My Christian faith is perhaps my primary motivation to go to El Salvador and my faith will strongly influence the way I see and understand my experiences on this trip. So, I think it is important for me to let you know a little bit about my faith journey and how that affects the way I think about El Salvador.
In my Pastor's wonderful sermon yesterday, he talked about the spiritual continuum and I find this extremely helpful in looking back on my faith journey. It is useful to be able to give names to the various phases of my faith journey, and I hope these phases will help me describe my faith journey to you. The four phases are: exploring Christ, growing in Christ, being close to Christ, and being Christ-centered.
Exploring Christ: I grew up going to Sunday School and church. I was very fortunate to always have two great examples of Christian women in my life- my mom and grandma- and there have been many others along the way who helped me first explore Christ and have helped guide me to where I am today in my faith journey. However, up until about halfway through middle school, God was very low on my list of priorities. Then as I went through Confirmation classes and I learned more, my faith began to take on a more important role in my life. As much as my little teenager mind thought I could do everything by myself, I realized that life was far too difficult, painful, and complex to deal with on my own without God.
Growing in Christ: In high school, I really started in earnest to seek to understand what it means to be a Christian. I fully accepted that Jesus was the path to salvation. When I went away to college, I had so many wonderful opportunities that really allowed my faith to flourish such as Bible studies, retreats, classes, and lots of great friends who challenged me to strengthen my faith. My faith grew. Prayer, reading scripture, and worship became integral parts of my life.
Being close to Christ: Then I began asking "so what?". I found that my faith was "empty" and without much purpose. Sure, it was wonderful to fully believe that God sent Jesus to die on the cross and then rise again for my eternal salvation, but I can remember thinking that there had to be more to Christianity than my personal salvation (by no means am I dismissing how amazing that is!). And there is indeed more to Christianity. It was about this time that I began learning about liberation theology and it changed my life. Liberation theology is a way of thinking about God that began in Latin America in the late 1950s as a response to the extreme poverty and suffering there. Liberation theology teaches us that Jesus is a liberator- he frees us from sin, suffering, injustice, poverty, and anything else that oppresses us and prevents us from being the human persons God intended us to be. In liberation theology, praxis (action and reflection on the connection between that action and scripture) is emphasized over doctrine. So not only does liberation theology assert that the injustices of the world are against God's will and we do not have to accept these injustices, but more importantly liberation theology declares that everyone must take action to address the injustices. While I recognize that liberation theology has its shortcomings (as does any theology), it has offered me a radically different way to think about God, Jesus, my faith, and my role as a Christian.
Especially after learning more and more about liberation theology, I have come to believe that as a Christian, it is my obligation to respond to the love that Jesus showed through his sacrifice on the the cross. Every Christian's response will be different depending on his or her God-given gifts and passions. Being a Christian is much more than just believing- it is acting in ways that Jesus would act. So, I have focused more and more on finding ways to put my faith into action and serving Jesus through serving those in need (see Matthew 25:35-46). I think I will forever be trying to determine exactly how it is that God wants me to serve in the world, but I have no doubt that I am indeed called to be Jesus' hands and feet in this world.
Being Christ-Centered: I feel that perhaps I'm getting closer to being Christ-centered, but I recognize I'm still far from it. I very much would like my relationship with Jesus to be the most important thing in my life, but there are just so many reasons and excuses why I'm not yet able to risk everything and fully surrender my life to God. However, more and more my identity, beliefs, and actions are based exclusively on my relationship with Jesus. My relationship with Jesus has certainly guided me to go on this trip. By no means is going on this trip risking everything, but over the past few days especially I have thought about and felt just how much I am risking and giving up. I'm giving up time, money, all the comforts of home and the comforts of living in the U.S. and I'm risking my safety. I am making sacrifices and stepping out of my comfort zone. I write this not so that you'll think I'm a selfless saint but rather to expose the apprehension and anxiety I'm feeling.
