Food Security 2014

We are writing from El Salvador: When we returned home from 2 ½ years living in Usulután we were ready for resuming a more comfortable life style and leave what we accomplished or what we didn’t accomplish in the hands of God. The unfinished business is in the community of Piedra Azul and other smaller communities in the eastern volcanic range. In 2010, at our first meeting in Piedra Azul, we were a little nervous as there was no agenda to guide our conversation. The church could hold 100 North Americans comfortably; 200 Salvadorans attended the meeting. It was packed as the community was very curious. It was a day of many conversations, all of which needed to be translated. We also walked the community and had the opportunity to be one-on-one with a community member who said “we need scholarships to send our children to school”. We said, “why don’t we create some jobs so you can send your children to school?” At this time, Ana Rosa, a pastor and coordinator of the micro-region, was preparing to move to the USA so her time and interest wasn’t in new projects. Our community work would have been impossible but a visiting pastor from Germany introduced us to Oikos Solidaridad and its Executive Director, Benjamin Alas. Oikos works in Community Development in Piedra Azul and other communities in the eastern zone. Benjamin insisted we visit all our new surroundings so that we were aware of our environment. He took us to visit the communities and people displaced by the 2009 flooding of Rio Grande. He also took us to join his work visits to many sites. In Piedra Azul Benjamin took us to the Mother’s Day festivities for the celebration of the organization of the women’s cooperative and a chicken project. We attended the annual Christmas Eve soccer tournament by the church in Piedra Azul. Bishop Gomez officiates at the Christmas worship service that includes confirmations, baptisms and first communions. Before the Bishop leaves the community, he receives gifts of jicama, corn and beans. Seeing the work of Oikos first hand, our West Bend church, Our Savior’s, was willing to fund two projects of food security in the volcanic zone but we felt called to do more as the need is so great. We returned to El Salvador twice in 2013. Each time we spoke with Benjamin about a possible Rotary project for food security. To this end we have attended Rotary meetings in San Miguel, Neenah, South Milwaukee and District Conferences to find a Rotary partner for the purpose of writing a global grant. This process has not developed so we no longer pursue it. We had run out of options to benefit these people. We believed our mission work in the east was over. Then unexpectedly a funding source was announced by the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. We struggled with the opportunity; is our time over or should we write a grant? With the approval our church leaders, we wrote a grant considering the needs of the people that remain so fresh in our minds from our first visits and also the additional needs we learned of with the help of Oikos. To our amazement and joy, our grant is approved. We are now in El Salvador to begin implementation of the grant through meetings with church leaders to develop together a vision, goals and a list of participants who will benefit from this grant. It’s another testimony that God answers prayer. He hears the cries of the people living in danger, hunger and poverty and uses our hands for his work. What an Easter blessing!

Planting Season

Genesis 8 22 - “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” We share a lot of this verse with our brothers and sisters in El Salvador. We are nearing planting season both here in the upper Midwest and also in El Salvador. Our April rains have started and in a couple of weeks, the rains will begin in Central America as well. The cold and heat are not to the same degree or to the extremes we experience in North America, but El Salvador can experience cold in the higher elevations. Our summer and winter are opposite of each other, but we share the same planting and harvest times. We also share this truth with our brothers and sisters in El Salvador: Luke 8:11 – “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.” From the word of God comes the garden of humanity. He places us with millions of others in this garden; some help us grow in faith and others stretch our abilities to serve them and Him in ways we never expected. And we know that as we plant, water, weed and tend the crops, it is always God who gives the growth. In our spiritual lives as individuals and the body of Christ together as families, friends and churches, we go through cycles of growth and dormancy, drought and abundance. But God’s promise is sure that He is the giver of life and creation. God gave us Oscar Romero who planted the word of God in the hearts and minds of the Salvadoran poor. People risked their lives to listen to his Sunday afternoon radio sermon and in turn he risked his life to be close to the people. He visited them to hear about their oppression, injustice and the names of those who disappeared. Romero tended the garden of humanity by offering them his presence, cultivating their faith and listening to their fears and needs. He became despised by the authorities and was a marked man. A high ranking military officer came to Romero to warn him repeatedly to tone down his message to protect his life. The officer was in the inner circle and learned of the date of Romero’s assassination and warned him again. Romero had one more seed to plant; he remained faithful to God’s word and expressed God’s command to stop the killings. For promoting peace, he was murdered in church while preparing for the Eucharist on March 24, 1980. His legacy is alive in our hearts and minds but that’s not enough. We think Romero would be disappointed if we just remembered his legacy. The call is: can we be as bold as Romero in proclaiming the word of truth in God’s message to love, to serve and to free the poor wherever God sends us. Have a blessed Holy Week and Easter celebration. David y Nancy

School bells

We are taking a break reporting about the Volcano, but do not assume all is well as the internal activity is increasing. School bells are ringing in El Salvador. The new school year is underway. Before we left in November we visited another school and wrote about that visit in our December email. We are partnering with a Salvadoran family to work on this project together. We received the following note of encouragement from Leonor and want to share it with you. A little back ground information: Fredy and Leonor own a sugar cane field in this community. The parents asked Fredy to help make improvements in the school buildings and school equipment. With help of the Sugar Cane Association that purchased building materials, the parents built a large classroom building. When we visited they needed funds to purchase lamina for repairing a roof, desks for students and teachers, dividers to separate the big room into three classrooms. We were able to provide $2,000 for them to begin. We shared our message with friends at home and received another $2,000 in donations that will be used for purchasing text books, repairs to the bathrooms and making a future computer room secure. That’s the $2,000 mentioned in the note below. We saw what was needed, we shared the need, and we invited others to join us in responding to their needs. That’s the excitement and joy in the community and in the email from Leonor. Dear David and Nancy: Things have been busy around the school. The teachers have been receiving training from FEPADE (Fundación Empresarial para el Desarrollo Educativo), before classes started. And they told us that are very happy because they see in all the community of the school a great enthusiasm. Hopefully, if things keep on going this way, FEPADE will match the children from Centro Escolar Lotificación Mariscal for them to keep on studying carpentry, mechanics and bread making. We are very happy too. It is great to hear we have $2,000 more. We have started to buy the things we need for the roof of the computer room, because FEPADE will come to visit any moment and we need to have the class room ready. Classes have started today and we have received some books, not too many, but it adds. I will let you know how many groups of books we got because some people told me that they still are getting them for me. Receive from Centro Escolar Lotificación Mariscal many blessings. They have hope, enthusiasm and joy. Parents are happy with hope of a better future for their children. Teachers feel that their efforts are worth it and have a purpose. The new room gives enthusiasm to the children. Let´s keep this school in our prayers so they really can keep on growing and getting better for the sake of our children. Best regards Fredy & Leonor

