This will be the final comments on this trip. The weekend of Feb 15-16 is the time when the Padre says several Masses in the Chalatenango Department. He helps a priest in a town called La Reina. The responsibility of the parish priests is to not only say Mass at the large church in these town but to also say Mass at many very small churches that are dotted all around the mountains near the town.
There are so many people that are spread out around the mountainsides. There are not necessarily little towns but just areas were you just see a church and you may see a public school. Both the churches and the schools are small. The schools usually only go to the 6th grade if they are lucky, which is another problem. The roads to these areas are always dirt and winding and usually going up the side of the mountains. They are usually one lane so that if a car comes in the other direction you have to find a way to pull off to the side. The trips are not so bad in the now dry season but clearly this becomes more of a problem as the rainy season approaches and the roads get muddy and some areas are washed out by the streams crossing the roads.
Into this environment the Padre usually says 2 Masses on Saturdays and 3 on Sundays. Even though it is sometimes difficult to get to these churches I really think that the Padre is at his best when he is among the very poor. He greets them all and usually engages them in the homilies. I just wish my Spanish was better.
Many times after Mass he is invited to dinner at one of the parishioners homes. They are always so happy to have him. That is one thing, the Padre will never go hungry. Everyone wants to feed him. Of course there are the usual people that need a ride back to their homes and so the back of the Padre's pickup truck is usually dotted with 4 or 5 people. You then realize that the majority of the people at the Masses have walked there. Some close by but others maybe a mile or two away. That is the importance of the Mass to many of these people.
This particular weekend the Padre had a baptism back at La Reina. This very poor lady had a child and was accompanied by her grandmother and brother. The Padre and Marta, the principal at the colegio, were to be godparents as well. So this was done before we left to return to Aqua Caliente on Sunday night.
We stayed at the colegio on Monday and I worked on the installation of the computers I mentioned above as well as work with Jicela on making sure we were set for the trip to La Libertad for Tuesday. That trip is to take 50 people to have their eyes checked and fitted for glasses and to take the three people that needed eye surgery. All was set up and the mayor of the town was nice enough to pay for the bus to take these people to La Libertad, a trip that takes about 3 hours. So we saved $225. Thank you Mr. Mayor! Actually the Padre says he is a fairly good guy. The plan was to leave bright and early on Tuesday morning at 4:00 AM. It was decided that Jicela would be the chaperone and it was decided that I would return to San Salvador with the Padre that evening.
Tuesday we spent most of the day with EyeCare International in La Libertad. All went well. Our group arrived at about 8 AM and about 40 of the people were fitted with glasses. The 3 that needed surgeries was performed and they needed to stay overnight. We arranged to have them picked up on Wednesday and brought back to Aqua Caliente. I returned to San Salvador with the Padre and later found out that our bus was in a minor accident after it broke down on the way back to Aqua Caliente. Jicela handled it well but the trip took about 7 hours in total as they had to get another bus to go back home.
On Thursday we were back at the colegio. This was my final day on this trip. The new plugs were being installed for the new computers and Jicela had each of them changed to Spanish by a guy that owns an Internet Cafe in town. He really liked these computers. Finally Jicela and I had wanted to start a PTA in the school if possible. She had had a meeting of a group of interested parents a few weeks before, so this was the second meeting. There were about 10 parents that attended. This is a somewhat new idea for the colegio. My thought is that we should try to involve the parents in the activities of the school and ask them to help to make the school the best possible. What are their ideas to make it better? So there was a spirited debate and it was decided that they would help the school get the money necessary to start up a band. I guess this is something the kids really wanted and so far they had raised $800 towards this goal. They will need at least $500 more to get it started. So the idea of a raffle was brought up. Ok, what to raffle off? It was decided to try and get a farmer to donate a cow to raffle off. They also wanted to sell some food at an upcoming festival in town. So that is where it stands as of this date. Did they get the cow? I do now know. They seem to think they would.