I have felt God tugging on my heart for what feels like forever now to go back to El Salvador- to be with God's people there, to walk with the Salvadorans on their journeys of life and faith, to help where I can, to listen to their stories, and to then bring their stories home and work to address the injustices their stories illustrate. To be perfectly honest, as I'm about to leave on this trip I'm feeling just how hard it is to live a life that is Christ-centered. I'm also sure that during the course of the next 6 weeks my spiritual journey will be challenged even more. The good news is that it's a journey and with God's help I'll keep moving in the right direction which is all that matters.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Finding "Answers" (aka research)
As I mentioned in my previous post , I have a lot of questions about the violence in El Salvador. My pursuit of "answers" has led me to read too many books and articles about violence and specifically violence in El Salvador. The reading has often left me depressed, confused, feeling like my brain is going to explode, and ready to give up, but then I think about the people I met in El Salvador who continue to have hope even after years of living through violence. So, I keep on learning and trying to understand.
However, no matter how hard I think and analyze, there is still so much that just does not make sense to me. I hope that I will be able to understand some things better by talking with Salvadorans whose daily lives are affected by the violence and by "walking in their shoes". I also hope that continuing to read recent academic work on the violence in El Salvador will help. However, I do think that there will always be some things about the violence in El Salvador that I just cannot understand because I am not a Salvadoran and because I am not omnipotent. Despite the complexities and limitations, I'm still passionate about trying to understand the violence and I strongly desire to want to help in some way.
So, my intention is to do my final project for my graduate program (Master of Arts in Social Justice at Loyola) on some aspect of the current violence in El Salvador. For our final project we need to describe a social injustice, explain what social sciences and/or theology has to say about this issue, and then formulate some sort of specific action plan to address the injustice. While I'm in El Salvador I'm going to do some research that will hopefully give me a better framework from which to start this project.
Again and again I find myself jumping to the step of trying to formulate a solution to the violence in El Salvador. Perhaps it is my human nature (or perhaps just my American nature?) that makes me want to help everyone and fix their problems. I have done my best to refrain from trying to create a "solution" when I know that I do not have enough knowledge or understanding to even begin to form a "solution". I am a firm believer in first understanding the context of a situation- "solutions" cannot be created in one context and then just tweaked a little and applied to another context. For example, even what works in one community in El Salvador may not work in the next community, and a "solution" formed in my mind sitting here at my computer in the suburbs is definitely not going to be effective. My aim is to try my best to observe and ask questions on this trip and then give myself some time to analyze what I have observed and learned BEFORE I jump to forming solutions. We'll see how that goes.
I'm very much interested in learning how religious communities are talking about the violence and what they are doing to address the violence. For many, many years, the religious community in El Salvador has been very active in speaking out against the violence and social injustices and taking action to bring attention to the issues and to stop the repression. As a person of faith, I find that the efforts of other people of faith most resonates with what I believe to be effective and meaningful actions to address social injustices such as the violence.
I think that much of my frustration with the reading I have done on violence in El Salvador comes in part because I am struggling to understand how and if the theories and information can best be applied to specific communities of Salvadorans who are suffering because of the violence they experience. By no means do I want to dismiss the importance of academic work and discussions, but there comes a point when the academic becomes meaningless without a practical application. I would like to know to what extent the theories and academic analyses are present and relevant in a specific community of people who are affected by violence.
Therefore, what I'm planning to do this summer is look at how the Lutheran Church in El Salvador is addressing violence. I will be spending a good deal of time shadowing two Lutheran pastors and they have graciously agreed to lend their assistance. I will also seek out information from other leadership in the Church as well as members of the congregations I visit. I will observe and participate in church activities and engage in formal and informal conversations with people. I hope to gain a better understanding of what is being done by the Lutheran Church already and in what ways it is succeeding or failing. I also hope to learn how and why they have implemented the actions they have and how their approach is unique from other efforts to address the violence. Even focusing on the actions of the Lutheran Church to address violence is far too broad for the scope of my research project, so I will need to narrow it down more, but that will come with time (hopefully!).
However, no matter how hard I think and analyze, there is still so much that just does not make sense to me. I hope that I will be able to understand some things better by talking with Salvadorans whose daily lives are affected by the violence and by "walking in their shoes". I also hope that continuing to read recent academic work on the violence in El Salvador will help. However, I do think that there will always be some things about the violence in El Salvador that I just cannot understand because I am not a Salvadoran and because I am not omnipotent. Despite the complexities and limitations, I'm still passionate about trying to understand the violence and I strongly desire to want to help in some way.
