¡Hola Amigos!
Monday was very exciting for me because we went to visit my praxis site in Mariona. But before we went to Mariona we stopped at San Ramon to visit the school, health center, and soy project. The school is for children ages 10 and under. Connected with the school is a health center that has a dentist office, psychologist, pharmacy, massage room, and HIV/AIDS prevention center. We then walked down the street to visit with community members of San Ramon who talked about El Pueblo de Dios en Camino, a special community centered church that broke off from the Catholic Church. The people of San Ramon wanted the whole community to be involved with worship and the conservative Catholic Church did not allow this so the people formed their own church, but still refer to themselves as Catholic. We ate lunch at the Comedor (soup kitchen) in San Ramon. This kitchen is special because of the soy project. A Maryknoll nun has created a program where soy milk is made and for $2 a month, children in the community can have two glasses of soy milk each day as well as a small portion of food. At the comedor I was introduced to the Salvadorian quesadilla, which is a cream cheese and flour mixture. Pretty much it’s a sweet bread that I now love, and the women who worked at the comedor gave me the left over bread to take with me.
After lunch we headed to Mariona where is finally got to meet my community. I will be working closely with two women, Oti and Elizabeth, and a guy everyone calls Lolo. My praxis partners (Anthony and Jen) and I felt very at home in the community. We will be working in a cooperative named after Sr. Silvia who was martyred. The cooperative works to empower women by giving them the opportunity to earn money by making handcrafts. I will get the chance to learn how to sew and embroider. We will also be teaching ESL classes and making home visits to get a better understanding of the realidad, or reality of the Salvadorian people.
During our visit to Mariona we were all given some type of tortilla and vegetable mixture and hot chocolate (which didn’t really do too much to cool me off as I sat in the 90 degree heat, but it was much better than American hot chocolate). We were also given the opportunity to buy crafts from the women’s cooperative. Then someone found a guitar and we sang and danced until a dance troop showed up to dance in celebration of the signing of the peace treaty in 1992. (See pictures). My community was so hospitable and I can’t wait until the semester begins so I can get to know the people there better.
Tuesday was the anniversary of the signing of the peace treaty, so we went to visit the sights where the 4 church women were killed and where Romero was killed. In the morning after watching “Roses in December,” we went to Santiago Nonualco where the bodies of Dorothy Kazel, Ita Ford, Jean Donovan, and Maura Clarke were found December 2, 1983. There was a chapel built in memory of the women and rocks surrounded by a flower garden marked the grave site where the women were first found. (See pictures).
In the afternoon we went to the Divina Providencia to visit the church where Romero was killed, the hospital he lived at for a whiled, and his house. (See pictures).The whole experience was very moving and a woman who was very close to Romero’s family spoke about his final days.
That night, Dean Brackley, S.J., who is one of the Casa Program founders spoke to us. He was a teacher a Fordham and volunteered to come to El Salvador to replace the 6 Jesuits that were murdered at the UCA. He gave us some valuable advice about our time in El Salvador. After he left, an impromptu dance party broke out and drums were made out of empty water jugs and a dish rack. Tomorrow we will continue with the praxis site visits. Until next time…
Paz,
Stephanie
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