Streetscene in El Salvador

 

Two weeks to go!

Our group leaves two weeks from now.  I am hoping to use posterous as a way to send daily updates to the blog so that we will have a record of the trip. As we complete preparations for this year we are also starting work for 2012.  We hope to have many more people join us in July 2012!

 

This year's trip will be very different and offers some wonderful opportunities to live and learn from our Salvadoran hosts.  Livingwith families will be a new experience and I think this will really enhance the learning and sharing.  Spending the bulk of the time in San Jose Las Flores will also make a big difference.

 

Paul

Compadres Trip - Summer, 2012

It is time to start advertising for the 2012 trip to El Salvador! Even though we are in the final stages of planning for the 2011 trip, it is important to start thinking ahead to next year.

Here is the note I am putting out to staff this morning - any help distributing this would be appreciated!

We are beginning to look for participants for the the 2012 trip to El Salvador.

The trip lasts for 12 days and we leave early July. Participants will have the opportunity to live and work with teachers and staff from schools in the San Jose Las Flores area of El Salvador. More information is available on the trip by going to our web site at www.compadres-elsalvador-canada.ca. You can also follow us on our blog at http://compadres-elsalvador-canada.blogspot.com/ and we are on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Compadres-El-Salvador-Canada/172458377507

If you are interested in coming next year and would like to be added to our e-mail list, please send an e-mail to Paul McGuire through First Class or mcswa1@gmail.com

The e-mail list is the best way to keep up to date on this year's trip and future meetings and events

Some thoughts on the upcoming trip

Our group is preparing for two weeks in El Salvador. As we get ready for a different trip, one where we will be exploring new relationships in San Jose Las Flores, it is important to record some of the thoughts of participnts.

I think that this trip entails more of an exchange through discussions and gathering information for a next trip. I am interested in participating to as many round table discussions (and meeting as many people) as possible!! :)

I feel that I need to go there and start by knowing the people and gaining a better understanding of the social, political & educational systems of El Salvador.

I think we are looking at meeting those people in the community who will identify what their needs are and see if we can help them address these needs. I too see myself going back and I haven't even been there yet.

First meeting of teacher Compadres group

We met as a group for the first time yesterday. The group is looking at a very different trip this year. We will be spending most of our time in San Jose Las Flores and we will be living with local families - this is a real departure from what we did on our first two trips.

After a very full day, there were some observations that were made that now will be incorporated into the school. Here are some ideas:

Group members expressed an interest in mining issues - we will certainly be discussing these issues with local community leaders and we will look for ways to bring this information back to the classroom.

There is an interest in issues surrounding violence, war trauma, anxiety and socialization. We will look for ways to discuss how some of these issues are dealt with in Salvadoran schools.

There is also an interest in learning more about popular education - we would love to find an opportunity to learn more about this with our Salvadoran partners.

We also would like to investigate how technology is being implemented in the schools and classrooms. We recognize that the schools we visit will not be equiped with many computers, but we know there has been a recent donation of computers to one of the schools - we would like to see how these are being used.

We also talked about process - how will we know what kind of workshops we want to do with our Salvadoran partners? We decided the best way to go is first to spend some time together brainstorming on what we would like to do together. Later in the week, we will plan a full-day workshop based on these discussions.

Finally, we would like to spend an extra day in San Salvador to meet with Concertacion de Mujeres, a coordinting body of women involved in a whole variety of empowerment initiatives throughout the country. We also would like to find a way to transfer our Compadres logo onto a t-shirt! Rene had some good ideas on how to do this.

All in all a great day!

Upcoming Orientation Day for Compadres

We are 5 weeks away from our next trip to El Salvador! Next week, we will be meeting as a group to prepare for the trip. We have a group of 5 people going down this time - the perfect size for group. I am including here the agenda for next Saturday. Soon, I will be blogging regularly in preparation for what promises to be an exciting summer!


Compadres Orientation
Summer 2011

El Salvador Exposure trip
Location: 148 Meadowlands Drive West – St. Gregory School



8:30 Arrival, welcoming
coffee


9:00 Welcome to the day
Introductions - group members we would ask participants to talk about yourselves a bit
Individual expectations – what do you see as your challenges, what do you want to achieve through this experience? We are asking participants to answer this question
outline of objectives for the day – what we plan to accomplish today - Paul


Discussion on this year’s objectives – how does this trip fit into the overall Compadres project overview of Compadres - Paul

9:45 Our partners in El Salvador – CRIPDES, CORDES, CCR, brief history of El Salvador - René Guerra Salazar – director of Salvaide

10:30 Break for coffee/snacks


11:00 review of trip agenda – where we will go, health and security, money, customs and cultural norms, weather, and living arrangements (especially in Las Flores) – René and Paul

12:00 lunch at La Cabana – local Salvadoran restaurant on Merivale – car pool


1:30 Social Issues and El Salvador

2:00 discussion on possible workshops in El Salvador -


3:00 future planning for trip – group discussion

Planning for this summer

CCR Assembly - we will be working with the CCR in San Jose Las Flores


This time of year we start getting into the specifics of planning for the summer Compadres trip. We are now at five people which is the number of participants we had on our last trip - great number!

In planning for a very different trip, I have written below what I think are the essential elements for this year's trip. I am very interested to hear what the rest of you think.

This will be a different trip this year. We will be spending most of our time in one community and we will be living with families. I think these two essential changes will make this very rich experience.

Here are some of the elements that I think are important in planning:

1. Language school - I have read lots about language schools in Guatemala - they sound pretty good. Why don't we work to start one in San Jose Las Flores - we can do a few hours of Spanish every day - this will lend structure to the program and will give us a skill they can use and improve upon throughout the day. Hopefully, this is something we can develop over time. This could become a regular feature of our progrm.

2. Living with families - I think this should be the basis of the program - we should look for some activities we can do with our families - maybe a fun outing at some point. This too will develop over time. I think we should also structure regular debriefing time in throughout the day so the group can get a chnce to check on how everyone is doing.

3. Work in the schools - this is something we should try to do - I know this is difficult due to the language barrier, but I think it is important that we spend time in the schools - I hope there are some workshops we can do that will be of use to teachers and students.

4. Dialogue with teachers - this is essential. We will learn a great deal if we have a chance to dialogue, learn and plan with local teachers. These sessions have been very helpful in the past.

5. A common workshop - I think it would be really interesting to develop a workshop that both Canadian and Salvadoran teachers could take part in. This is not an essentail part of the program, but I think we should work towards this.

6. Work with TWB - I hope we can do something in this area. This is a very interesting group and I think it would very useful to work with them during the trip and throughout the school year.

These are just ideas, but I am hoping these ideas will help to develop a structure for the program. I would be very interested to hear what you think about all this.