So, my intention is to do my final project for my graduate program (Master of Arts in Social Justice at Loyola) on some aspect of the current violence in El Salvador. For our final project we need to describe a social injustice, explain what social sciences and/or theology has to say about this issue, and then formulate some sort of specific action plan to address the injustice. While I'm in El Salvador I'm going to do some research that will hopefully give me a better framework from which to start this project.
Again and again I find myself jumping to the step of trying to formulate a solution to the violence in El Salvador. Perhaps it is my human nature (or perhaps just my American nature?) that makes me want to help everyone and fix their problems. I have done my best to refrain from trying to create a "solution" when I know that I do not have enough knowledge or understanding to even begin to form a "solution". I am a firm believer in first understanding the context of a situation- "solutions" cannot be created in one context and then just tweaked a little and applied to another context. For example, even what works in one community in El Salvador may not work in the next community, and a "solution" formed in my mind sitting here at my computer in the suburbs is definitely not going to be effective. My aim is to try my best to observe and ask questions on this trip and then give myself some time to analyze what I have observed and learned BEFORE I jump to forming solutions. We'll see how that goes.
I'm very much interested in learning how religious communities are talking about the violence and what they are doing to address the violence. For many, many years, the religious community in El Salvador has been very active in speaking out against the violence and social injustices and taking action to bring attention to the issues and to stop the repression. As a person of faith, I find that the efforts of other people of faith most resonates with what I believe to be effective and meaningful actions to address social injustices such as the violence.
I think that much of my frustration with the reading I have done on violence in El Salvador comes in part because I am struggling to understand how and if the theories and information can best be applied to specific communities of Salvadorans who are suffering because of the violence they experience. By no means do I want to dismiss the importance of academic work and discussions, but there comes a point when the academic becomes meaningless without a practical application. I would like to know to what extent the theories and academic analyses are present and relevant in a specific community of people who are affected by violence.
Therefore, what I'm planning to do this summer is look at how the Lutheran Church in El Salvador is addressing violence. I will be spending a good deal of time shadowing two Lutheran pastors and they have graciously agreed to lend their assistance. I will also seek out information from other leadership in the Church as well as members of the congregations I visit. I will observe and participate in church activities and engage in formal and informal conversations with people. I hope to gain a better understanding of what is being done by the Lutheran Church already and in what ways it is succeeding or failing. I also hope to learn how and why they have implemented the actions they have and how their approach is unique from other efforts to address the violence. Even focusing on the actions of the Lutheran Church to address violence is far too broad for the scope of my research project, so I will need to narrow it down more, but that will come with time (hopefully!).
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Isn't there a lot of violence in El Salvador?
In my conversations with people about my trip, the subject of violence almost always comes up. People want to know if it is safe for me to go to El Salvador. This is a difficult subject, and unfortunately, I have to tell people yes, there is violence in El Salvador. I very much appreciate the concern, but I sincerely hope that no one will lose sleep worrying about me. So, here is some information that I hope will put things in perspective and give you some more knowledge.
El Salvador has a violent history and it does indeed continue today. I won't bore you with a full history of El Salvador, so I'll start with the civil war. For those of you who remember the news during late 70s through early 90s, you probably remember hearing about horrific violence in El Salvador. From 1980 until 1992, El Salvador was torn apart by a civil war between the Salvadoran government (backed by the U.S. government) and the Salvadoran guerrilla armed forces. There were a few events that made major international news such as the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the murder of four U.S. churchwomen in 1980, the massacre of the entire village of El Mozote in 1981, and the murder of six Jesuits and their housekeeper and her daughter in 1989.
The war ended with the signing of peace accords in January of 1992, but many Salvadorans and academics have declared that the violence in the past 18 years has been worse than the violence during the war. The murder rate is one of the highest in the world, there is evidence that the "death squads" that were common during the civil war have reemerged, and violent robberies occur far too often. So I along with others have wondered how it can be that there is more violence during a time of "peace" than there was during the war. Shouldn't life be safer, easier, and better now that the war is over? Did anything actually change as a result of the war in which thousands gave up their lives fighting for a more just society? Furthermore, what can be done to stop violence in a time when there should be peace? There are obviously no simple answers to these questions, but I'm nevertheless searching for whatever portion of an answer I can find.