I found the meeting rewarding because of the engagement of the parents. I loved hearing about their ideas and it just fits into my believe that where possible we are giving them a hand up instead of a hand out. I hope the PTA is just the beginning of many things they want to do to improve the quality of the school. I will let you know how this all pans out in future blogs.
Finally I had a nice meeting with the teachers and said goodbye for now. So it was time to drive back to San Salvador that evening. On the way we had to stop at a small little house to pick up Alicia. She is the 35 year old lady that lives in the Padre's house and takes care of the children and cooks all meals. This evening she was visiting the house were she grew up and where her 14 year old daughter Katherine was born. We were offered good food and picked her up. What struck me was what poor circumstances Alicia had grown up in and where Katherine was born. It was as poor of a house as I had seen way up the mountains on my first trip. Just three rooms made out of adobe, dirt floor and an open fire room where all meals were cooked. The padre says they have lived there for 30 years and just last year had electricity put in. Some deal with the Mayor again. So once again I saw a place there the Padre had taken a young lady out of dire circumstances and helped her get an education. And of course a much better life and opportunity for her daughter Katherine. I thought that if the Padre could do this about 5 million more times in this country he would be one happy man. It was very emotional to me to better understand the life of Alicia.
So Friday came and off I went back to the cold North. It was about 95 degrees in Aqua Caliente on Thursday. What a change!
So I hope you have enjoyed the information about my most recent trip. Lots of opportunities to work on once I am back home. We will see what develops. Any people that would like to help, please give me a call. Everyone has talents that could mean so much to the great people of El Salvador.
Peace,
Jim Nugent
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
El Salvador Mission 2014- Feb 12 thru Feb 14th
Following the eye care event on Feb 11 we stayed at the Padre's house on Tuesday night. The following morning it was off to Aqua Caliente bright and early. The trip takes about 2 hours and so we arrived just in time for the weekly Mass. All children and teachers gathered in the large open conference building and the Padre conducted the Mass.
The rest of the day was spent reviewing the continued progress of the new Pilgrim House and I had time to spend in a few of the English classes. The rest of time was spent working with Jicela on many projects we are discussing. One of them was determining if we should put internet into the computer room. Currently there is Wi-Fi wireless at and near the principal's office but not in the computer room. Both Jicela and I feel we need to take this step and are in the process of convincing the Padre that he needs to spend the $30.00 month especially now that we have the 9 computers from Bishop Hartley. We will continue to work on justifying it. Once we do this or even before it will be so important to determine the best way to use these new computers. What should the curriculum be? Any help would be appreciated in this area. Give me a call.
There are also 2 young men about 22 and a boy about 12 that the Padre has allowed to live at the colegio. This is because they live very far away and come from very poor circumstances. The goal of the older two is to go to college or a technical college. In the meantime he has them do a little work around the school for room and board. The young boy is in the 8th grade and he is allowed to go to the school free.
This situation is so common for the Padre. If he sees a need and a willingness to try he is right there helping fulfill there dreams. He is always looking for sponsors for young men like these. Actually the public university in San Salvador is almost free. That is the good thing. The cost come in for books, lodging, food and transportation it they are going back to the rural areas on the weekends.
It is good that this country provides this type of training. I do not know the quality but it is some additional education for these young but poor men and women. Let me know if you would like to help and we can assign a person to you and watch that person grow and hopefully lead the new generation into a more productive time for this country.
On Friday it was time to take the director and another person to Chaletenango to review the site for the possibility of having their Eye Care International come to that city in 2015. We picked them up in La Libertad and spent most of the day with them. We looked at facilities of the Catholic Diocese to examine most of the patients and the retreat area that could house up to 45 people during the two week stay. After that we visited the Clinic started by the Padre and finally the local area hospital. This is a government run hospital and is for the local people of the area. The city of Chaletenango has a population of about 40,000. The hospital has 100 beds. The idea here is that this could be the place to have the eye surgeries. The director was very accommodating and was happy to see that this group might come because of need. The hospital is fairly clean but dark. There appeared to be no air conditioning in the patient rooms. The director was really trying to help in any way he could. He said the hospital has many needs that are slow in coming.