Mission Accomplished

Our third week in El Salvador began with two low key days in the capital. Then we left for Usulután to tour the public schools we have been fundraising for many improvements. School is over for the year but the teachers are still busy preparing for the 2014 school year which resumes in January. Following is a brief recap of our tour: The new classroom in La Cribe is built. They can now accommodate 30 Pre-K children. This is double the number of students who were taught in the old storage shed and the new building is beautiful and safe. Canton Guadalupe has two newly completed classrooms and an office. We started with concrete floors this March, then added 70 new desks, installed electricity and fresh paint on all the buildings. Alambre has a new roof for the computer classroom, student desks, computers, computer desks and windows. Alambre was notified that the government is authorizing 12 computers for Alambre’s new computer lab making it the official regional computer site that will serve hundreds of students from these 3 schools and the high school. Think of the transition for students from sitting on the dirt floor to having desks, books, electricity and computers. Over 1,000 students are touched by these completed projects, but our work is still not done. Hearing of our projects in the east, a small business owner asked us to visit her family’s public school project in La Paz, close to the ocean. The principal and Dr. Castellanos, the volunteer, shared that the Ministry of Education (MOE) has not responded to their needs for a new roof on the existing building, nor provided text books for the students, nor offered more than a two-hole bathroom for 300 students. Nor does the MOE provide adequate funding for the authorized number of teachers. The government food program supplies food for needy students three times a year and when it runs out, it’s gone. The children are left with no lunch for weeks. In the absence of government support and dealing with their own basic needs, the parents are not willing to send their children to another community to continue in 7-8-9 grades. Therefore the boys go to work in the sugar cane fields and the girls remain home to help care for their families. The parents, mostly single moms, realize their children need more education so they asked Dr. Castellanos for help. He organized the community and with the support of the Sugar Cane Association, purchased materials to construct a large building for three more grades. The MOE will not recognize the new building or pay for an additional teacher. We have agreed to join Dr. and Mrs. Castellanos in their commitment to the people of San Luis Talpa. To prepare for the January opening of the new 7th grade, we purchased 26 desks with donated funds. We are now fundraising for text books for these students and replacement text books for K-6. For the older building, we purchased lamina to replace the damaged roof and for basic repairs to the bathroom. The Castellanos family is securing funds for materials to build a secure computer lab and purchase computers. The government has promised recognition of the new grades after the PC lab is installed. While our long-term education projects in the east are accomplished, the needs are still great. We remain open to the plans the Lord has for us in our mission and ministry in El Salvador. An on-going mission call: Go to the people. Live with them, learn from them, love them. Start with what they know, build with what they have. But of the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say, “We have done this ourselves.” (Lao-Tzu, 700 B.C.) David y Nancy

Fe at La Granja

We are in our church community this week, spending time with the students and adults of the congregation. Our main concerns, prior to arriving, were for Elmer and Carlos, both dropped out of school, each with own reason. Elmer affirmed our hopes for the completion of his education through the university. Carlos has already planned to attend a different high school offering a Saturday program. Both families have resolved their issues but wanted to confirm the continued financial support for their education. We assured them of our congregation’s faith-filled commitment to them. On Wednesday our friend Daniel picked us up to attend the Sunrise Rotary Club meeting at the Hotel Sheraton. We were warmly greeted, especially by several members we have not seen in years. As the meeting started, Nancy and I were presented with certificates acknowledging our support of education in their country. After a very long and interesting meeting, Daniel drove to the Rotary office where we loaded the text books for the school of La Granja. Daniel then took us to his current work site in San Salvador where the former presidential residence of 1919 was going to be demolished but is now under restoration due to the thorough architectural assessment Daniel gave this structure. Then we are off to the school. This is our third gift of books to the school, updating workbooks we provided in 2007. The students are on break and the teachers are on site planning for the 2014 school year. We present the books and discuss their future needs. The book donation is for K – 6 as requested. They hope we might also provide books for 7 – 9 as the class sizes are growing. At this time, their greatest need is for a 15 meter fenced area to protect the preschool children during recess. This is the school for the future Rotary computer project. We share with Daniel there are 14 computers from a USAID project in a building next to the church that might be incorporated into the Rotary project. After viewing the computers, we decided they would need to be taken in for evaluation to determine if they are usable. The heat, moisture and dust have had a negative impact on them. We do not share our concern for the computers on this visit. We will address the shape of the computers later. The Rotary and USAID computer projects require Internet so we went to visit the Mayor of Nejapa for his support with the local Internet carriers. He welcomes us but tells us it’s impossible. Daniel will take this situation to his Rotary Club to learn if any members have access to policy makers of the local internet carriers. Back at the community, the Director of the Community Center (USAID) tells us the Internet carriers have asked for 55 customers before they will run a line. There was Internet service in the past, but the “equipment” was stolen which cuts the community off from an important means of communication and information. At the end of the day, we walked the community to show Kristyn the Rotary sanitation project and found our Rotary Bridge in need of protective paint. We suggest the community leaders recruit 12 youth to paint the bridge in January. The Directivas agree that this is a great youth project but ask that we not give them the money, only give them the paint and supplies. Daniel was given the money to purchase these in January and deliver them to the community. That was one day in El Salvador! Our work here is still in progress and you can be a part of it in many different ways. We invite you to join us in these community development opportunities. David y Nancy

