Visit Copan

A good travel memory while we are writing from home in our December 2019 Wisconsin winter: We had finished our visit to the women’s chicken project on Thursday and on the drive back to San Salvador Daniel asked what we wanted to do for the weekend. He suggested we check into the famous resort De Cameron which features ocean view rooms, pools and all the drinks you can or can‘t handle. His Dad was not too keen on the idea. On Friday we got a call from Dad asking if we wanted to visit Copan. Not knowing what Copan is or where it is we said yes. We were picked up early Saturday morning and were on our way to the frontier (border with Guatemala). We passed through customs and absent any highway signs had to ask people the way to Honduras. The highway is full of pot holes and our truck took some big hits. It wasn’t too long and again we crossed the border into Honduras. Getting out of Guatemala was more difficult this time. Gladis was in the border station with our passports for 30 minutes and was all fired up upon returning to the truck. Like Guatemala, the highways in Honduras are absent any signage and we had to ask people the way. (Note: asking people directions is different in Latin American. They are delighted to be asked but will never admit they have no idea. They will waive their arms and point in opposite directions.) After turning around several times we finally arrived. Copan is a large city that is a world heritage site featuring the huge ancient Mayan civilization ruins of Copan. At admission the sign read admissions $7.50. I used my credit card and next month discovered I was charged $35. Unlike El Salvador that uses the US dollar, Guatemala and Honduras have their own national currency. We have visited Mayan sites in El Salvador but this was beyond anything we had seen before. Many of these sites are under restoration. In Copan the Mayans used sandstone for their buildings and monuments. Many of the outside monuments were reproductions as the original adornments are in the museum. Some of the Temples or Pyramids are fully restored and others are severely damaged by prior earth quakes and the effects of trees growing in cracks, pushing these large stones down the side of the structure. Mayan rulers would make their temples larger by building around the earlier temples. By encapsulating prior temples, thousands of artifacts of the inner most temples allow archeologists the information to identify the history of the site. We never made it into the museum and missed way too much, as our visit was shortened by lack of time. We will revisit Copan but plan to take a tour bus and spend two days at this breath taking site. Check out Copan at Wikipedia. It was dark when we passed through customs on the way back. This time we only had to say Copan and they waved us through. At the border from Guatemala to El Salvador we were the only car entering El Salvador, but this border crossing had 2 miles of semitrailers on both sides of the highway waiting to pass through customs to deliver goods and produce to El Salvador. It was an unusual community environment of men who have learned to patiently wait their turn. David y Nancy

El Salvador Reflection

Nancy and I became Election Observers in El Salvador in our first trip in 2004. It was an experience! At 4:00am we were bussed to the community of Apopa about 30 miles north of San Salvador. The community was thick in corruption and violence. We were taken to the large out-door plaza in the heart of the community where voting would take place. The emotions for the day were running very high; everyone was on edge about the outcome. The Civil War had now become a deep political divide. A former communist commander was running against the elite who had controlled the county for the past 400 years. Just before sunrise, there was suddenly shouting at the plaza entry. One official said open the gates for the voting to begin, the others shouted no. The military having their backs to the gate hearing the shouting aimed their AF 47’s at the election observer, not the gate. We didn’t feel safe until the plaza filled with voters. During the day there was much conversation from the current ruling party members that we were there to sway the election for the opposition party. There is no question that our presence allowed the public to vote their choice without repercussions. It was two years later with local community elections. Again we volunteered to be election observers. Our new post was in the local arena in capital of San Salvador. No military were present as they didn’t really add to the event. The voting rules have since changed but at that time the people had to return to their birth homes to vote. There was much reunion and fellowship taking place resulting in people staying for many extra hours. The congestion was overwhelming for us but not for them. This was and is their life style. After voting and vote tally ended, our small group from Milwaukee was invited to the Catholic University for time with Jesuit Dean Brackley. Dean Brackley left Spain when the four Jesuits were murdered at the Catholic University and then he served in their place through the civil war. Later he served a couple of semesters at Marquette in Milwaukee, then he returned home. Another participant in the conversation about the civil war that night was Rev Phillip Anderson. Rev Phil became our mentor in El Salvador. He remains one of the most wonderful men who supported our work in El Salvador long after he was called home to DC. We all met at Brackley’s apartment. He took us outside on his patio where we discovered he had a private gate to the public street with a pub on the other side. Over beers the delegation listened to the many stories from these icons of the civil war. Their stories highlighted the oppression and brutality experienced by the citizens. In reflection, this was a once in a life time opportunity and the possibility that this evening shaped our future. David y Nancy

