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.
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