President Bush Extends Temporary Protected Status to El Slavadorans Living in U.S.

According to the White House web page, President George W. Bush extended TPS status to El Salvadorans for 18 months in a meeting with El Salvador's President Antonio Saca. This announcement was made on September 24th at the Council of the Americas in New York City where the two leaders met.

TPS status, according to the Federal Register found on the US Dept. of Justice web site is defined as:

a temporary immigration status granted to eligible nationals of
designated countries or part of a designated country. During the period for
which the Attorney General has designated a country under the TPS program,
TPS beneficiaries are not required to leave the United States and may obtain
work authorization. The granting of TPS does not lead to permanent resident
status. When the Attorney General terminates a country’s TPS designation,
beneficiaries return to the same immigration status they maintained before TPS (unless that status had since expired or been terminated) or to any other status they may have been granted while registered for TPS.

According to the same document, this status is usually reserved for Nations
which

are experiencing ongoing armed conflict, environmental disaster, or other
extraordinary and temporary conditions.

While I would like to think that President Bush had the best intentions at heart, I can't help but wonder if this gesture isn't intended to be a boost for Saca and the ARENA party in the upcoming elections. I hope that it is truly a humanitarian gesture on the part of United States.

Holding Hands Lightly

I absolutely love this picture. It was taken by my friend Valerie as we were leaving the village of El Barrial in Ciudad Segundo Montes. I last wrote about the wonderful people living in this village in my article titled "Breaking Bread With Friends". Check it out if you haven't read it yet.

What strikes me most about this picture is the way Sarah and her young friend Galena are holding hands. They had just met about two hours earlier. They live in very different worlds, economically, geographically and culturally. They speak something less than 100 words in a common language. They would remain together for maybe 3 hours total and then they would separate.

Given all of these differences, and a very small window of time, they became friends. They made great effort to communicate with one another, to find similarities, to share a moment of their lives. They ate a meal of fresh baked bread and cookies, sat and sang Des Colores and Jesus Loves Me and prayed together. They walked side by side through Galena's village and breathed the same mountain air. They laughed at the chickens that would run between our legs. And then... they touched each other.

I don't know who reached out to who first and I'm not even sure they know. The thing is though, at one point in their short relationship one of them felt the need to physically touch the other. One of them reached out in trust and love and said "I acknowledge you as a person and as a friend. I feel a bond between us and I want to offer my hand for you to hold onto. I trust that you will not hurt me and that you will accept this gift of touch and honor my spirit by holding on to me as I hold on to you." And then... they touched each other.

I can only imagine the moment when these two human beings slid physically into one another's space; that space that we spend so much of our time protecting. We are all too used to building invisible walls around our personal space, so afraid of getting hurt or being taken advantage of, terrified of what might go wrong if we trust someone and they end up disappointing us. In this moment though, two young ladies who hardly knew each other broke through those fortresses of independence and isolation and let one another in. There was no more need for verbal communication. It was Galena's village and yet she didn't lead, Sarah was the older of the two and yet she didn't condescend. Neither of them held on so tightly that they risked intimidating the other. They simply held hands... lightly... there was even enough space between their hands in this picture for the light to shine through. If I was one to wax poetic, or think metaphorically, I would surely see that the light is the representation of love, hope, and the Holy Spirit that moves between us all.

I learned so much in El Salvador. This lesson though, is one of the most profound. I needed to be reminded that to hold hands lightly, to let others into my space and to be ready to trust them, to extend myself to others so that the need for language and speech is overcome by the communication of the Spirit is so critical if we are to truly accompany one another. It is important sometimes to not walk ahead, to not squeeze someone for support but to just hold hands ...lightly.

Another Vote for Relationships

I found this article written by an engineering student at Rice University. It was originally published in The Rice Thresher. She, like us, is working on projects with communities in El Salvador. Please read her story and reflect on her opinions about why the success of humanitarian efforts relies on relationships first. I am glad we are not the only ones who have learned this! Click here for the full story.

What's a Little Loose Change Good For

Have you ever wondered how you can help with all the causes, not just in El Salvador and United States, but worldwide? Here is a story I found in the Anglican Journal about an inspired and imaginative initiative to bring the gift of improved vision to people in El Salvador. All it took was an idea, some organization and time to implement. I hope this story not only lifts your heart with it's goodness and love, but also pushes you into your own ideas and actions about how to help someone, somewhere. Click here for the article.

Interesting Article About the Effect of the Central American Free Trade Agreement

I found this interesting article on a web site called The Indypendent. It talks about some the negative effects that CAFTA has had on the people and the economy of El Salvador. As we head into our own elections please seek out information on what position the United States candidates hold on these "free trade" agreements. Please ask questions on how we and our government can be part of the economic growth for other countries in the world and make sure that we do not support agreements which encourage growth of multinational corporations at the expense of the people. Click here to read the whole article.