The eye people seemed please with the accommodations in all aspects of this trip and so they will decide in the next few months whether Chalatenango is the place for next year. Keep your fingers crossed. The need exists in this area. So we can at least try and help 5000 of them during that two week period of time.
We got back to El Salvador late but happy with our accomplishment for the day. The weekend is next. That is the time for the padre to say Masses in many of the small towns that dot the countryside of Chaltenango Department.
The rest of the day was spent reviewing the continued progress of the new Pilgrim House and I had time to spend in a few of the English classes. The rest of time was spent working with Jicela on many projects we are discussing. One of them was determining if we should put internet into the computer room. Currently there is Wi-Fi wireless at and near the principal's office but not in the computer room. Both Jicela and I feel we need to take this step and are in the process of convincing the Padre that he needs to spend the $30.00 month especially now that we have the 9 computers from Bishop Hartley. We will continue to work on justifying it. Once we do this or even before it will be so important to determine the best way to use these new computers. What should the curriculum be? Any help would be appreciated in this area. Give me a call.
There are also 2 young men about 22 and a boy about 12 that the Padre has allowed to live at the colegio. This is because they live very far away and come from very poor circumstances. The goal of the older two is to go to college or a technical college. In the meantime he has them do a little work around the school for room and board. The young boy is in the 8th grade and he is allowed to go to the school free.
This situation is so common for the Padre. If he sees a need and a willingness to try he is right there helping fulfill there dreams. He is always looking for sponsors for young men like these. Actually the public university in San Salvador is almost free. That is the good thing. The cost come in for books, lodging, food and transportation it they are going back to the rural areas on the weekends.
It is good that this country provides this type of training. I do not know the quality but it is some additional education for these young but poor men and women. Let me know if you would like to help and we can assign a person to you and watch that person grow and hopefully lead the new generation into a more productive time for this country.
On Friday it was time to take the director and another person to Chaletenango to review the site for the possibility of having their Eye Care International come to that city in 2015. We picked them up in La Libertad and spent most of the day with them. We looked at facilities of the Catholic Diocese to examine most of the patients and the retreat area that could house up to 45 people during the two week stay. After that we visited the Clinic started by the Padre and finally the local area hospital. This is a government run hospital and is for the local people of the area. The city of Chaletenango has a population of about 40,000. The hospital has 100 beds. The idea here is that this could be the place to have the eye surgeries. The director was very accommodating and was happy to see that this group might come because of need. The hospital is fairly clean but dark. There appeared to be no air conditioning in the patient rooms. The director was really trying to help in any way he could. He said the hospital has many needs that are slow in coming.
The eye people seemed please with the accommodations in all aspects of this trip and so they will decide in the next few months whether Chalatenango is the place for next year. Keep your fingers crossed. The need exists in this area. So we can at least try and help 5000 of them during that two week period of time.
We got back to El Salvador late but happy with our accomplishment for the day. The weekend is next. That is the time for the padre to say Masses in many of the small towns that dot the countryside of Chaltenango Department.
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
El Salvador Trip 2014- Eye Care Proje
For the last few months we have been planning on working with the group called Eye Care International. This group has been coming to El Salvador for 15 years. This year they are in La Libertad. This is a costal town about 45 minutes from San Salvador.
Since this organization sees about 5000 people in a two week period of time, it was my hope this year to have them set up shop in the area of Chalatenango. This is the area where the Padre's school is and the home of very poor rural people high in the mountains. Their plans however were already set but in my contacts with a local Columbus person associated with them we were able to send a few people this year to that town. I worked closely with Jicela Gonzales who is the Padre's project coordinator on alerting the community of Aqua Caliente about the eye service there and we set out some flyers about the project. The Padre announced it also in the Masses he had leading up to the event.
