory, ARENA lost 13. Of the 262 municipalities, the party accustomed to power won only 74. 

In the moment, the analysts and spokespersons for the defeated party preferred to blame abstentions, but in fact, it was the UNIDAD coalition and its candidate Antonio Saca that weakened the ARENA vote.  Although it is true that the percentage of electors that exercised their right fell by comparison with the results of the presidential round of the year 2009, the drop results from the good work of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the National Register of Natural Persons, by which they registered 728,628 more eligible votes than for the elections of the year 2009.

Looking directly at the numbers and not the percentages, the total of valid votes in this first round of 2014 was 29,684 more than the total of valid votes for the second round of 2009. In 2014, more participated, not less. The phenomenon of abstentions is a ghost invented by the ARENA leadership who prefer not to recognize reality. The votes by which ARENA fell short went to Tony Saca. In this most recent vote, Saca and his UNIDAD of three parties won 305,294. ARENA lost 245,313 compared to its result in the second round of 2009.  

The numbers do not rule out that a fraction of the weakness of ARENA is owed to abstentions. This tendency – of ARENA supporters that cannot stomach supporting their own party – is alive, and even has its expression in the United for El Salvador caucus which holds five seats in the Legislative Assembly. But it is clear that abstentions were not the principal cause for ARENA’s defeat.

We can also observe that the candidates of the FMLN were affected by the combo of UNIDAD and abstentions, but not in the same measure. Of the 1,354,000 votes won with Mauricio Funes in 2009, 48,538 are missing from the total of votes in their favor in the first round of 2014 – the total of 1,305,462.

And so, where do we stand?

In order to understand well the meaning of the numbers, we need to remind ourselves that, in the second round of 2009, ARENA enjoyed the support of the three parties which today constitute UNIDAD – the PDC, the PCN, and even GANA – the Great Alliance for National Unity – which had not separated from ARENA in that moment. It is worth noting that GANA holds 11 of the 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The PCN holds 7 and the PDC just one.  We also add in that GANA suffered most from the verbal poison of Quijano and the other leaders of ARENA. They were accused of being traitors to the cause and allies of communism, and repeatedly each time they collaborated with the FMLN’s caucus in the Assembly. Today the leadership of ARENA recognizes that it has to change the cassette, but it is too late.

There is no reason to doubt that ARENA can count on the support of the greater portion of PCN loyalists, of the country’s historic party on the right. But it is impossible to imagine that one hundred percent of the base of GANA could forget the accumulated differences of the past 4 years and with that confide in ARENA being able to change.  If the new right wants to contain the corruption of the old right, it has not options except to support Salvador Sánchez Ceren and Oscar Ortiz. The FMLN wins the second round with just one-fifth of GANA’s base coming to the same conclusion. Furthermore, it is natural to imagine that there will be more abstentions amongst disappointed ARENA supporters in the second round. Now that the result is clear, why not increase the punishment to the defeated party by resting at home.

There will be consequences of a clear FMLN victory  ARENA is a party which imagines itself the owner of the country, capable of protecting its key elements from whatever persecution or prosecution for their misdemeanours. From the culture of power and the tradition of impunity comes the arrogant tone of their candidate and the high-handedness of their most visible leaders. ARENA is the garantor of impunity.  But the woven protective cloak is fraying and the web of crossbred relations is coming out into the open. Even those protected are transformed into “inside sources” for the proof of corruption and the violation of the nation’s dignity. In those last days of the campaign it was made clear that the spider’s web comes very close to the candidate Quijano. And with that the honourable right feels disappointed and ashamed. 

The most notorious example is the case of ex-president for ARENA, Francisco Flores, who resigned as campaign director on the Friday before the Sunday vote, accused of diverting several million in gifts from Taiwan to his own accounts, during his period of government, 1999-2004. On the day of writing these observations, he remains in hiding and all his property is sequestered by order of the Attorney General for the Republic. This stain on the pride of ARENA cannot be removed in four weeks not even with the most advanced chemicals.

Should ARENA loose power and decidedly on March 9, it is certain that the fattest of the corrupt will confront legal prosecution with no truce. The space will be opened to continue purging the structures of justice system. It will become possible to fence-in the most powerful elements of drug-trafficking – the authors of the violence which imposes the system of extortions.

A political chapter will be opened in which we can talk about a new concept of nation – inclusive and equitable, in which progress is for everyone. We will be granted the option of talking about the realities of the civil war, acknowledging crimes against humanity, pardoning the guilty, and building a national unity.

A new era is opening up. A new El Salvador is being born. 

A definitive victory for the Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation – the FMLN – is unavoidable.

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English: Mauricio Funes, FMLN candidate for the 2009 presidential election in El Salvador, during a reception in Brasilia, May 2008.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On 2 February, Salvadorans came out in numbers to participate in elections to choose their next President and Vice-President.  Their preferred choice by a considerable margin (10 percentage points) was the incumbent FMLN ticket of Peace Accords signatory, school teacher, and former guerrilla commander, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, and the popular Mayor of Santa Tecla (a model municipality in El Salvador), Óscar Ortiz.  

However, the FMLN fell just short of the required 50% plus one vote threshold to win outright in the first round (it won 49% of the vote and won in 13 of the country’s 14 provinces).  This sets up a decisive run-off election on 9 March between the FMLN and a devastated 2^nd place finisher, the right-wing ARENA party.  The third place finisher, the populist rightist UNIDAD coalition led by ousted ARENA president Tony Saca, earned 11% of the vote and could play an important role in the run-off despite having chosen officially not to support either of the two remaining competitors.

