A small update

First and foremost I would like to thank you all for the incredible response I have received so far. Your words, your donations, everything has been absolutely incredible. I don't think I'd be able to keep pushing through all of this if it were not for all of your support.

Here are a few updates on the situation:

-It's not raining. It has not been raining for 24 hours. This is huge. The sun is out and we're hoping it stays out so it can begin drying everything up.

- Last night I went to a nearby community called San Ramon. San Ramon is much more urban than Tepecoyo but it has been suffering just as much. I was able to bring food along with my program director and one of my CC's to a mechanic shop where 28 people are seeking refuge. There were older men and women as well as young children, one of which just had surgery yesterday. It was hard seeing these people living in a mechanic shop, a very far from clean location, with very little food and 5 mattresses to share between everyone. But they were still smiling. They are together and for now they are safe. They all hugged me and kissed thanking me for remembering the forgotten. It was a really great experience and it got even better when we took the leftover food and began walking through the streets giving food to the hungry. Kids came running from their houses, looking at me with their big eyes, holding their plate up to the large bowl of rice and beans. Even though we were already late to our own dinner back home we stayed. We stayed until every grain of rice, every bean had been distributed. It was a really moving experience, to bring a little bit of joy to the dark streets of San Ramon. This experience also showed me that even though the rain has stopped we need to keep fighting. There are still so many people without food and if the government hasn't helped them now I'm not sure they ever will.

- Finally, tomorrow Katie, Ella, Marie, Nate, and I are going to try to go to Tepecoyo. The roads seem passable but we won't really know until we begin the journey. I'm leaving for Nicaragua on Sunday for a week and to be able to see Angelica before I leave would make me incredibly incredibly happy. We don't really know what we're going to see. Angelica has warned us that it is ugly, dirty, and smelly. But we're ready. We just want to see the people we love. Keep your fingers crossed. Keep praying. And keep donating.

Again if you have any questions or are interested in donating please email me at lweston@slu.edu

El Salvador needs you!

Wednesday October 19, 2011

            The rain keeps falling.  The tears are too.  For more than a week now, there hasn’t been a dry moment.  The ones we have come to love after living with them for the past two months are telling us, “We are hungry, we are cold, we are wet, we are tired, we have run out of water and are boiling the rain to survive.”

            But we cannot join them.  Our communities are out of reach, if not physically, “programmatically” (a term frequently used to justify the limits and rules of the Casa program).  A major bridge collapsed this weekend, cutting off access to the western provinces from San Salvador. Tepecoyo, the home of my praxis site is on the other side of this bridge.

If you have read my blog before, heard me talk, or seen my pictures I am sure you are familiar with Angelica, the coordinator of my praxis site, and her family. Angelica lives in a small tin-roofed, stone-walled house in a region called Tepecoyo with her husband, her father, her daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. Angelica is an amazing woman; she inspires me each and every day to make something of myself, to be a better person for the world. Angelica runs a comedor (community kitchen) out of her home for many of the children in the community. Without Angelica many of these children would be hungry and they would not be getting the proper nutrition to succeed in school or to grow into healthy adults. It has always seemed that nothing can stop Angelica. Despite setbacks and hardships she has always fought to move forward. In recent days though something has come that even Angelica cannot defeat. The rain has put Angelica in a very bad place. Angelica and her family have been without food, water, electricity, and dry clothes for several days. They are hungry, cold, wet, and sick. They cannot leave their rain filled house. Aid has not yet reached the area. The roads are filled with debris from mudslides. Angelica, the woman who will never accept defeat, has admitted that she is not okay. Conditions are bad. Angelica has no solution. I have spent the past three days crying on the phone with Angelica, hoping and praying for the rain to stop.

The situation here is not good. We are in a State of Emergency. We have entered into the highest level of disaster relief. More than 1,250mm (over 4 feet) of rain have accumulated in the past week.  The earth has been totally saturated, leaving every drop as runoff.  The news resembles Katrina-era New Orleans: men wading through chest-high waters, hundreds waiting in lines in the wind and the rain for a food and water, the shelters shutting down from lack of funding and thousands pouring into the national football stadium. The death toll yesterday was 36 people.  Twenty-two roads and highways were washed out or collapsed.  The borders with Guatemala were destroyed.  Over thirty thousand people have been displaced. They need food, water, hygiene products, sheet plastic.  Here, we are trying to do the most we can, but there feels like there is so much more we could do.  We are bringing food and dry clothes and blankets to those who need it in the communities nearby, but there is so much need.  Over 30,000 people have been evacuated, more than two thirds now seeking refuge in makeshift shelters.