Since we were not the host city we were limited to the number of people we could take. So the plan was to take 20 people on August 11th to have their eyes checked to see if they needed surgery for cataracts or another problem that creates a film over their eyes due to the intense sun down here. That was completed and 3 people qualified for the surgery. We will attempt to have a little story about each of these in future blogs. Jicela coordinated the use of a van and truck and so all made the trip starting at 5 AM to the city. The trip takes about 3 hours to get there.
The Padre and I arrived at Libertad at about 10:00 AM. It looks like after doing this for 15 years that they really have it together. All people started at the sign in stations and the process began. At the same time as we were there the local area people were their as well. They not only were being checked for surgery but also there to see if they needed glasses. They try to process about 500 total people a day. There is a morning and an afternoon group. You need a ticket to be there to keep it flowing.
We visited the various stations and talked to the people in charge. The group is made up of volunteers and doctors. They even had a station where people can be fitted with a glass eye if necessary. Of course there were many shelves of eye glasses that had been donated, repaired, assessed for strength and labeled.
We spent the day there visiting and asking questions. We also had a nice visit with the surgeons that perform the surgeries. They had been given permission to use three rooms at the local public clinic. This team had to move all of their equipment in, clean the whole place, put portable air conditioning in and set up the procedures. They are very dedicated nurses and doctors. They said they will do about 10 surgeries a day from those rooms.
You can get eye surgery and glasses in El Salvador. This service is not free and it is expensive. As a result there are many people with needs that just go unattended. This is in contrast to the public clinics. These are free for the people for medical attention and for dental care. Of course like everything else the facilities are in poor shape. The waiting lines are long and the detail of the care is not good. Of course I do not think there is anything like preventive care at all for the poor. You just go there when you get sick or your teeth are so bad you have no choice but to have some of them pulled out.
We also had a nice visit with these doctors and nurses. Most have done this many times before and in different country. Later in the day we meet with a Mr. Phil Loar. He is the director of this organization down here. We approached him with the thought of coming next year to Chalatenango. He said he would like to consider it. So the good news is that we arranged to take him on Friday to that area to review the facilities that the Padre felt would fit the needs of the organization.
So in many ways we completed our objective this year with this group. We sent some people that need help from our poor areas and we are now given an opportunity to convince them to the come next year and help as many as 5000 people in the poor area of Chalatenango. The Padre began making the plans for the trip with them on Friday.
It was hot in La Libertad that day. I always thought that if you are near the ocean you would always have a nice cool breeze. Since this is a tropical area and the ocean is very warm this place is quite humid as well. So again the issue of elevation is so important here. Actually San Salvador is about 2200 feet above sea level. That is why it is always cooler there.
So to avoid the traffic we stayed longer in La Libertad. Of course the Padre knows many nice restaurants in the area and he picked one and we had a nice meal of fish and shrimp. After dinner it was back to San Salvador where the air is dry and the temperature is nice and cool.
Since this organization sees about 5000 people in a two week period of time, it was my hope this year to have them set up shop in the area of Chalatenango. This is the area where the Padre's school is and the home of very poor rural people high in the mountains. Their plans however were already set but in my contacts with a local Columbus person associated with them we were able to send a few people this year to that town. I worked closely with Jicela Gonzales who is the Padre's project coordinator on alerting the community of Aqua Caliente about the eye service there and we set out some flyers about the project. The Padre announced it also in the Masses he had leading up to the event.
Since we were not the host city we were limited to the number of people we could take. So the plan was to take 20 people on August 11th to have their eyes checked to see if they needed surgery for cataracts or another problem that creates a film over their eyes due to the intense sun down here. That was completed and 3 people qualified for the surgery. We will attempt to have a little story about each of these in future blogs. Jicela coordinated the use of a van and truck and so all made the trip starting at 5 AM to the city. The trip takes about 3 hours to get there.