The war ended with the signing of peace accords in January of 1992, but many Salvadorans and academics have declared that the violence in the past 18 years has been worse than the violence during the war. The murder rate is one of the highest in the world, there is evidence that the "death squads" that were common during the civil war have reemerged, and violent robberies occur far too often. So I along with others have wondered how it can be that there is more violence during a time of "peace" than there was during the war. Shouldn't life be safer, easier, and better now that the war is over? Did anything actually change as a result of the war in which thousands gave up their lives fighting for a more just society? Furthermore, what can be done to stop violence in a time when there should be peace? There are obviously no simple answers to these questions, but I'm nevertheless searching for whatever portion of an answer I can find.
The Salvadoran government, media, and society in general have focused on the violence caused by the gangs over the past twenty years. The growth of gangs in El Salvador can be traced back the civil war. During the war thousands and thousands of Salvadorans migrated to the United States to escape the war. Many settled in the Los Angeles area, and it was there that the Salvadorans learned about and got involved with the U.S. gang culture. After the war, some Salvadorans returned voluntarily while others were deported. Most who were involved with gangs in the U.S. brought their gang culture back to El Salvador with them and gangs in El Salvador have grown drastically. The drug trade does play a role in the gangs in El Salvador, but not to the great extent that it does in countries such as Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico. Much of the gang violence in El Salvador is the result of conflict over territory or recruiting members.
Blaming the violence on the gangs has provided the Salvadorans with a way to understand the violence in a time of "peace", but blaming the violence on the gangs has also given the government an easy way to escape the blame that the government leaders deserve. During the civil war, violence was blamed on a conflict of politics, and now the government is trying to assert that the violence is not political. However, in many instances the root causes of the violence today in El Salvador are very much linked to the political structure as well as the economic and social structures.
The Salvadoran government has made significant efforts to try to reduce the gang violence, but the government is dealing with the symptoms and not the causes. The police and more recently the military have tried to crack down on gang violence, but the anti-gang laws have essentially made it illegal to be a young person. No matter how successful the police and military are in finding gang members, jailing them, and punishing them for the crimes they have committed, the violence will continue because it is just not realistic to think that they can eliminate all the gang members. Hardly any resources have been devoted to try to prevent young people from joining gangs and little has been done to help those who want to leave gangs.
With all the focus on gang violence the root causes of gang violence tend to be ignored. What I believe the to be the root causes of gang violence are in fact other forms of violence especially structural violence (i.e. violence that is caused by injustices in the political, economic, and social structures in a society). A lack of family support pushes youth to join gangs in order to have the physical and emotional support of the gang. The economic inequality prevents youth from having any significant chance of finding meaningful employment so they have no other choice but to join a gang. The great social inequality between those in power and the majority of Salvadorans has also created people who are searching for belonging in a society where they are excluded by those in power. Joining a gang provides accesses to a sense of belonging and a sense of power of that comes as a result of joining a group such as a gang. The repressive anti-gang laws have done very little to address the violence and in fact some people argue that the anti-gang laws have only made things worse.
Clearly there are many variables involved in the violence in El Salvador. I hope that I managed to sum things up well. In my next post I'm going to tell you about the research I'm planning to do while I'm in El Salvador to try to better understand the violence and what can be done to reduce it.
My safety and the safety of my friends will constantly be at least at the back of my mind during my trip. I will indeed take proactive steps to minimize the chances that I will be a victim of violence such as not carrying around valuables, not going out late at night, and traveling around with Salvadorans. My status as a foreigner and specifically as someone from the U.S. will protect me in some ways and make me more vulnerable in other ways. Nevertheless, there is only so much I can do to protect myself. There comes a point when I just need to put things in God's hands and trust. Of course this is much easier said than done, but I anticipate that I will grow in my ability and need to put my full trust in God.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
All about El Salvador
Here are some random facts about El Salvador that I hope will give you a better picture of where I'm off to.