Yesterday, at noon on Tuesday, the sun broke through the clouds; I saw blue skies, the mountains in the distance, people emerging from their homes for the first time in what seems like forever.  Finalmente, finally, I said and heard in the hearts of those surrounding me. But now it is Wednesday and the rain has come back, falling harder than it was before. We were not able to go to praxis on Monday. I thought today would be different, but that is not the case. I woke up this morning to the pounding of rain on my roof; I got dressed, ate some breakfast, and headed out to the van that we typically take to Angelica’s. But as soon as I got in the car I looked at Julio, our driver. I saw the fear in his eyes, the tears this grown man was fighting to hold back. “It’s not safe”, he said, “there are too many risks.” I calmly got out of the van; for once I did not break down. I knew this was going to happen the moment I woke up this morning; it’s becoming very difficult to maintain the hope, the faith that I once had.

Along with the state of emergency on Sunday, the Casa de la Solidaridad, the UCA (my current school), and the country as a whole suffered even more.  Father Dean Brackleythe Jesuit from Fordham University who came to El Salvador over twenty years ago to help fill the responsibilities left behind by the six martyred Jesuits, both academically and spiritually—passed away after a courageous battle with cancer.  As a dear friend, Lupita, told me his life was a lemon that he squeezed until there was nothing left, and when it seemed like there couldn’t possibly be more to give, he gave zest. Some of us students have just returned from the funeral of a man we have never known. But now I feel like I was a good friend of Father Dean. Father Brackley started the Casa; without him I would not be here. I would never have met the amazing people that I now rely on for so much love and support. As I sat, surrounded by Salvadorans in a crowded room, listening to a recorded message from Father Dean I couldn’t help but cry once again. This time though they weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of joy, of gratitude, for the life I have given. Father Dean devoted his whole life to the poor of El Salvador, the people who have been ignored by most for their whole lives. I am here for a reason. I am here to carry on the mission of Father Dean.

I have been so frustrated these past few days. I have so much anger. So much sadness. I am having a hard time accepting a lot of thing. But I have been trying to make the most out of these emotions. I have been organizing with a few of my friends to raise awareness, create a plan, and raise funds to help El Salvador get back on its feet.  But this organization and action is also scaring me. I have found myself doing (or at least trying to do) what I want to do with the rest of my life. It’s not easy. It’s wearing me down. But were trying, moving forward poco a poco. We have been able to bring together all of the students to discuss the current situation. We have organized one vigil and plan on organizing more in order to bring everyone together, to share what is on our minds. Most importantly though, since I began writing this blog yesterday morning we have been able to reach Angelica. I was not able to make the trip, something that is still eating away at my heart, but Maria and Ella were able to. They were able to bring rice, beans, oil, and warm clothes to Angelica and her family. We have been fighting for this since we found out that Angelica had nothing. We’ve been very persistent, perhaps a little too persistent. But if that’s what it takes I am willing to fight all day and all night to do what I think is right. I’m trying my hardest to live out the mission of Father Dean Brackley.

All of this being said, I would like to ask your help. Little international help or attention is coming in.  There is an immeasurable amount of work to be done.  I ask for your support.  Love, thoughts, prayers if that is all you can provide.  But if you, or your place of work or study can give financially, it would be so greatly appreciated. Donations can be made via Voices on the Border ON BEHALF OF ANADES (a Salvadoran NGO working with the most affected communities and trusted by the Casa de la Solidaridad.)The organizations website is http://www.votb.org/ and there is a button that says DONATE NOW.

Sending money directly to El Salvador is very difficult but if you would prefer to send directly to me, we can work with my mom by putting money in my bank account that I can withdraw here. I do not like asking for money but I’m realizing that the people here need our help.

I have one other favour to ask as well. I don’t know how many people are reading my blog or how many people this will reach but if anyone who reads this can take what I have said and pass it on to anyone else they know that might be interested in helping I would also greatly appreciate that.

