Initiative by Women in El Salvador

I just came across this great web page that sells cards made by a community of women in El Salvador that have been working successfully toward recovery since 2001. Here is a small section from their story as it appears on the website Hope for Women.

In 2001, massive mud slides and a devastating earthquake left many families in the highlands of El Salvador homeless and jobless. With their fields destroyed, many people began traveling long hours to low-paying factory jobs in the capital. A group of enterprising women, however, formed Arte Comasagua, an artisans’ organization that handcrafts stylish designs from native flowers and plants. These women now work locally, caring for their families and saving for their future.

Take a moment to visit this website to see some of the beautiful work these women create. If you like it, you can purchase from them right from the site.

We have no financial interest or gain from this organization or any sales that are generated. We just wanted to share another example of people helping themselves up and give you the opportunity to see some beautiful crafts.

Our Trip for the El Salvador Elections

Some of us will be travelling to El Salvador in March to participate with the Lutheran Synod of El Salvador in the oversight of the Presidential elections. We just received the information and the trip will be over the week of March 8th to the 17th, 2009.

At this point, it looks like there are six of us going on this trip. We have room for more if you are interested in joining us. Just drop us an email here and tell us you want more information.

We have published two previous stories about the elections and they can be found by clicking here.

Many of our friends and families have asked us why we are going to El Salvador during the elections. They ask things like "what can you do to help?', "isn't the UN doing that?", "why would you want to go then, it could be dangerous?". I suppose all of these are valid questions, but the answer for us is simple.

On our last visit to our friends down south, we met with Bishop Medardo Gomez and a representative of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. They explained that in the past, the elections were very vulnerable to fraud. They told us how the ruling ARENA party had already changed some of the voting laws, like splitting the elections over two separate months, in an effort to slow down the momentum that the opposition FMLN party was gaining. They told us the history leading up to this year's elections, the challenges and hopes their nation had, and they described this election as a crossroads. They then invited us to come and stand with them.

In the moment of that invitation, it was immediately clear to my wife and I that we WERE going. We did not confer with each other, we did not ask any questions, we just knew that we would be there.

We are going because we believe in accompaniment. We believe that relationships are built on and grow through our ability to show up in one anothers lives when something important is happening. Life is not always smooth. There are challenges and bumps along the way. When we are willing to walk with one another, to show up and support each other in the bumps, we know that we do not walk alone.

We will be posting more news and information about the elections as we get it.

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.

Breaking Bread with Friends

El Barial is a village on the top of the mountain in an area known as Ciudad Segundo Montes located in the eastern part of El Salvador. There is a single road leading in and out of El Barial. It is only 1.5 miles long but the incline and the poor condition of the surface cause our micro bus to have to work for over half an hour to climb into the sky and meet with the friends we made there last year.

When we met the people who live in El Barial in 2007, we listened to their stories. We heard how these families were forced from their homes due to the heavy violence in this area during the civil war. We listened as they told us how they had all lost family members, mostly husbands, sons and brothers. We heard them tell us of how they all became refugees in Honduras and what it was like to live together in Refuge Camps in Colomoncagua.

We were very aware of the sadness in the eyes and spirits of these people as they went on to tell us that once the peace accord was signed, they were resettled here, on top of the mountain. There was less violence here at that point and they were safe. Later, they were told they could return to their original homes but since they had been in exile together, had survived together and had learned to live as a community, they choose to stay here, on top of the mountain. The fact that there was no work, limited access to health care and huge challenges as far as nutrition did not change their minds. They choose to stay together as a community. Survivors all.

As they talked last year of their current condition we learned that they lived on corn and salt. We heard that many of the children were suffering from amoebic infection from the water and that malnutrition and illness forced them to bury loved ones regularly. They told us that if they could only get started on a project they knew God would restore hope to their community and they would begin to truly recover from the trauma that the war had left them with.

We met with Miguel Ventura and his wife Evelyn. Miguel had been a Catholic Priest before the war and now he and his wife work with communities like El Barial to start economic and vocational projects so that the communities may become self sustaining and vibrant once again through Christian Based Communities of El Salvador or CEBES. Miguel and Evelyn told us of a project to help the people of El Barial build a bakery and teach them to make and sell cakes. The people of our group set about raising over $3000.00 for this bakery project. We had no idea the impact this would have on this community.

When we returned this year, we saw hope. There were smiles and laughter, happy greetings and a bustling of activity that was absent on our last visit. Something was very different this year. We were welcomed back like old friends and we walked together through this village. When we got to the far side of the village we sat together in a circle and shared the news of both of our villages, El Barial and United States. While I can't recreate the feeling of the day, I can report the facts.

God blessed us in the United States group with the ability to raise the money. It was sent to the community and they bought an oven, work table, trays and pans and went to school to learn the mechanics of running a bakery. The team had been baking for about a month when we arrived. They bake three days and walk it down the mountain in baskets on their heads to sell for three days. They always sell all of what they make. They are currently trying to build the bakery's capacity so that they can make and sell more as they are only covering their costs at this point. Part of the challenge is that they can only walk a limited number of breads down the mountain. They are planning ways to build a bigger facility (they currently rent space in the back of a home). Our friends asked us to consider if we could help with that project and it's estimated $8,000.00 cost. It was a question asked not out of need, but out of cooperation and that motivation was clear and received. We sat and talked for 2 hours and shared stories of hope and joy. It had the feel of a planning session between friends.


As this bakery project has unfolded for the people of El Barial, other signs of hope are springing up. They have established a medical team to educate about boiling water, medications, and immunizations. They have a woman who works as a dentist, another who dispenses medicine and a third who teaches health related issues. There is a standing team now in place for future planning. They are researching how the community can plant other crops so that their diets are more nutritionally balanced. This team is called the Production Team and will help lead their community forward as they learn and grow. They have an education team in place that is very active in making sure that the young children of El Barial are given a solid foundation and seeking to build a scholarship fund so that they can all go on to high school or university. They are looking to get some computers into their school so that the kids will be familiar with them when they move on to higher education levels. They asked us to help them name this bakery that was bringing not only bread, but hope for a future and a sense of pride in their own accomplishments. This project was truly the light they needed to see to begin to move forward again. After some discussion someone suggested Manna. Everyone knew immediately that this was the right name. Bakery Manna. Manna supplied by God so that His people could be sustained in sufficiency while they moved out of exile and toward the promised land. Manna, a true gift from God delivered through the cooperation of peoples who had once been strangers but were now forever connected in friendship and miracles. And then we ate bread, together. Sweet bread that tasted of honey and friendship. Bread that left a distinct aftertaste of the Holy in your mouth. It was a true Communion.


Those are the facts. A miracle of hope. A people given sight of what they are able to accomplish with help from friends and God and the transformative power of that hope. We are not wonderful because we helped, we are called and we are blessed so we responded. The gift the people of El Barial gave us was so much bigger than any dollar amount we gave them, They invited us into their home, shared their stories with us, and trusted that we would return. When we did, we truly saw how great God is. We were witnesses to His healing power and the resiliency of his people. We were able to eat Manna. We could not say that before our visit.

God bless the Bakery Manna. May it continue to be a symbol of hope and a project that not only feeds people stomachs, but also their souls, their hearts and their friendships.


For more pictures of this wonderful day, click here.

Riding for Immigrant Rights

I found this article on a web site called Workers World. It is a great story about one man's journey over many thousands of miles in support of immigrant rights for El Salvadorans. One man's journey could seem insignifigant to some, but could inspire, educate and inform many others. Click here to read the story!