heading home...

Pots and pans clanking in the kitchen, smells of tamales wafting up the stairs and the water pump has begun its insistent cycling, pumping water up to the tinaco on the roof.  The morning of our last day in El Salvador sees everyone trying to find the last clean shirt and socks, packing bags, and generally fiddling with whatever is at hand as we each wrestle with the mixture of sadness of leaving this wonderful country and its people and excited anticipation of returning home to friends and family.


After breakfast and before leaving for the airport, we'll be heading out to UCA (the Universidad CentroAmericana) - the site of the assassination of eight Jesuits (including six priests/scholars) on November 16, 1989 by the Atlacatl Battalion in El Salvador's 12-year-long civil war.  Only two of the officers involved were ever brought to justice.  The incident was a climax in the conflict and helped focus international attention, helping to set the stage for the agreement signed three years later in Chapultapec Castle, Mexico which brought an end to the war and allowed the Salvadoran people to begin the long road to recovery.

That road is far from over and we have seen and heard countless testimonies to the persisting scars that people in the countryside are still dealing with today.  San Salvador today is overflowing with shops, taxis, Pizza Huts and Mr. Doughnuts but the challenges, both urban and rural, continue.  Poverty and economic injustice remain amongst the greatest challenges with which the church wrestles.  To these chronic societal illnesses have been added the twin plagues of crime and gang violence (exported from the U.S. with young deportees).  As they face this challenge the Lutheran Church has adopted the lema "No a la violencia, Si a la vida" (No to violence, Yes to life).  It's a slogan we have heard repeatedly and one we must take to heart as we continue engagement with our sisters and brothers here in our Christian walk of accompaniment.

CL-O

Thursday, Aug 4 - Fe y Esperanza

I was encouraged by the agricultural school at the Church of Faith and Hope, Iglesia Fe y Esperanza.  Drawing from three different local communities and led by an agronomy expert, this school is a living laboratory teaching sustainable organic farming through hands-on learning.  The people grow corn, tomatoes, papayas, and other crops using hand-made compost and organic liquid fertilizer made on site.  At mid-day, we were treated to a lunch that featured produce grown on their farm.  I was encouraged by the communities' devotion to smart, sustainable farming methods that don't rely on chemical fertilizer.  I felt excited by the communities' excitement as they shared with us their project and their hope for the future.  Once again, I was touched by the warmth of the communities' welcome and the bond of Christian fellowship we quickly formed.  I realized again how privileged our Metro DC synod is to walk with them in the solidarity of our faith, a faith that unites all of us together with Christ, a faith that strengthens us and gives us all hope as we accompany each other in our faith journeys.
Jeff Carstens

Wednesday at the Wall

I was very moved seeing the memorial wall for the victims of the civil war from the 1970s through 1991.  It is a wall similar to our Vietnam Veteran's memorial, except the majority of the names on this wall were civilians.  There is a section for each year of the war for the confirmed dead and a section for the missing men and women.  All the victims are listed together, with no distinction for Archbishop Romero, the Jesuit priests killed, and the North American nuns.  I was moved seeing the 3 sections of the names of the disappeared and killed and the two massacre locations that occurred during the year I was born-- 1988.  The experience was even more powerful because Pastor Rafael was with us and pointed out the names of his family members and told us his family's story during the war.


Since the civil conflict is so central in understanding El Salvador, I am grateful for the opportunity to visualize the number of civilian deaths and see how it is possible for every Salvadorean to have lost someone in the conflict.

Jen

Thursday, Aug 4 - Fe y Esperanza

Thursday morning brought our group to the Fe y Esperanza church and agricultural school. Fe y Esperanza is Church property in the countryside with considerable history. Initially established as a camp for internally displaced persons seeking refuge from the civil war, the small group of buildings and surrounding fields originally hosted eating facilities, a school, clinic, and other services. Since that time it has also served as a orphanage and study center. Today it is the seat of the Lutheran church by the same name which ministers to the communities of La Granja (“the farm”) and El Ferrocarril (“the railroad”) and attempts to draw the communities with their divergent needs and histories closer together. Of particular interest to our visit, though, Fe y Esperanza also hosts an agricultural training facility sponsored by the Lutheran Church in El Salvador, focusing on sustainable organic farming techniques.

Our visit began with a brief fellowship and discussion in the church building. Pastor Santiago Rodriguez and the agricultural engineer (the latter takes this on as an additional ministry beyond his position with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization) who together oversee the training project led introduction and a charla (chat) on environmental/development issues, reviewing both the history of Fe y Esperanza and the agricultural mission and its relevance to the communities. The talks had a particular focus on the youth and the future. Some 20-30 folks were present from the communities. All of us had the chance to share our anecdotes and relevant experiences.

After the discussion we broke into groups (mixing community and delegation members) to work on several tasks in the field. Clearly with our limited time at Fe y Esperanza, our work was largely symbolic but, even so, it had a significant impact (on us). Some of us headed out to the field to prepare the ground for the planting of young banana (guineo) plants (hijos). Others worked with shovels to turn pungent compost. Still others worked preparing a fragrant brew of bio-fermenting agent or liquid fertilizer (cow manure, milk whey, yeast, water, molasses, ash and charcoal) . For the Washington delegation, the technical aspects were both fascinating and educational. More importantly, however, sharing sweat equity, elbow-deep in manure or knee-deep in dirt and mud, afforded a unique fellowship that left all laughing and smiling with a special intimacy perhaps unique to such odoriferous labors.

After some scrubbing up (more diligent for some of us with greater need) we shared some songs, a prayer and some wonderful vegetable soup with ingredients new to most of the delegation. The soup was followed by Pollo Campero brought in from a fried chicken outlet in the city. In addition to the Fe y Esperanza leadership, many of the youngest children sat down with us to share the meal affording us a special treat as we laughed and joked through lunch.

As the meal concluded we shared a few more songs (including the song sombrero azul with some pointedly anti-Yankee lyrics) and more background from Pastor Abelina Centano de Gomez (wife of the Bishop) on youth and other programs. A police officer (the national police have established an office at Fe y Esperanza giving the communities added security) shared a few words on his officers’ involvement as well. Before leaving we had the opportunity to buy a few handicrafts made by the youth at the school. All too soon, though, we were sharing hugs and final teasing and a few last photos as we boarded the bus for the long trip back to San Salvador.