November visit

In mid-July we received an email from Thrivent Builds Worldwide. We checked the dates and found a Build taking place November 2-9 in the state of Santa Ana, El Salvador. I contacted the group leader who said his team had room for two more, so we joined. We are looking forward to meeting 24 new Habitat for Humanity volunteers. We will gather in Atlanta, travel to San Salvador, and then by van to Santa Ana to meet the others of the Thrivent Build in the community of Pastor Carlos. We met Pastor Carlos in 2006 and have had opportunities to see him in Salvadoran Lutheran Church functions. While attending a local fundraiser, we met Kristyn Adams, a free-lance reporter for the West Bend Daily News. We asked Kristyn to join us on the Build and tell everyone back home what a fantastic partnership of Thrivent Financial and Habitat for Humanity are doing in El Salvador and around the globe (including the US). The three of us leave tomorrow, November 2. We will be at the Habitat site until the following Sunday. Then we travel to San Salvador to join a delegation from our church that arrives on Saturday. The 5 of us will spend the next week in our church community of Fe y Esperanza. Our major focus will be the gathering of information from the families of students receiving education support from members of Our Saviors West Bend. This continues to be a real life changer in the Salvadoran culture. Boys and girls formerly ended their education in the fifth and six grades. A growing number are now attending high school and three are attending or planning to attend the university. But it’s not an easy road for these students. One university student dropped out due to family financial problems and another dropped out of high school due to gang violence at his school. Our job is not just to hear their stories, but to pray, encourage and support their families as they search another path to achieve the educational goals for their students. Past and present travelers meet monthly to find ways to support our brothers and sisters of Fe and to raise awareness in our congregation. We have held Fiestas to celebrate the education program and fundraisers to provide hymnals and chairs for the growing congregation of Fe. Each of the families that support a student has been encouraged to make a custom photo album for the student that features the families and life in West Bend. The 5 member delegation will deliver these to the students and hope to bring back stories from the students to share with their sponsors. There are always stories - some good, others not; there is much faith and hope in our budding relationship. After the delegation returns home, David and Nancy will remain in country to visit with our partners in the Rotary Club of San Salvador and with Oikos Solidaridad. We continue to develop our relationship with Oikos. Their impact in the rural mountains is very significant. Their programs empower women which strengthens their families and their communities. An earlier photo album showed you the request made by 50 women of Hacienda Nueva for funding 10 chicken projects. The women have been trained by Oikos in the care and development of the chicken project, including handling income from the sale of eggs and chickens. The chicken project will provide financial resources for these women to support their families with a better diet. We are planning to visit the public schools of Chirilagua to see in person the improvements since our March visit. We received an email this week containing 11 pictures that the windows have been installed in the computer classroom at Alambre Public School. They look wonderful. You’ll see them in a future photo journal. We hope to complete the school projects in Chirilagua on this visit. David y Nancy

Walters letter

Our last photo album of El Salvador featured the public school of Alambre. A local West Bend family funded a new roof over the computer lab which was installed by community volunteers. However during a recent winter storm, the remaining old roof over a classroom and office was destroyed. The principal of this school Walter Gomez wrote to us last Saturday. We would like to share his letter with you so that you can share our El Salvador experiences and relationships. “Dear David and Nancy, I greet you wishing the Almighty to have you under the protection of his cloak and that you feel happy knowing that the Lord loves you very much. At the same time I apologize for not having communicated with you sooner but I want to tell you that once again the young men of the hardware store of Concepción Batres spoke of you. On this occasion also I want to thank you for the continuation of your aid for the Central School with lamina and materials. It is in a perfect manner and timing to cover us from the winter but we had another drawback with the section of preschool that was of the same nature (terra cotta tiles). Thanks to God, the mayor of Jucuarán is collaborating with us. Now David and Nancy I want to ask you to help me with the windows that had been proposed for the computer classroom. I tell you that today there are 24 new students in high school and we want these young people to come away with best knowledge in information technology. I also share with you the joy that I feel with the solidarity that you provide. I want to tell you that the Ministry of Education is going to visit us Thursday to evaluate the classroom of computers and if the classroom is well evaluated, possibly will give us more computers. David and Nancy, I am sure and I am not mistaken that all that you do God all-powerful acknowledges and for our part we tell you that never have we had a strength as what you give us.” Our goal is to ensure that the entire building has new lamina protecting not only the computer lab, but also the classroom and the office that contains school supplies and text books. We can say this in confidence as we have received funding from two families toward this effort. The computer lab is one of our favorite projects. It started as a Rotary project with 5 computers and computer desks. As a result, a teaching job was created. Now the ministry of education has a starting point to strengthen the technology experience for more students in this rural and remote area of the country. They will be visiting this school with an eye towards placing Alambre as the Center of the Computer Education in this zone, serving four schools (one high school) and possibility of future equipment purchases and funding from the government. The Alambre project that began with a relationship and a request for student desks in 2011 has grown into a larger blessing for the staff and students of this school. We will visit them again, take pictures and provide you with an update. David y Nancy

Onuva March visit '13

We had to place journal writing to the side as we spent summer time traveling to be with family and friends. We are writing from home to continue sharing El Salvador experiences with our readers. This is the last page of our journal of our March 2013 trip. The church delegation left for home and we stayed in San Salvador for another 4 days. When we ended our mission in 2012, Leonor, the owner of the hotel where we stay, mentioned that a project she supports could use the help of part time volunteers. Leonor made arrangements for us to visit the home-base of the project that supports a community of extremely poor families. Geographically the community and the education project are separated by a 20 minute bus ride. The project is located at the edge of the city and the community is high in the volcanic range of San Salvador. The project site (Onuva) has a staffed medical clinic, church, chapel, parish house, day care, 12 classrooms, gym, computer lab, and a library. We visited the clinic, day care and all classrooms. Because of the poverty in their community, all the children receive three meals a day. The littlest children in daycare are some of the toughest kids we ever met. After being witness to their environment it started to made sense. As we visited the classrooms, we noticed the changes from tough little preschoolers to students who are developing in maturity. The students in the 9th grade are self-directed. As Nancy spoke to them in Spanish, they repeated what she said in English and answered her questions in English. These kids are fun. One new teacher waited years to be hired in this school. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0xKuwWLrvA This video has 3 classroom visits. In the afternoon one of the sisters invited us up the mountain to visit the community church where she brought approximately 5 large boxes of clothes for the families to purchase at 25 cents per item. It was 55 degrees and windy. The residents wore winter coats and hats but we were in short sleeves. On the way down we noticed a public school. We asked why the children don’t attend school in their community. The school is at capacity and the government won’t allow them to attend or add an addition. That’s why the Onuva School was started. The next day we were bussed up the mountain to walk the students’ community. We learned a lesson from the previous day and dressed for the winter weather but when we reached the community, it was typical tropical day. There are no roads, just rocky worn paths from the highway to their homes. The homes of the families we visited had one double bed for the family surrounded by 4 walls. Everything else was done outside. The community has no public water; they collect rain water for 6 months and hope it lasts for the next 6 months. Another home had a store front, a bed for the family and 6 x 6 living area. Later we lunched in the parish house with two sisters, the priest, and 4 youth. These students are receiving an excellent education with resources that exceed anything in the public schools. We asked the priest what becomes of the students after graduation. He replied the girls become pregnant and the boys look for work in the city. No one goes to college or the university. Wealthy Salvadorans have built this entire project. The concept originated in Spain; El Salvador is their second site and they are developing a 3rd site in Guatemala. We were invited to accompany a sister to visit Guatemala but the plans changed as she was not able to secure approval from her superior to leave Onuva that day. While our visit ended without a call to action, the experience to see Salvadorans helping Salvadorans was in itself rewarding for us and a positive factor for the country’s future. David y Nancy