The Padre and I arrived at Libertad at about 10:00 AM. It looks like after doing this for 15 years that they really have it together. All people started at the sign in stations and the process began. At the same time as we were there the local area people were their as well. They not only were being checked for surgery but also there to see if they needed glasses. They try to process about 500 total people a day. There is a morning and an afternoon group. You need a ticket to be there to keep it flowing.
We visited the various stations and talked to the people in charge. The group is made up of volunteers and doctors. They even had a station where people can be fitted with a glass eye if necessary. Of course there were many shelves of eye glasses that had been donated, repaired, assessed for strength and labeled.
We spent the day there visiting and asking questions. We also had a nice visit with the surgeons that perform the surgeries. They had been given permission to use three rooms at the local public clinic. This team had to move all of their equipment in, clean the whole place, put portable air conditioning in and set up the procedures. They are very dedicated nurses and doctors. They said they will do about 10 surgeries a day from those rooms.
You can get eye surgery and glasses in El Salvador. This service is not free and it is expensive. As a result there are many people with needs that just go unattended. This is in contrast to the public clinics. These are free for the people for medical attention and for dental care. Of course like everything else the facilities are in poor shape. The waiting lines are long and the detail of the care is not good. Of course I do not think there is anything like preventive care at all for the poor. You just go there when you get sick or your teeth are so bad you have no choice but to have some of them pulled out.
We also had a nice visit with these doctors and nurses. Most have done this many times before and in different country. Later in the day we meet with a Mr. Phil Loar. He is the director of this organization down here. We approached him with the thought of coming next year to Chalatenango. He said he would like to consider it. So the good news is that we arranged to take him on Friday to that area to review the facilities that the Padre felt would fit the needs of the organization.
So in many ways we completed our objective this year with this group. We sent some people that need help from our poor areas and we are now given an opportunity to convince them to the come next year and help as many as 5000 people in the poor area of Chalatenango. The Padre began making the plans for the trip with them on Friday.
It was hot in La Libertad that day. I always thought that if you are near the ocean you would always have a nice cool breeze. Since this is a tropical area and the ocean is very warm this place is quite humid as well. So again the issue of elevation is so important here. Actually San Salvador is about 2200 feet above sea level. That is why it is always cooler there.
So to avoid the traffic we stayed longer in La Libertad. Of course the Padre knows many nice restaurants in the area and he picked one and we had a nice meal of fish and shrimp. After dinner it was back to San Salvador where the air is dry and the temperature is nice and cool.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Mission trip 2-14 Guatemalan people come to El Salvador
As I left off on my last blog we had just arrived in El Salvador. It was late Saturday night on Feb 8th. Three people came with us for the opportunity to review the mission of Padre Fuentes after them being so nice to show us all of the areas they were working on in Guatemala.
Jason Powell, his wife and lady named Claudia came. Claudia works for their organization and is Guatemalan. She is educated with a college degree from that country. Her English was good.
We took them to a hotel in San Salvador that the Padre selected. A nice one near the better area of town where the nightly rates are $40 dollars. The plan for the next day was to remain in San Salvador and to visit the tomb of Archbishop Romero. It is in a large cathedral in the heart of the city. After that it was time to go to a local chapel and a ghetto that was being helped by the local Catholic Church.
So Padre, Jicela, me and 3 others went. Unfortunately, as I said 3 of use got sick late Saturday night and so the trip was not pleasant. We cut the trips a little short and came home and I went to bed at 3 PM and slept until the following morning.
Monday all were feeling better and it was off to the Colegio. This group is very interested in education as the Padre is. So they were very pleased as they came into the walls of the school to be greeted by all of the children at the entrance. Shortly thereafter it was time for an assembly where each teacher introduced themselves and told them what they do. That was followed by some songs and a Salvadorian dance by several of the students.
The rest of the time was spent visiting each classroom and reviewing the workbooks and teaching methods. Of course the Padre explained the growth of the school from just 3 grades in 2010 to now kindergarten through 9th grade. He explained that during this time there have been 4 major building projects to accommodate the now 165 students. They were 8 new classrooms, a computer room a revised cafeteria, a cemented basketball court. Finally there is the partially completed Pilgrim house that will expand the kindergarten and provide a place for people like me to stay when we visit to help out. There are two additional rooms for a few young men that are going to college but come from very poor places and really have no place to live while they are starting to attend some advanced training.