• El Salvador has a population of about 7 million people, about 2 million Salvadorans live in the United States
• The capital city (San Salvador) has a population of about 2 million
• In 2001, El Salvador began using the U.S. dollar as their currency
• Unemployment is high- about 20%-45% depending on who you talk to and how you classify unemployment
• Over the past few decades El Salvador has tried to improve its economy through increasing trade with other countries- they are a member of the Central American Free Trade Agreement along with the U.S., Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic
• A few wealthy benefit from the increased trade, but poverty rates are still high and some argue that separation between the rich and poor is getting larger
• Spanish is the official language
• El Salvador is bordered by Guatemala to the west, Honduras to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south
• El Salvador is about the size of Massachusetts
• There are beautiful mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes
• El Salvador is prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and flooding
• The climate is tropical. There is a dry season (November through April) and a wet season (May through October). During the wet season it typically rains/thunderstorms in the afternoon/evening. The temperature doesn’t vary much over the year- it is pretty much hot all year long (80s-90s).
• Outside of San Salvador and the “suburbs” surrounding it, El Salvador is a very rural country
• About 50% of Salvadorans identify themselves as Catholic and 38% identify themselves as Protestant
• El Salvador has a president, a legislative assembly, and a supreme court. There are five major political parties that help shape El Salvador’s political landscape.
• The Spanish arrived in the early 1500s, El Salvador declared independence from Spain in 1821, and became an independent republic in 1838
• About 90% of the population is mestizo (a mix between Spanish and indigenous)
• There was a civil war from 1980-1992, about 75,000 people died in the civil war
If you are looking for some news updates on what is going on in El Salvador, my favorite source of info is Tim's El Salvador blog. This blog has good updates on news in El Salvador and some great commentary on current events.
• El Salvador has a population of about 7 million people, about 2 million Salvadorans live in the United States
• The capital city (San Salvador) has a population of about 2 million
• In 2001, El Salvador began using the U.S. dollar as their currency
• Unemployment is high- about 20%-45% depending on who you talk to and how you classify unemployment
• Over the past few decades El Salvador has tried to improve its economy through increasing trade with other countries- they are a member of the Central American Free Trade Agreement along with the U.S., Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic
• A few wealthy benefit from the increased trade, but poverty rates are still high and some argue that separation between the rich and poor is getting larger
• Spanish is the official language
• El Salvador is bordered by Guatemala to the west, Honduras to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the south
• El Salvador is about the size of Massachusetts
• There are beautiful mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes
• El Salvador is prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and flooding
• The climate is tropical. There is a dry season (November through April) and a wet season (May through October). During the wet season it typically rains/thunderstorms in the afternoon/evening. The temperature doesn’t vary much over the year- it is pretty much hot all year long (80s-90s).
• Outside of San Salvador and the “suburbs” surrounding it, El Salvador is a very rural country
• About 50% of Salvadorans identify themselves as Catholic and 38% identify themselves as Protestant
• El Salvador has a president, a legislative assembly, and a supreme court. There are five major political parties that help shape El Salvador’s political landscape.
• The Spanish arrived in the early 1500s, El Salvador declared independence from Spain in 1821, and became an independent republic in 1838
• About 90% of the population is mestizo (a mix between Spanish and indigenous)
• There was a civil war from 1980-1992, about 75,000 people died in the civil war
If you are looking for some news updates on what is going on in El Salvador, my favorite source of info is Tim's El Salvador blog. This blog has good updates on news in El Salvador and some great commentary on current events.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Why am I going to El Salvador?
There are of course a lot of reasons why I'm going to El Salvador, and I'll do my best to explain my reasoning here. This trip will be my second trip to El Salvador. On my spring break in 2009, I went to El Salvador for about a week. I fell in love with the places I visited, with the mountains, and most importantly with the people I met. Even before I left El Salvador, I began thinking about when I would be able to return. So, for more than a year I have been thinking about and anticipating returning to El Salvador. I don't think a day has gone by when I have not thought about something at least partially related to El Salvador. Needless to say, I am VERY excited for this trip!