To Usulutan

A page from our Journal that we are publishing from home: We are still enjoying the afterglow of being in the community for the past 4 days. Now we’re headed to Usulután for the delegation to see our former community and visit three projects our church funded while we were in mission. We received excellent final reports of the projects so we wanted to see these successes personally. We left San Salvador early Tuesday heading east to the Orient, El Salvador’s bread basket. Our first stop was the hardware store in Concepcion Batres. The store front is freshly painted and it’s striking. The store is now double its square footage since inception and has an “L” shaped glass counter separating the supplies from the customers. Future plans include using the large yard to store brick and concrete products. We walked to the molino for the delegation to witness how important a molino is for the community providing fresh ground corn for the daily diet. Three members of the staff of Oikos meet us at the molino. Oikos has a full day planned for us so we quickly board our transportation and head south out of town where Concepcion Batres is very lush green due to the high water table. A middle aged couple trained by Oikos provides us a tour of their 3 acre plantation of maracuya, pineapple, and papaya. First they cleared the land of the coconut trees and harvested the wood for making fences and trellises for the plants. The couple share responsibilities with the man managing the garden and the woman arranging the sale of their produce to vendors in Usulután. A second small plantation a short distance from the first has a family raising papaya and squash. The family spokes-person is a woman who explains the sales of produce in Usulután and how the income is used to support the family. See both on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXoZnGlqpCA We return to Concepcion Batres for lunch, then it’s back in the vehicles heading north to San Jorge to enter the dry, dusty river bed and begin the ascent up the volcano towards St Julian. This is familiar territory for David y Nancy. Oikos takes us to another family benefitting from our funding and they demonstrate the methods used to grow crops on the volcanic slopes. The man thanks Our Savior’s for the financial support. Our next stop is in a community of very poor families. Their project is just under way and they seek funding to expand. 50 women are here to tell us about a future project of chicken coops for their families or for their neighbors. The community has 10 chicken coops and needs 30 more. They tell us about how much they love to work in agriculture and more chickens would offer meat, eggs and cash when they sell eggs. Their poverty is striking and their needs touch our hearts. See this on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuPcja-QeOU It’s getting dark and it’s time to leave. We are sweaty, sun burned and caked with dust. We stop at the office of Oikos for a presentation from Guillermo and after questions, we head to the hotel. It was a very hot day and we are too exhausted for dinner. We return to our rooms to shower and retire. With modest amounts of funding together we have changed the lives of families and communities. Salvadorans are hardworking people, they just need a “hand up” to get started. We have good stories to tell our faith community when we return. The next day the delegation leaves early for the airport. We return to San Salvador for 5 more days. David y Nancy

Delegation Arrives

A page from our journal that we are publishing from home: With suggestions from members of our delegation and members of our faith community in Nejapa, it was mutual agreement to spend four days in the community and not schedule other activities on this visit to El Salvador. As Juanita said to Nancy in November “now you only visit us when you come”. With that in mind, we determined to focus on strengthening our relationship together in as many ways as possible. The delegation’s flight arrived on time. David, Nancy, Pastor Abelina, Luis our translator, Juanita and Denora from the community were at the airport to meet them. We drove to San Salvador stopping at an overlook of the city. The air was surprisingly clear. We checked into our hotel, walked to the supermarket to purchase bottled water and visited the mall. We found a Salvadoran buffet for an early dinner. One of our members was ill with airplane fatigue and stayed behind to rest. Later five of us visited Bishop Gomez at his home. The next morning our traveler had improved with the night’s rest. We boarded the mini bus and were off to the community. We arrived and were guided into the church where the community was assembled to welcome us with clapping and singing. As the day continued more groups of children and youth sang to us. We walked the community’s dusty roads to visit the homes of students receiving financial support from members of our church. We were graciously received at many homes being offered drinks and snacks. The second day followed the same pattern. From the hospitality we experienced in their homes to the two days of lunch together in the community, the generosity of these very poor people is humbling. The women cooked soup and vegetables in large metal pots over wood fires, along with the traditional tortillas. Nancy usually finds a beak or claw in her soup but this time she found a small soft-shelled egg. After lunch we assembled in a big circle to learn about new projects. The presentations began with a song by a community leader; then we learned about programs sponsored by USAID including computers, woodworking and guitar lessons. Elmer from our faith community was the key of this effort by completing the initial application and subsequent interviews with the government. They were impressed with Elmer’s leadership and he is now the director of this program. However they are missing aspects of funding for instructors, cost of electricity and security. They asked us to consider helping with these items. To qualify for the program, the two communities had to demonstrate their willingness and ability to work together in total cooperation. When we first visited these communities in 2004, there was violence, verbal abuse, gang evidence was visible. Fast forward to the completion of the 7 year Rotary sanitation project in which the student engineers from the University of Wisconsin organized the people into work groups, teaching them new skills and developing new leadership among the women and men. The community told us they would continue to develop their new model to sustain improvement of these two communities. Now they are beneficiaries of the USAID nonviolence program. On Sunday we left the hotel early allowing time to see a few major attractions on the way to worship. We visited the national monument to Jesus “El Salvador del Mundo”, the city park having the wall dedicated with the names of Salvadorans known dead and missing from the civil conflict, the national cathedral downtown where Archbishop Romero is interned. After worship at Resurrection Church, we ate lunch with the Bishop and then back to the community for worship and presentations of bibles, financial support for education and many other gifts for all age groups. On Monday after a group visit to the top of a local ancient volcano we returned to the community to drop off parents and children and say goodbye. Our hearts came together in these brief four days because we all contributed to the planning, making it one of the most meaningful experiences for all of us. David y Nancy