If you have any questions about donations, the situation in El Salvador, or anything else feel free to email me (lweston@slu.edu) or send me a message on facebook. We don’t have a lot of time right now; there are a million and one other things I would rather be doing than sitting on a computer but I will be doing my best to stay in touch with everyone back home.

With love from El Salvador,

 Lindsey

Happiness

I think a big part of me being here in El Salvador is finding my place and being happy. Some days it is hard to find the light in the struggles and sufferings here, but this Saturday was definitely not one of those days. Every semester all of the praxis site coordinators and their families are invited to one of the praxis sites in order to get to know each other and see the kind of work that those involved in the Casa program are doing. This semester happened to be the semester to visit Tepecoyo, the home of my praxis site as well as Zacamil (the 2 sites used to be one). I was definitely tired after campo week but I was beyond excited to return to my community and see people like Angelica and Ana that I had not seen for over a week. I was expecting maybe 20 people to come on this adventure but there ended up being about 70 people from different sites as well as all of those people that live and work at La Javia and Zacamil. Words cannot describe how great this day was. I think I can say that it was my favorite day here in El Salvador so far. I wish I could express the joy, the love, and the happiness that I felt being back at La Javia and getting to share the beautiful experience with my closest friends as well as complete strangers. Saturday completely rejuvenated me; I felt so full of life as we all took the long walk to Zona 3, as I chased all of the little kids around the soccer field, as I caught up with Angelica and Ana, and as I saw the smile on Jovani’s face after returning to Zona 3 for the first time after his accident. Life is such a beautiful thing and I know sometimes I forget this but Saturday reminded me of why I am here and of what I hope to do with the rest of my life.

 A small glimpse of all the people that came out on Satuday

Daisy lifting some weights

Some of my students

Angelica! 

Life in the Campo: A New Change of Pace

This past week I spent the week in the campo staying with a family I had never met. All of us students were divided up into 3 different communities and placed in different houses with another student. Nate and I stayed with a family in Carasque in the North of El Salvador very close to the Honduran border. The family consisted of Froilan and Fidalina, a few of their sons and their granddaughter Kenia. Life in Carasque is so different from life in Antiguo Cuscatlan (where we live) and completely different from life in the US. Carasque has a lot of history; it’s located high up in the mountains and was a main battle ground during the war. Today there is electricity but it has a tendency to go out quite frequently, they have a pump that brings water to the pila but there is no running water indoors. For this reason there is no indoor shower or bathroom. Showers were taken outside behind a tarp and using a hose and the toilet was a walk through the backyard to a little outhouse. The houses are 2 stone walled rooms with tin and tarp roofs. There are chickens everywhere and we slept with bats and rats every night. People are poor but it doesn’t really bother them, it is simply the way of life they have always known.

The table where we spent the majority of our time

Our backyard at our house

This past week was Semana Patronal, a week honoring the patron saint of the town St. Francis of Assisi. There were festivities all week including fútbol games, church services, dances, and weird parades where people danced around with masks. We ate pan and coffee made from corn outside the casa comunal, we danced to Lady Gaga and Elvis with 14 year old boys and 70 year old women, we sang songs of hope and struggle, “ate” tamales made from questionable chicken parts, and trotted up and down a very steep hill in the dark and pouring rain. Overall the week was an adventure. The festivities really gave us a chance to see the strong bonds that exist in the community as well as showed us some of the problems the people of Carasque are faced with everyday.

Partido de Fútbol

Fiestas patronales

Beautiful view of Honduras during our hike

Life in Carasque today’s is very much influenced by the war that took place, the guerillas that organized in the area, and the many many people that were lost during the war. Carasque is definitely an FMLN town. Everywhere you look there are red flags flying, people wearing FMLN shirts, and pictures of Funes. During the war the campesinos of Carasque began to organize, many joining the guerillas in order to fight for their rights. I had the privilege of staying with Froilan, one of the 6 men that formed the directivo in Carasque in 1982 in order to defend his people. Froilan may not look like the strongest man; he is maybe 4 foot 9, 77 years old, and only has a few teeth left but he is one of the strongest men I have ever met. Froilan likes to talk, he could probably tell stories for the rest of his life and I would gladly listen. He only completed 2^nd grade before he quit school to work for his family but he probably knows more about the world than someone who has spent their entire life studying. Froilan has an opinion about everything, an opinion he’s not afraid to share but at the same time he never tries to force it upon you or make you think a certain way. Froilan would ask me really tough questions about politics, history, the idea of marriage, and so much more. He could tell I had things to say and he wanted to make sure I got a chance to say them. He challenged me to think about what I am doing with my life and inspired me to do more. 