My interest in the country and people of El Salvador began when I took a Latin American history class at Augustana. In this class, we read and learned about the violent history of El Salvador. From a purely academic standpoint, there are so many interesting issues in El Salvador both past and present, but my interest has gone beyond the academic. At first I was able to remain emotionally detached from the stories I read and the information I learned. Of course I was saddened and horrified, by the violence I learned about, but for a while the stories and information were abstract and without a context or connection that was meaningful to me. However, it wasn't long before my emotional and spiritual sides took over and I allowed myself to recognize that the Salvadorans that I was reading about were indeed real people who suffered greatly. Slowly at first and then with more intensity than I would have liked, I connected with the people I read and learned about.
There were two things in particular that made the connection between me and the Salvadorans. The first was learning about the role the U.S. played in the violence of the civil war in El Salvador (1980-1992). The U.S. provided weapons and significant funding to the Salvadoran government which killed thousands and thousands of civilians during the civil war. While it wasn't specifically my tax dollars that were sent to the Salvadoran government, I still feel that in some way I am partially responsible for the atrocities committed by the Salvadoran government. Once I learned that my country has had and continues to have a significant impact on what happens in El Salvador, I no longer felt like I was disconnected from El Salvador. Even if the connection is indirect and unintentional, it is nevertheless a connection that I could not ignore.
The second aspect of connection was learning that young people, especially college students, were some of the main targets of the Salvadoran government's oppression and violence during the civil war. In general, students tend to be optimistic, energetic, willing to take risks, and aren't afraid to speak their mind. This was especially the case in El Salvador around the time of the civil war when students were very active in speaking out against the oppression and violence of the government. For speaking their mind and standing up for what was right, they were threatened, raped, disappeared, and murdered along with many others. I identified with the students because I too am a student, a young person with hopes for a better world, one who isn't ready to accept that things have to be the way they are because those with power say that's the way things have to be. I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be a student in El Salvador during the 70s and 80s. I questioned why it was them and not me.
These connections I made with the Salvadorans I had read about led to all sorts of theological and philosophical debates in my head. As much as I would have liked to forget about the violence and suffering in El Salvador, I felt an intense desire to know more, to deepen the connection. I found myself trying to learn as much as I could about El Salvador. I read and read and read...but at this point the connection I had with the people of El Salvador was strong but still without that real personal connection.
This is where I need to give credit to my friend Julie for fostering my love for El Salvador. It would be difficult to be friends with Julie and not be influenced by her passion and love for El Salvador. Since I first got to know her, I have heard stories about her experiences in El Salvador and from these stories it was very clear that it was the people she knew in El Salvador that gave her that passion. So, when I had the opportunity to go with Julie on a spring break trip last year, I went. It was then that El Salvador became real to me. I visited places I had read about and met people who had lived through the violence of the civil war and continue to live through the struggles of life in El Salvador. No longer was El Salvador an abstract, distant place. The things I had read about now had a context- a very personal context. It is this personal connection that draws me back to El Salvador.
My interest in the country and people of El Salvador began when I took a Latin American history class at Augustana. In this class, we read and learned about the violent history of El Salvador. From a purely academic standpoint, there are so many interesting issues in El Salvador both past and present, but my interest has gone beyond the academic. At first I was able to remain emotionally detached from the stories I read and the information I learned. Of course I was saddened and horrified, by the violence I learned about, but for a while the stories and information were abstract and without a context or connection that was meaningful to me. However, it wasn't long before my emotional and spiritual sides took over and I allowed myself to recognize that the Salvadorans that I was reading about were indeed real people who suffered greatly. Slowly at first and then with more intensity than I would have liked, I connected with the people I read and learned about.
There were two things in particular that made the connection between me and the Salvadorans. The first was learning about the role the U.S. played in the violence of the civil war in El Salvador (1980-1992). The U.S. provided weapons and significant funding to the Salvadoran government which killed thousands and thousands of civilians during the civil war. While it wasn't specifically my tax dollars that were sent to the Salvadoran government, I still feel that in some way I am partially responsible for the atrocities committed by the Salvadoran government. Once I learned that my country has had and continues to have a significant impact on what happens in El Salvador, I no longer felt like I was disconnected from El Salvador. Even if the connection is indirect and unintentional, it is nevertheless a connection that I could not ignore.