fall 2019 update

While it’s winter it’s the growing season in Central America. The first harvest should be picked, but the rains have not cooperated this year. Through what’s called the dry corridor, it has not rained to produce crops of corn and beans. Pictures from our friends show fields of corn parched and broken corn stalks. The effects of this drought will be higher prices and no work available in the fields. The weather has stopped the implementation of six more families in the women’s empowerment project on the volcano San Miguel. We wrote a grant and received the funds in May. Now we are waiting for the weather to cooperate. In contrast, the last week of September has seen torrential rains causing walls to collapse and homes to collapse. The rains end in November, but with climate change everything is uncertain. The new president is very aggressive in implementing changes in law enforcement and in changing the scope of the National Budget. His draft eliminates a secret line item of 300 million dollars, which has caused many investigations, prison time and exile of former presidents. He has reallocated the funds for education and other services which are long overdue. We have a teacher shortage in our two most recent schools. We now have hope that the increased funds may provide the teachers for our 7, 8, and 9 grades. Our Salvadoran partners have appointments with the ministry of education to press for these positions to be filled. High school has 2 and 3 year curriculum. This December is going to be an exciting time as the last of our 42 God children are finishing their high school education. 15 needed scholarships; a few dropped out but when we spoke with them in January, the graduates in the two year program had jobs. Along the way we acquired up two more boys Carlos and Diego who have one more year to complete. They are top students in high school and without financial support their education would be impossible. Their scholarships are being provided by children who attended Vacation Bible School. Their VBS focus was raising funds to support a student in Tanzania and these two boys. We recently received the check and look forward to letting them know they can finish their dream. We are finishing up our 2 public schools with needed improvements. One is to enclose the school grounds to keep neighboring farm animals off the play area which will provide safety and will prevent the spread of disease to these vulnerable malnourished children. We know that through all these years and all these many projects, our mission has become your mission also. We are deeply grateful for your financial support, your prayers and your encouragement to us and by sharing our stories with others. May the Lord continue to bless and keep you in this grace. David y Nancy

Our January 2019 journey began in a memorable way. After missed connections, lost luggage and wearing the same clothes for three days, we finally settled in to our time in El Salvador. We were accompanied by Judy Steffes, a freelance journalist who also publishes the Washington County Insider. With losing a day, we rearranged our schedule allowing Judy the opportunity to learn the culture, people, and environment so as she meets people she would be able to better identify with them. On Wednesday we met with the leaders of Habitat for Humanity of El Salvador. Our purpose is to understand the scope of a pending build in our Sister Parish Community of Fe y Esperanza. HFH has asked us to fund raise for this event and frankly we are seeking more information for sharing with potential donors. After our breakfast meeting we went to Fe to meet the community and visit some homes. Some of our members live in barracks at the former refugee camp. The HFH team upon entering these buildings immediately stated these are not habitable. HFH El Salvador requires the candidate to have a clear title to a lot before they qualify for HFH loan, for either repairing or building a home. Our challenge is how to help these families buy lots so they qualify for a loan/build. The next day we traveled to the Far East to revisit the women’s chicken project, hot houses and the hardware store we started in 2011. Highway 2 is under construction to make the two lane highway into four lanes. The detours were dangerous and difficult to drive during the day and much worse at night. The drive was often terrifying. The women greeted us, showing the latest coops and letting us know they need ten more. Other developments included the women now producing chicks rather than buying them. One woman told us the income she makes from her project. It’s impressive, making this another very successful project that is managed by Oikos. After this meeting we left the women of the volcano and headed to the lagoon. This is a very important wet land as many of our Midwest birds migrate though this lagoon. The local people have tried to make a living fishing and also to protect it from pollutants. With modest income from the lagoon, Oikos recommended they turn to agriculture with construction of two new hot houses. They are full of sweet and tasty chile pepper plants, creating more income. Our last stop of the day was a visit to the hardware store in the community where we lived. Whether it’s a local Ace Hardware store or Fleet Farm, I (David) love hardware stores. This income creation project in 2011 has grown with two more locations and has provided many jobs and scholarships for the youth of the churches in which we served. It was a good home-coming, greeting many friends before heading back to San Salvador on highway 2. On Friday it’s Rotary Day to deliver text books to the public school from a grant from District 6270 through Nancy’s Sunrise Rotary Club. This is school number seven that we are rebuilding and invigorating. In the past year, three separate classrooms were developed by building two dividers in an open hall. Computers were installed and being used; supplies of pencils, paper, art materials were donated and now text books for all grades and students. Our project partners also distributed backpacks to all the children. Construction of the new healthy kitchen continued while we were there with the sounds of celebrations joining with pounding and sawing on the new lunch facility. After this joyful morning, we met with the high school students who received scholarships. To backup for a moment, over four years we developed and funded the creation of the grades 7, 8, and 9 at a community public school. When the 41 students graduated from the 9th grade, 15 could not afford to attend high school. We found sponsors for them and they attended the local high school. Two dropped out with need to work to help support their families, four completed their two year program and the remainder are completing their third year of high school in 2019. Many of their report cards are marked “superior”. All did very well. Two of the boys now rank number 1 and number 3 in their high school studies. A little bit of encouragement and support, even from a distance, goes a long way to change a life. David y Nancy