Public Schools

This is our 100th journal, being written after our recent trip. During our past 12 months at home, we had given many presentations and done fundraising for our 2013 school projects in El Salvador. We also had sent many emails to arrange meetings and visits to continue with existing projects and initiating new ones. Our first week beginning March 3 in Usulután was heavily booked. On Monday, nine hours after arriving in El Salvador we got up early for our first meeting held in the office of Oikos Solidaridad. Those attending included Alex and Guillermo of Oikos, Juan Carlos and Alexis from the hardware store, and the principal and the directiva of the public school in Canton Guadalupe. With a prior quote for the cost of cement floors for the school, we had transferred funds to the hardware store’s bank account to demonstrate our commitment to this project and to enable them to order materials. The two key issues of discussion were transportation and securing the material on site. The movement of material requires four trips up the side of the mountain which is only a rough steep narrow road. Alexis and Juan Carlos asked for a separate meeting with us on Tuesday to resolve transportation issues. The Mayor of Chirilagua pledged his support for the project and would provide a secure area for the materials. The prior quote emailed to us also included materials for the installation of electricity but it seemed in excess. The mayor’s office would also provide a technician to give a more accurate quote. With these issues resolved or in process, we moved on to the principal’s request for student desks. We told the principal and directiva we had come with funds for the purchase of student desks. The desks she wanted, separate desks and chairs, cost $75 a unit while a traditional unit of joined desk top and chair cost $42. She asked our advice and we said you have a $1,000 to spend; you are free to choose any style. She chose the traditional desk in order to purchase more and we personally added to the total so she could buy 25 larger desks. They would be delivered the following week for the class of upper level students who don’t fit into the smaller desks. On Tuesday we had plans for breakfast with Principal Walter of Alambre Public School to implement the purchase of three windows for the computer room to protect the equipment. When he didn’t come by 1 pm, we called the hardware store to meet about the concerns with transportation of the materials. Our meeting concluded with our agreement to double the quote for transportation. They had not visited the site prior to the first quote and after a visit realized the increased cost of multiple shipments. We heard from Principal Walter and made plans to meet Wednesday morning. Walter was not prepared to move forward with the window project as his priorities changed in the past 14 months from windows to lamina for leaking roofs. We moved the meeting to the hardware store to include Alexis and Juan Carlos who are becoming our associates in mission to these communities. We asked for their help to work with Walter to prepare quotes for lamina and windows, starting with a visit to the school for measurements and costs. When Alexis and Juan Carlos were told the school was at a higher elevation than Canton Guadalupe we thought we had lost them but they willingly agreed to make it happen. During this visit, we were also able to assemble a team regarding the construction of a classroom in La Cribe. We will be emailing information to develop construction drawings and a bill of material. In 3 days we accomplished a lot. Tomorrow, Thursday, we meet our church delegation at the airport in San Salvador to begin our 4 day sister parish visit at Fe y Esperanza. David y Nancy

A long days journey

We left Mitchell Field in the dark. As day break approached, the clouds in the east were pink and black. After two minutes in flight it was day break. Another 2 minutes the sun was seconds from the horizon. As the sun entered our view it was as if we could see molten lava flowing from the sun with our bare eye. The horizon was ablaze with red, gold and pink in brilliant tones. Another 3 seconds the sun was fully and magnificently revealed. Within another minute it was its usual yellow self. We landed in Atlanta on time and hurried to the next gate. We were there with time to spare and as boarding time was nearing we got a 30 minute delay. That passed and we boarded. After 2 hours into a 3 hour flight our pilot announced we had turned back to Atlanta and would be arriving a 3:30. The area surrounding the San Salvador airport was engulfed in fire. It’s the harvest of the sugar cane which is preceded by burning the fields. Cane is grown between the airport and the ocean. With 45 mile an hour winds blowing, this weekend the fire did not stop at the end of the fields but continued to burn everything in its path towards the airport. The airport closed to provide total support to protect the service buildings essential for servicing the airport. It was also unsafe for take-off or landing with heavy ash and poor visibility. We sat in Atlanta for another three hours. Delta provided regular updates and finally we reboarded to resume the journey. It was night and a very long flight. Nearing San Salvador we could see fires in the distance. As we landed the fires were at the edge of the runway, flames flaring 100s of feet into the air. We weren’t advised in advance and many in the plane were alarmed by the scene. The fire continued more than half the distance of our taxi followed by the darkened earth and smoldering embers from the area of the service building. It was now 11:00. Our driver waited 10 hours for us to arrive. We called him twice from Atlanta with updates and we were glad to be greeted by a friendly welcoming face. The temperature was 79. It felt really good. The highway to Usulután was empty. At night only a couple of sugar cane trucks and dogs sat on the highway. We made it to Usulután in record time. Everything in the city was closed and dark including our hotel. We pulled up to gate; a guard appeared and by the grace of God he opened it for us. He took us into the lobby, gave us a room key and said “check in tomorrow morning”. We needed to get up early for our first meeting with the principal and directors of the school of Canton Guadalupe. We had done much planning, budgeting and preparing for this important conversation to begin an important improvement project. We were eager to see how it would unfold. David y Nancy