The second aspect of connection was learning that young people, especially college students, were some of the main targets of the Salvadoran government's oppression and violence during the civil war. In general, students tend to be optimistic, energetic, willing to take risks, and aren't afraid to speak their mind. This was especially the case in El Salvador around the time of the civil war when students were very active in speaking out against the oppression and violence of the government. For speaking their mind and standing up for what was right, they were threatened, raped, disappeared, and murdered along with many others. I identified with the students because I too am a student, a young person with hopes for a better world, one who isn't ready to accept that things have to be the way they are because those with power say that's the way things have to be. I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be a student in El Salvador during the 70s and 80s. I questioned why it was them and not me.
These connections I made with the Salvadorans I had read about led to all sorts of theological and philosophical debates in my head. As much as I would have liked to forget about the violence and suffering in El Salvador, I felt an intense desire to know more, to deepen the connection. I found myself trying to learn as much as I could about El Salvador. I read and read and read...but at this point the connection I had with the people of El Salvador was strong but still without that real personal connection.
This is where I need to give credit to my friend Julie for fostering my love for El Salvador. It would be difficult to be friends with Julie and not be influenced by her passion and love for El Salvador. Since I first got to know her, I have heard stories about her experiences in El Salvador and from these stories it was very clear that it was the people she knew in El Salvador that gave her that passion. So, when I had the opportunity to go with Julie on a spring break trip last year, I went. It was then that El Salvador became real to me. I visited places I had read about and met people who had lived through the violence of the civil war and continue to live through the struggles of life in El Salvador. No longer was El Salvador an abstract, distant place. The things I had read about now had a context- a very personal context. It is this personal connection that draws me back to El Salvador.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Basics of My Trip
Here are the basic plans I have for my trip so far (these plans are subject to change!).
On June 3rd, I will fly to San Salvador which is the capital city of El Salvador. For about the first two weeks, I will be staying at the house of two amazing Lutheran pastors, Pastor Matias and Pastor Martina (more about them later). They live in a city called Apopa which is a good sized city pretty close to San Salvador.
My wonderful friend Julie is coming on June 14th, and she will be there a few more days than I will be there. After that, I will be staying mostly at the Casa Concordia which is the Lutheran guest house in San Salvador. A variety of people stay at the Casa Concordia including Salvadoran students attending university, refugees, visitors and missionaries from the U.S., Germany, and other countries, and the wonderful family that takes care of all the guests at the Casa Concordia. Another wonderful friend, Amanda, will be joining us for about ten days from July 8- July 18th. Amanda and I will fly home together.
As for my activities while I'm in El Salvador… I plan to:
• Shadow Pastor Martina and Pastor Matias and hopefully learn from their leadership, their strong faith, and their dedication to the people they pastor in the five rural congregations they serve
• Help at a day shelter for the homeless- Casa Esperanza (Hope House) provides a meal, some medical treatment, and a safe place for homeless men to be in one of the poorest areas of San Salvador
• Do some "tourist" things. I wouldn’t really classify El Salvador as a tourist destination, but there are tourist things like markets to go shopping in and museums and historical sites to visit.
• Teach a few English classes
• Try to improve my Spanish speaking and listening skills. I’m hoping that having a good stretch of time where I HAVE to speak Spanish will help.
• Play with beautiful children.
• Do some research (more on this in another post)
• Eat delicious food. The food staples in El Salvador are corn tortillas and beans which is just fine with me- I'm sure that I'll be sharing more about the food once I'm there.
• Worship in some beautiful churches with some great Lutherans
• Learn more about the life stories of the Salvadorans I know and those I will meet
• Spend time with some great friends
• Take too many pictures. I will share some with you through my blog!
As you might be able to tell, I don't have a lot of specific plans for what I'll be doing on my trip, but this is intentional on my part. My main goal for this trip is to gain a better understanding of the struggles and joys that Salvadorans experience daily. I want to first understand what life is like for Salvadorans and to understand the injustices and difficulties they face. My ultimate goal is to determine ways in which I might be able to take action to make life better for my Salvadoran friends and those like them, but understanding their lives is the first step. I believe that such a goal can best be accomplished by forming relationships, "going with the flow," and simply being with Salvadorans in their "normal" everyday lives. More than learning data and information, it is forming relationships with Salvadorans that I believe will be the key to understanding the issues facing Salvadorans and how I can best take action to reduce the injustices in El Salvador. The first action is this trip which I see as an opportunity for me to walk along with my fellow sisters and brothers through their sorrows as well as their celebrations.