El Salvador stub icon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SalvAide once again accompanied Salvadorans as they exercised their hard-fought democratic electoral rights, and we invite Canadians to join us on 9 March for the definitive election (click here for more information).  We congratulate the Salvadoran people and in particular the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for an impressively well-organized and festive first-round election.  As part of our partner CIS’ 90-strong international observer mission, the SalvAide team – present in La Palma, Chalatenango, Mejicanos, San Salvador, and the capital itself – witnessed an orderly, transparent, and peaceful election on Sunday, arguably the most secure and collaborative electoral event since the signing of the Peace Accords in 1992.  SalvAide especially applauds the full implementation of residential voting throughout the country which brought voting centres much closer to Salvadorans’ homes.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment, particularly from the perspective of Salvadoran expatriates, was the annulment of approximately half of ballots sent from abroad apparently for missteps in the complicated protocol expatriate voters were obliged to follow.  For the upcoming run-off SalvAide urges the TSE to give preference to the right of Salvadorans abroad to have their votes counted over at best pedantic and at worst malicious adherence to protocols that we suggest require immediate revision.

If you would like to join SalvAide’s election observer team for the 9 March run-off, please click here for more information.  We already have a growing and dynamic team and as always welcome Canadians who value the struggle for social justice and sustainable development in El Salvador.

---

René Guerra Salazar

Executive Director, SalvAide

219 Argyle Avenue, Suite 411

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada  K2P 2H4

T: 613-233-6215 | F: 613-233-7375

Email: director@salvaide.ca

Skype: salvaidecanada

Facebook: SalvAide

www.salvaide.ca

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Porque eso quiero volver a Bajo Lempa

Español: Departamentos de El Salvador (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The best way to describe the work of CORDES is to talk about Rio Lempe.  CORDES is very active in this former insurgent enclave.  This was the site of our first visit into the country.  We visited a small community that is located on the site of a former cotton plantation.  The previous owners deserted the area during the war.  The present community located on the plantation after the Peace Accords in 1992. 

This was the story wherever we went.  Relocated communities are trying to make a go of it with little government support.  Most of these communities have very dramatic stories of the conflict.  This on was no exception.

We visited a small community museum where captured arms are stored in a room with bullet-pocked walls.  The local commander gave us a tour of the facility.  His picture, from earlier days, with military uniform and black beret, were part of the display.  We also visited the site where 28 insurgents are buried after a battle with the military in the community.

This is a country of graves.

One of the captured guns from the community museum.  Note the holes in the walls.

The past and the future are so close here.  We were on our way to see a community that is growing and developing, but we had to pay homage to the past first.  You can’t understand El Salvador without listening to the stories of the struggle.  In Rio Lempe, I would like to think that the people are beginning to turn the corner on this long battle.

Funding has provided support for the development of local products including gourmet cheese, organic fruits, cashews and sugar.  Community supports include an eye clinic, a water purification plant that provides good drinking water to the community, biological pesticide control and a biogenerator that provides methane gas for cooking. 

The community has also developed a fishing co-op that seeks to return a greater share of the profits to local fishermen.  Training has also been provided on filleting and salting processes.  CORDES has also supported the development of an eco-tourism facility -  Hostal Lempa Mar.

Hostal Lempa Mar consists of four cabins that can sleep three persons each.  The hostal is located on the Lempa River and offers and excellent restaurant where visitors can enjoy local produce including red snapper taken from the Lempa.  Apart from the peace and serenity of the Lempa, this facility also offers kayaking and boat rides on the Lempa.  During the week, these same boats are used by the fishing co-op.

Profits from the Hostal stay in the community and all employees of the Hostal are members of the local community.  Plans are in place to develop hiking trails in the area and it is hoped that Hostal Lempa Mar will soon be able to promote to the international community through the Internet.

Hostal Lempa Mar.  Great fish and an afternoon ride on the Lempa

my Spanish for this week on Bajo Lempa

Porque eso quiero volver a Bajo Lempa

Yo he escrito de Bajo Lempa antes. Yo tengo un diario para cada viaje de El Salvador y Guatemala.    En 2005 y 2009, yo fui a Bajo Lema con los grupos Canadienses.  Yo no conozco la comunidad de Bajo Lempa y San Vicente como yo conozco la comunidad de San José las Flores.  Esto es porque este es el grupo CRIPDES quien decide a dónde íbamos.  Durante la guerra, San Vicente y Chalatenango fueron lugares que fueron controlados por los grupos militares afiliados a CRIPDES.  Yo no sé el nombre de los grupos, pero los afiliados existen hoy en El Salvador.

Las comunidades de Bajo Lempa no están bien organizadas como las comunidades en Chalatenango.  Cuando visitábamos las escuelas en esta área, los maestros no tenían los recursos necesarios para realizar su trabajo.  Yo espero que cuando visitemos este año,  haya cierta mejora. 

Bajo lempa es un área amenazada por el calentamiento global.  El océano pacifico está creciendo e inundando la tierra.  Cuando hay una tormenta, la tierra y la gente se ven afectados.  Cada vez, hay mucho daño.

Cuando yo regrese a Bajo Lempa, quiero ver que las cosas han cambiado.  Como están las escuelas?  Como están los proyectos de CRIPDES, CORDES y las otras organizaciones? 

También, fue un pequeño hostal, se llama Hostal Lempa Mar.  Este hay un gran

hostal.  La   comida en el hostal fue maravilloso.  La cocinera era un excombatiente que aprendía como a cocinar en San Diego mientras él se recuperaba de sus heridas.  

Nuestra cena en hostal Lempa Mar

Creo que hay muchas oportunidades para aprender en Bajo Lempa.  Yo voy a ver pronto lo que ha cambiado.  Ojalá, yo espero que las personas no cambien.