March Return

We have avoided the past three winters in Wisconsin while living in El Salvador. Now home for 12 months, we are enjoying simple things of the season like ice thunder. As the nights slip near the zero mark, the ice covering the lake booms loudly as it expands or contracts. The action at our six birdfeeders this winter has been amazing. The Lutheran Church of El Salvador held its 3rd Encuentro in November 2012. Sister parish partners from the USA, Canada and Europe attended this Encounter to re-enforce the solidarity in their relationships. Nancy felt called to attend and traveled with a group of 13 from our synod. When the 5 day event ended, Nancy and Pastor Abelina left the city of San Salvador to spend time with our sister parish Fe y Esperanza. After a long absence, the community was delighted to have Nancy return. The faith community expressed their disappointment that a delegation had not visited Fe in several years. Nancy responded that a delegation is forming from Our Saviors for a March visit. They were pleased to hear the news. The 6 members of the delegation are in count down as we prepare for the March trip. Two members will be first time travelers and we share our collective wisdom from prior travel experiences. Emails have been sent daily to El Salvador for all the arrangements. Our itinerary will include 4 consecutive days with our sister parish community, visits to homes and a re-visit to the public school. Our church members and Rotary Clubs have invested many improvements in this public school. David and Nancy are leaving for El Salvador prior to the delegation to continue the work started last year in the public schools of Chirilagua. Chirilagua is 150 miles east of our sister parish community. We have placed an order for $2,000 of sand and cement with the hardware store we helped start in Concepcion Batres earmarked for the school of Canton Guadalupe. The classrooms have dark walls, no electricity, dirt floors and in the tropics the odor is unpleasant and unhealthy. Here is a one minute video of the classroom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7dDVpCybOc Our first step is to meet with the school’s Directiva to review their priorities established in 2012, which were first to install concrete floors, then purchase desks, white boards and paint the interior of the structure. If possible in the future, they hoped to have electric service installed. With donations from many supporters, we are prepared to accomplish all of those needs at this time. We are also continuing our interest in the central school in Alambre to upgrade the computer lab we started in 2011. We have purchased desks, white boards, computers and desks. Our goal in partnership now is to install windows in the computer lab to protect the equipment from the winter rain and summer dust. They have the windows wrapped in plastic which is not an effective system and makes the room very hot. We truly believe the way out of poverty for these poor rural children is to improve their educational environment and experience. Our time in El Salvador in March is short. We will return again in November to evaluate the improvements during this visit and then assess the process for the next school in La Cribe. The Directiva and Principal of La Cribe have asked for a building with two rooms, one for the K class with an attached principal’s office. The current classroom is a wire storage shed. Classes are cancelled often in winter because the children are not protected from the wind and rain and there is no electricity. We are $5,000 short of being able to construct the above building. But as this remains Gods work, he will provide for the future. We continue following as he leads. David y Nancy

Christmas Reflections

While celebrating Christmas in West Bend this year, we can’t tell you specifically what’s happening in our former communities, but we know there are a modest number of colorful lights, artificial trees and nativity scenes that went up in early November. San Salvador - Many organizations support Christmas by two practices, one is to pay employees a 13 month pay check and the other is to provide generous vacations in December. It’s common for the family receiving a 13 month bonus to paint their house. This is a signal to the neighbors that they received a bonus - a little showy but tradition. On Christmas Eve the city comes to life with fireworks set off by residents. You can also hear the occasional sound of gun fire mixed in with the fireworks. In the morning many residents create sand paintings in the streets. We were in the van taking Pastor José home from preaching at Resurrection Church. We had numerous detours as neighborhood streets were blocked by local artists developing large scale pictures using colored sand. They were all beautiful sand paintings, but the artists on the street did not look friendly as they were shirtless, unshaven and just looked too different to approach to take pictures. Concepcion Batres - our community in the east has colored lights up in the Central Square. A few homes will have 2 foot artificial trees, many with flashing and twinkling lights – it’s quite an impression. Piedra Azul – is known as the church of the slide because it is located high on a hill and one can take a long stairway down or slide down on concrete slides. The children love it! This is a very poor community. On the 23rd, Bishop Gomez officiates at a worship service with many confirmations and baptisms followed by a great meal of chicken, rice and more. On Christmas Eve day, an all-day soccer tournament for the youth sponsored by Oikos includes eighteen local teams from the surrounding communities competing for top recognition and prizes. The members of these teams are from communities of our mission work. One day we were walking home from the market when a young man working construction on a building yelled at us - “hey you guys were at the soccer tournament.” We said yes. He said “I was a player from San Rafael Oriente and I saw you there.” We won’t be there to cheer at this year’s soccer tournament but it’s a great event and we hope to be there again in the future. It was the first time we needed to rely on acquaintances rather than friends for our safety and it worked out well. Enrique Senior and his son Enrique Junior took care of us. They are both in the Oikos program of community development and are both success stories. Enrique Senior took us home in his pickup truck. The truck had a speed limit of 25 mph giving us time to talk. We asked him what is different about Christmas for his family. He said they have the traditional Christmas chicken sandwich before going off to work in the fields. The traditional chicken sandwich is the highlight for the day. So we were blessed and protected in good hands with strangers. We were safe in one of the most violent countries in the Western Hemisphere. But now our grief is for our own county and the continued violence that takes place in public and private places. It’s unsettling that schools have become the site of violence while being the center of innocence. We all need to become involved to solve this problem. Christmas blessings – Feliz Navidad David y Nancy

Food Security

Until we traveled to El Salvador, we had never heard the term “Food Security”. It is a common theme there. In the US, we are more familiar with the food pantry, soup kitchen, second harvest and urban agriculture/ gardening. This past spring we read an article in the Sunday paper using the term Food Security for our national problem of wide spread hunger. Earth Week recently published that due to 2012 extreme weather, the globe is at critically low reserves of grain world wide and signs are looming of a food crises for 2013. While we have structures in place to deal with the issue of food distribution to the hungry, most of the developing counties do not. And now with a looming global food crisis, we all face shortages and higher food prices. However the impact of higher food cost on the US families does not compare to impact this has on Salvadoran families. Living in El Salvador, the issue of Food Security was ever present as problems of torrential rains, erosion, flooding, earth quakes and climate change bring never ending crisis to the food supply. Our first project with Oikos Solidaridad focused on Food Security for 42 families. Each family learned the latest agricultural practices in organic fertilizer and organic pest control. The goal of the project was to provide enough to feed the family and have excess to sell in the market. Four of the beneficiaries accompanied us as we walked through dry river beds to reach a number of planted fields. We still see their faces and know they appreciated the donation from our West Bend church to make this project a reality. Last Christmas as we considered our departure from El Salvador, we realized the fight against hunger was just starting for us. We were returning to comfort, safety and healthy living conditions and leaving behind many who have no safety net. We had meetings with Oikos Solidaridad and agreed that a project in the family yard would be another beginning in food security. Our Saviors Lutheran Church West Bend once again financially supported a second Food Security project. Last week we received photos and a project report. It includes 11 women and 13 men who are heads of households; 12 own their land, the other 12 are renters. Oikos purchased fruit trees for the land owners and seeds for beans and corn for the renters and land owners. Oikos leads training in the recent advances in sustainable agricultures practices including erosion control and responses to climate change. For people who can’t read or write and are set in tradition, these sessions turn their world upside down. They are a very proud people and will tell you how hard they worked to make this project successful. Our two agriculture projects, the first one of 42 families and the second of 24 families, impacts 400 people. Families that are fed can work and children can attend school to improve their lives. We find much pleasure in walking the fields with the people who benefit from these two projects and also spending time with our sister parish where the Rotary hygiene sanitation project is saving lives. We return to El Salvador in winter 2013 to resume our walk with the Salvadoran people. Consider joining us. David y Nancy