Mi familia: Fidalina, Armando, Nate (Paco), Froilan, Me and Kenia

What a roller coaster!

This past week has been absolutely crazy. So many highs and lows. 
I saw some things I really did not want to see and hope to never see again. 
I am feeling all of the stress from the many struggles Angelica is currently dealing with at La Javia. 
I met with a delegation that did not leave me feeling very happy. 
I then expressed my unhappiness in the subtlest of ways at group reflection with the delegation leaving me feeling very strong. 
I laughed as we secretly tried to plan Ella's birthday at La Javia.
I cried as we reflected on the love that Angelica and Ana have for us. 
I'm excited and nervous for the upcoming campo week. 
I'm stressed because I feel like I have so much to do. 
I'm so happy with the way I spend my time even if it's not always the most efficient or effective.
I'm feeling a little disconnected from the people at home but at the same time I'm almost ok with that because I'm completely happy here.


The week isn't over yet and I know with pupusas, soccer, and community night tonight the roller coaster is just going to keep on going. But that's life here; we feel a lot of things and we don't always know why but I think that's all just part of the solidaridad y realidad de El Salvador

Paz y amor de Casa Romero!

English Classes, Ghost Stories, and Bumpy Car Rides

So I've come to realize that providing updates during the week is really hard because we have so much going on and it's really hard to sit down and right something meaningful. I've also realized that it's really hard to sit down and right something meaningful when you're in someone's garage and there are people playing video games and really questionable noises coming from the backyard. However, I'm going to do my best so try to stick with me. 

Our weeks here seem to go really fast but at the same time seem to last forever. It's hard to remember what happened yesterday, let alone on Monday. 

As usual we had praxis on Monday and Wednesday. On Monday we went with Ana on some home visits to meet some more of Angelica's very large extended family. I think we're really starting to understand Angelica's family as well as the community they live in. Family dynamics are really interesting; not many people are married, kids are having kids, and many kids are being raised by grandparents. However, the families that do exist are great, there is so much obvious love between everyone. What continues to shock me is how welcoming these people are to complete strangers like me.   I am always offered a seat or a small snack and I'm greeted and sent off with the biggest hug ever and a kiss on the cheek. For my praxis class we are going to be a social analysis project on our community and I'm really looking forward to diving deeper into to la realidad of the families living in La Javia.

Praxis on Wednesday is always a lot different than praxis on Monday. On Wednesdays we teach English class to a group of kids, usually about 8 or 9, but this week we had about 16. We decided to split up the older kids and the younger kids to make things easier with Ella and I taking the younger group. We've been trying to teach the kids body parts and greetings but it's been a little difficult so we decided to start completely new with the alphabet. We played some games and sang some songs and the kids absolutely loved it. The shyest of kids were participating with giant smiles on their faces. It was so rewarding to look around the "classroom" and feel like we had accomplished something. So much of our time here is spent doing what we are supposed to do; going from task to task and not always taking the time to react or really think about that which we are doing. But after praxis this week I felt accomplished, I felt like I had a purpose, and I felt like a contributing member of the community.

Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I have class. Classes here are a struggle. Sometimes I think they are so much easier than classes back at SLU but sometimes I think they are the hardest classes I've ever taken. We have a TON of reading and its hard to keep up when I feel like we don't ever have any free time. Sometimes the reading is interesting and sometimes I feel like we just read about the war over and over and over again. The war was and still is such a critical point of life here in El Salvador but at the same time El Salvador is changing. People are different and problems are different and sometimes I feel like there is so much I can be learning but I'm not. One of the classes I struggle with the most is Liberation Theology. Theology hasn't always been my favorite subject but I figured taking Liberation Theology IN El Salvador WITH a sister that has been living in the campo here for quite some time would be a great experience. However, this isn't always how I feel in the class. This week though we broke up into groups and were in charge of explaining something we read. 1/2 of Romero (my house) was in charge of an article on Gustavo Gutierrez (huge figure in Liberation Theology). After some last minute planning (because Romero likes to procrastinate a lot), we walked into Sister Peggy's class not really sure what we were going to say. When we were done though I felt like we had done an awesome job. I feel like we are so often encouraged to reflect upon our experience but we aren't always encouraged to talk. After class I felt a new form of hope for the way classes are going to go here.