On June 3rd, I will fly to San Salvador which is the capital city of El Salvador. For about the first two weeks, I will be staying at the house of two amazing Lutheran pastors, Pastor Matias and Pastor Martina (more about them later). They live in a city called Apopa which is a good sized city pretty close to San Salvador.
My wonderful friend Julie is coming on June 14th, and she will be there a few more days than I will be there. After that, I will be staying mostly at the Casa Concordia which is the Lutheran guest house in San Salvador. A variety of people stay at the Casa Concordia including Salvadoran students attending university, refugees, visitors and missionaries from the U.S., Germany, and other countries, and the wonderful family that takes care of all the guests at the Casa Concordia. Another wonderful friend, Amanda, will be joining us for about ten days from July 8- July 18th. Amanda and I will fly home together.
As for my activities while I'm in El Salvador… I plan to:
• Shadow Pastor Martina and Pastor Matias and hopefully learn from their leadership, their strong faith, and their dedication to the people they pastor in the five rural congregations they serve
• Help at a day shelter for the homeless- Casa Esperanza (Hope House) provides a meal, some medical treatment, and a safe place for homeless men to be in one of the poorest areas of San Salvador
• Do some "tourist" things. I wouldn’t really classify El Salvador as a tourist destination, but there are tourist things like markets to go shopping in and museums and historical sites to visit.
• Teach a few English classes
• Try to improve my Spanish speaking and listening skills. I’m hoping that having a good stretch of time where I HAVE to speak Spanish will help.
• Play with beautiful children.
• Do some research (more on this in another post)
• Eat delicious food. The food staples in El Salvador are corn tortillas and beans which is just fine with me- I'm sure that I'll be sharing more about the food once I'm there.
• Worship in some beautiful churches with some great Lutherans
• Learn more about the life stories of the Salvadorans I know and those I will meet
• Spend time with some great friends
• Take too many pictures. I will share some with you through my blog!
As you might be able to tell, I don't have a lot of specific plans for what I'll be doing on my trip, but this is intentional on my part. My main goal for this trip is to gain a better understanding of the struggles and joys that Salvadorans experience daily. I want to first understand what life is like for Salvadorans and to understand the injustices and difficulties they face. My ultimate goal is to determine ways in which I might be able to take action to make life better for my Salvadoran friends and those like them, but understanding their lives is the first step. I believe that such a goal can best be accomplished by forming relationships, "going with the flow," and simply being with Salvadorans in their "normal" everyday lives. More than learning data and information, it is forming relationships with Salvadorans that I believe will be the key to understanding the issues facing Salvadorans and how I can best take action to reduce the injustices in El Salvador. The first action is this trip which I see as an opportunity for me to walk along with my fellow sisters and brothers through their sorrows as well as their celebrations.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
I started a blog!
I have been wanting to start a blog for quite a while...and here it finally is!
I hope that you will enjoy reading about my activities, thoughts, and reflections. I also hope that this can be a place of conversation- I hope you will leave me comments to let me know what you think about what you are reading and to ask any questions you might have.
My main purpose in starting this blog is to keep my friends and family updated on my upcoming trip to El Salvador. I'll be leaving June 3rd and returning July 18th. Over the next few weeks I'll be posting all the details about why I'm going, what I'll be doing, etc. While I'm in El Salvador I'm going to do my best to try to post as often as I can to let you know how I'm doing and what I'm doing and learning. When I return from El Salvador, I will continue to post as I debrief from my trip. Then it is my intention to continue updating my blog as I return to school in the fall and through whatever comes next.
My main purpose in starting this blog is to keep my friends and family updated on my upcoming trip to El Salvador. I'll be leaving June 3rd and returning July 18th. Over the next few weeks I'll be posting all the details about why I'm going, what I'll be doing, etc. While I'm in El Salvador I'm going to do my best to try to post as often as I can to let you know how I'm doing and what I'm doing and learning. When I return from El Salvador, I will continue to post as I debrief from my trip. Then it is my intention to continue updating my blog as I return to school in the fall and through whatever comes next.
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