El Salvador in West Bend Wi

Pastor Julio Chavez, our mission partner in Usulután, was in Milwaukee for 10 days, the guest of the Greater Milwaukee Synod. Julio was hosted by many old and some new friends. He had written that he wanted time to stay with us and he did for the last half of the Labor Day weekend. On Labor Day we toured West Bend and visited Casa Guadalupe, an education center which provides support services for Latinos recently arrived to our community. After lunch with friends at Jalisco’s, a Mexican restaurant in West Bend, we headed to the harbor in Port Washington to see the fishing and boating action on Lake Michigan. In the evening we cooked steaks on the grill with Wisconsin wild rice and sweet potatoes. He seemed to enjoy these new tastes. On Tuesday, we visited Ace Hardware and a Wisconsin based Fleet & Farm. Julio appreciated viewing hardware stores much different than the one in Concepcion Batres operated by his leadership team. He looked at and handled many products either thinking we could sell this or wondering what it was for. Then on to the feed mill where we explained how farmers order custom blended feed for their livestock to balance nutrient intake. In the afternoon Julio took a nap while we cooked the brats for the evening fiesta. Our church planned a pot luck fiesta to provide members an opportunity to meet Julio and to learn about the hardware store that Our Savior’s supported financially. With many pictures in Julio’s presentation, it was a powerful message of hope and sustainability for generations of young people. • With our mission of Social Justice in Community Development through business and job creation, the leadership team was encouraged to share a plan for a hardware store with us. They received our support and spent 5 months looking for an appropriate site in 3 different communities before selecting Concepcion Batres. The site is across the street from the city square in the heart of commerce where everyone passes by in their coming and going. • In developing the initial purchase order, the team determined they needed $12,000 cash for basic inventory and the purchase of a truck. Nancy and I took on the fundraising activity. • The formation of the business requiring many legal documents consumed much of the leaders’ time. They learned as they progressed and in this process were required to travel to the major cities to appear before the Federal Government for licenses and authorizations. • Alexis, Edwin and Juan Carlos define team work. They are dedicated to their church community. These three men did not take any salaries for the first 11 months, keeping profits in the business in order to continually expand the product line. They committed themselves in service to one another and to their family of faith in developing a healthy sustainable business enterprise. • The hardware store prices their products 10-20% lower to offer the working Salvadoran families the best possible price. “This strategy is our Evangelism” explained Pastor Julio. • Their future plans include opening more stores in and around Usulután. The gifts from Our Savior’s and other donors are a Living Donation, growing larger and stronger, benefiting the lives of current and future youth in the churches of El Buen Pastor in Usulután. This business venture is an excellent example of the impact of sustainable partnerships and sustainable projects. David y Nancy

We have previously mentioned the violence in the Salvadoran culture. We have not reported specifically about the gangs or gang culture that prevails throughout the country. This includes prison culture inside and outside the prison walls. Wherever we traveled it was important to prepare ourselves for leaving the safety of our house. We took steps to protect ourselves from petty thieves but it’s impossible to protect oneself from gang violence. The greatest amount of gang violence is directed toward each other. This year started out with 12-14 murders a day. But gang violence that takes place in the community spills out to include innocent bystanders. • In Mejicanos, where we lived, a gang attacked a public bus throwing gasoline bombs at it, setting it afire and killing innocent passengers. They were riding in a bus where the driver would not pay the extortion fee to drive through gang turf. • At the National University a young female stabbed and killed a student who was wearing a shirt she wanted. It was probably her initiation into a gang. Her environment is kill or be killed. • Pastors Julio’s church is two blocks from the Usulután Prison. (There are many prisons in country). One morning the big news in the community was all the prison guards were fired and the National Police took control of the prison. The former guards were being paid by the gangs to provide special privileges to gang leaders, allowing them to continue operating from prison • Between our home in Concepcion Batres and the church of Usulután a new hotel was being constructed. We watched it being built on a weekly basis. On a rainy Sunday night in April, just weeks before opening, what appeared to be a Police Officer demanded the site guard open the gate. Fearing the National Police he opened the gate and 20 black clothed men stormed the facility and removed all the electronic equipment from the 5 story building and disappeared into the rainy night. Recently the country noticed a significant drop in murder rates, 5-6 per day, but an uptick in those disappeared. There was speculation within the country that the gangs and the government were discussing a “peace agreement”. This speculation has been reported regularly by the press and recently the Inter Press Service News Agency has a current story that the gangs and government are looking to end two decades of spiraling criminal violence. The article can be read at: http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/08/gangs-and-government-put-their-cards-on-the-table-in-el-salvador/ The article is titled: Gangs and Government Put Their Cards on the Table in El Salvador Be prepared to be shocked. David y Nancy