So as I've already mentioned classes and praxis occupy a significant portion of my time here but there is still some time for a little fun.

On Thursdays we play soccer with some of the Salvadoran students and always end up playing with some locals. I hadn't been in 2 weeks but this week was so much fun! We ended up playing on a smaller field because some little kids wanted to play with us. Little did we know that these little kids are probably professional soccer players in the making. This one kid was 9 years old and he had me running around looking like a fool trying to get the ball away from him. After 1.5 hours of playing, a few minor injuries, and lots of mud we said goodbye to our new friends and headed home for a quick shower before Pupusas! Every Thursday we head over to a Pupuseria down the road for dinner with the becarrios. It's so nice to just sit and relax, attempt to converse in Spanish, and of course eat delicious food. On Thursday nights we also have community nights in each of our houses. Community nights are hard to explain; you can't really understand unless you're here but they are great. They challenge us and bring us closer together. I'm reading this book called Norwegian Wood and there's a quote I really like that goes, "What happens when people open their hearts? - They get better" That's kind of what community night is all about and as much as I dread them sometimes, I love them. 

We remedied our emotional Thursday community night with some Friday night ghost stories this week. As you all probably know, I'm really scared of ghosts, and scary movies, and haunted houses, etc. But I LOVE being scared. It's such a thrill. It was so much to experience that here. To sum it up we heard some scary stories, were tricked by our CC Quentin into thinking some scary monsters (we later discovered it was the other CCs) were breaking into our house, and all 13 of us ended up in one bed holding each other screaming. Overall it was a great time.

We finished up this weekend with a trip to Tomás' house. Tomás is one of the Salvadoran scholarship students that lives in our house with us. I didn't realize how important it was for us to visit his house and his family until we were on the journey and a series of unfortunate events occurred. First we all had to pile into some tightly packed vans and drive 3.5 hours through bumpy roads in the Salvadoran country side. We thought the car ride was bad but we were soon met by a new obstacle. The one road we needed to take was being re-tarred and wasn't going to be open to cars for 2 hours. No one really knew what we were going to do. At first I was really content to just sleep in the car to past the time since we had gotten up at 530 to begin our journey but the next thing I knew we were getting out of the car and started walking with all of our stuff down the twisting road in the 90 degree heat, Tomás leading the way. I soon realized that this was the one day we had to visit his house and his family, the most important thing to him was getting there and the least we could do was walk with him on this journey. After an 1.5 of walking the vans pulled up along side of us to bring us the rest of the way. Our time at Tomás' house was limited, we were supposed to go down to the river but by the time we got there, there wasn't much time. What we did though was sit in a giant circle eating delicious rice, beans, tortillas and avocado and listen to Tomás and his family sing and play guitar. Tomás is an awesome musician and he is always singing (especially at 6am. Who needs an alarm clock when you have Tomás?) His whole family is just as talented and I loved hearing them sing Salvadoran folk songs about the war, and the poor, and the hope they still have. After saying goodbye we headed our journey home... a journey that took about 2.5 hours longer than it was supposed to do to some broken vans and a lot of rain. We all got home very hungry, very tired, very stressed, and a little angry. It was weird feeling this way because I think a lot of times here we're just always supposed to be happy and love each other, but that's not real life. We all headed to bed early and woke up to a new day today though feeling a lot better. Looking back at yesterday I'm really starting to appreciate the people here and the time we spend together as well as apart. It was great seeing where Tomás comes from and it game me time to question where I come from and what I'm doing with my life. 

Sorry for the really long post but when I get to thinking I realize I've got a lot on my mind. I really don't think there is any other study abroad program that allows us to question so much. I thought I'd find a lot of answers here but so far I think all I've really got is more questions. I think time will definitely tell what I make of this whole experience but for now I'm just going to keep eating the tasty food and keep trying to learn Salvdoran slang.

!Qué le vaya bien!

-Lindsey 

!Fotos!

So I started a photobucket to put all of my pictures online so you all can see them.
They are really out of order but they're still fun to look at. 
Here is the link 
Photos from El Salvador!
Enjoy!