We met Beth and Maggie in 2010 when Maggie was a missionary with Volunteer Missionary Movement and Beth was applying for missionary status with VMM. Maggie works with a Salvadoran non profit serving children in a poor city section of Mejicanos. We lived in Mejicanos and were very interested in her work. The children are from homes of limited parental oversight, exposed too much violence, life on the streets and recruitment by gangs. Beth was a Fulbright Scholar who came to El Salvador to work in the rural community of La Joya Grande after this community experienced catastrophic flooding and mudslides that destroyed homes, lives, roads, livelihoods. Beth started a Salvadoran non profit working in disaster preparation and management for La Joya Grande. Beth and Maggie developed a program to bring these children and youth together to learn from one another. They called it a Children’s Summit, held in early summer in La Joya Grande. The children and youth of La Joya Grande led workshops on disasters, first aid and risk management. The Children’s Violence Prevention Committee of Mejicanos led workshops on children’s rights and the law for the international protection of children and adolescents. The themes covered are startling. While many U.S. children are enjoying summer programs in sports, dance, music, family vacations and other activities, the youth of El Salvador are dealing with daily issues related to abuse, crime, violence and the yearly disasters related to rains, flooding, mudslides and death. Because of the distance between each of our missionary assignments, we did not often socialize and therefore we don’t know the details of Beth and Maggie’s missionary “call”. But like all missionaries, they left home and traveled alone to an unknown, dangerous place in Central America. They developed relationships with others who worked with them in their struggle to improve the lives of the youth of El Salvador. In addition to meeting Beth and Maggie from VMM, we worked with college students from the University of Wisconsin- Madison for the past 8 years. Those early students are now long graduated and have started their careers. Six of the students working on our Rotary funded sanitation project in El Salvador are now living and working abroad. Their passion for service was kindled by the Rotary hygiene project where their hearts were touched by the people they met and the tremendous needs of people in developing countries. An 18 minute video of the January 2012 project and interview with some of the students is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPFaFn5ye-0 The diversity of talents and individual skills among the young missionaries and students we worked with is inspiring. They went on faith and were able to use their gifts and talents in the communities of La Joya Grande, Mejicanos and Nejapa. David y Nancy

Early Winter

This is to clarify to our readers that we are writing from our home in West Bend, WI. Some of our readers assumed we only write from El Salvador. It’s the beginning of winter and the rainy season in El Salvador. Our friend Benjamin Alas writes to us that seed fest was held again in Concepcion Batres. Vendors, clients of Oikos, gather in the park to sell their products. It started years ago with the exchange of plant seeds and has grown to include preserved vegetables from the cooperative of Chambala, onions, eggs, live chickens and locally grown honey and coffee. Food is offered by the usual vendors that have diners in the park. They offer a different menu just to make the day special for those attending. The youth of Oikos practice their communication skills making announcements and other youth dance and/or perform skits. Also in early winter (in Central America) Monsignor Romero’s life and martyrdom are commemorated. We attended St Peters Lutheran in Sheboygan to view a recent movie titled “Monseñor: The Last Days of Oscar Romero” that is made from years of news reels. It’s a fascinating review of the country’s oppression of its people, forcing the peasants to organize to protect themselves and their families and the beginning of the civil war. Romero communicated with his people in sermon and also using the churches radio station. When Romero’s radio program was broadcast, community life came to a halt as everyone listened to every word. Romero was not a cautious priest: he wore the yoke of courage to fight for social justice. His messages became bolder and bolder as he spoke against the injustices inflicted on the people. The people cautioned Romero for his safety and they wanted to walk with him, but sensing danger he walked alone. Romero organized a human rights department of the church providing common people a place to report family members who were killed by paramilitary or death quads and also report family members who disappeared. At the time of his assination 8,000 cases were reported. We encourage you to view this documentary to better understand the culture and people of El Salvador. A preview is at http://www.americamagazine.org/content/video/video-index.cfm?series_id=1162 Memories: the avocado tree in our former yard is producing another cycle of fruit. The tree is the size of one of our oak trees and the avocados are the size of large pears. June is the month they ripen and start dropping on the old terra cotta roof. The tree has a wide canopy for dropping many avocados. I would patch the holes made by dropped avocadoes with sealing cement and a putty knife. When there were too many repairs and leaks we replaced the panel. We replaced three large sheets. Then we used the older panels for making repairs in other parts of the roof. We had about 6-10 places that dripped when it rained depending on the wind and direction of the rain. In contrast to our drips we visited communities where homes didn’t have roofs, mostly the homes of the elderly in the community of Soyapango. We gave the church funding for roofs and in turn they were able to purchase supplies for 4 families. Nancy’s health is good - she continues healing and is very active. We are a blessed people. David y Nancy

El Salvador Reflections March

Following is an interesting statement from a blogger featured on Tim’s Blog one year ago. The occasion was the recognition in 2011 of the 19th anniversary of the signing of the peace accords ending the civil war.

“Unfortunately we still do not have what we can call a stable, long-lasting peace, but there is reason to celebrate, as now we have a good opportunity to try for it.”

Victor, a psychologist and well-known young blogger, comments in his blog Alta hora de la noche that the people of El Salvador do not have a collective awareness of what peace means, as they have never experienced it. He states that the very concept of peace is stained with blood. It seems, he adds, that egotistical behaviour is the “natural state” of Salvadorans who, thanks to a social and cultural system that favours the strong and the powerful, consider the agreement to be a sign of weakness. In his opinion, building a culture of peace, especially among adults, appears to be an impossible task. But it is a task worth doing, he states, each one fighting the battle, from his own trench.”

Our frequent trips to El Salvador exposed us to many stories of atrocities that the authorities committed on the powerless. Simple rural people were gunned down for sport, city protesters gunned down for gathering or an entire village of 30,000 indigenous gunned down to steal their lands. It sounds so far away until you try to put it in perspective and compare the subhuman treatment of our government on the American Indian. The stealing of lands, starvation, massacres of villagers are the same stories but in a different place, time and politics, but the same injustice.

The scars on the hearts of the Salvadorans and others of Central American from the former atrocities are only 20 to 30 years old. 80,000 people died or disappeared. Mothers now nearing the end of their lives still wait for their sons to return. Old women wait for their young husbands to come home. Those seeking closure have the names of their loved ones included on the monument to the Dead and Disappeared in San Salvador.

Our area of Usulután and San Miguel were sites of military conflict with arms smuggled into the country by the rebels (FMLN) from boats anchored along the coast. Our driver Alex pointed out the different places his family lived to avoid his being abducted by the military; when he was 12 he was sent to the US (another complex story). His family’s last home on the way to Puerto Parada became a bivouac area for the military. That’s all Alex would share and few others would share with us their personal stories of pain and hurt. Therefore the issue of peace, internal peace, is very complex and necessary in order to have peaceful citizens.

After the Peace Accords were signed, the conflict continued on a more intellectual level. Now 20 years later, former freedom fighters and foreign financed NGO’s continue to strive for justice. But the need of the individual Salvadoran is to find peace. If Victor is right, only outside forces can help them break loose from their cultural heritage of seeing peace as weakness and to embrace peace for their inner souls, for their families and for a stronger peaceful community and country.

David y Nancy