The group was very impressed. In addition to this they reviewed the cooperative bakery that stands by itself at the back of the property which provide jobs for 4 ladies and a place to help to educate some of the older girls on the art of baking.
Beside that there is the carpentry shop. It also stands alone. Lots of donated equipment in this building. The Padre is trying to establish a program to teach the students this skill. He will admit that he has a ways to go in this area. I still think this is a big area that people in our own church could help if they have skills that they could give in getting this going better.
The Hope Renewed people were surprised with all of the progress in such a short time but recognized that as in any projects there are opportunities that could be worked on.
After that it was a short one hour trip to the city of Chaletenango. There the Padre had a medical clinic where he brings specialists in from San Salvador and provides primary care also. Besides this there is a Dentist, and a medical lab. The Padre asked the patients to pay $10 dollars for their visits if they are able. The doctors that come charge a lower rate because of their respect for the Padre and because they see the need to help over and above what is usually provided in the free public clinics that are around in the rural countryside. The group was surprised with its cleanliness and procedures that are provided. Besides this there is a small pharmacy close by run by the Padre for the needed drugs of the patients. Again it attempts to sell them at a reduced price to help the poor of the community.
So that was the little trip to El Salvador for this group. We arrived back in the early evening in San Salvador and had a discussion with them about our trip to their mission and theirs to ours. That was one of the objectives of this trip for me. The next step will be to see if we can work together along with all of the help we can get from people in the our church and others to make the Padre's missions the most successful ever.
Again to do this will take time and effort and a whole bunch of talent from many people. I hope you will want to help.
The next morning, on Tuesday, the Hope Renewed people left and we are on our way to our next project. That was taking some people to a town of La Libertad to have their eyes checked. That will be the subject of the next blog.
Post Script
I have been driving around a lot these last two weeks with the Padre. Of course you see some nice areas especially in San Salvador, but mostly you see people walking everywhere along the streets. You see them carrying loads of sticks to take back to their homes, or bottles of water being balances on their heads. You see people trying to sell just about anything along the road. It could be a fruit of some kind, a string of fish, some bread, some corn, some craps from the local probably polluted lake, a coconut and even an iguana once in a while dripping with blood. Besides this you see local huts along the road in the big cities, in the small towns, just about anywhere where people might stop and just might buy something. This is surely a society of people that just to survive must do these types of things. I am sure that on most days they are lucky to makes sales of 5 or 10 dollars. So much sitting and waiting for someone to come by and buy.
Many of the roads also have many children walking to school with their uniforms on. You see there are no school busses. If you are lucky and can afford it you might get in the pack of a pickup truck and be driven to school and pay a few coins for the service. Most people go by bus since most people do not have a car. Also realize that gas costs as much here as in the States. So if you make $200 dollars a months, do you think you could afford to pay for the gas? So you see the busses packed with people with the rear of the busses looking very low. You see pickup trucks with side rails that are just jammed with people. I wonder how they can breathe. Of course so many houses in the rural areas just made of tin or adobe. Built wherever. There is a lot of public land. The heat is repressive in the lower elevations and you have to admire the struggle that goes on with these people. It becomes very sad and overwhelming at times. Clearly in many ways a broken society. It however has potential. It could be lush and green it could have good businesses and education for all not just the rich. We will see.
See you next time.
Jim
Jason Powell, his wife and lady named Claudia came. Claudia works for their organization and is Guatemalan. She is educated with a college degree from that country. Her English was good.
We took them to a hotel in San Salvador that the Padre selected. A nice one near the better area of town where the nightly rates are $40 dollars. The plan for the next day was to remain in San Salvador and to visit the tomb of Archbishop Romero. It is in a large cathedral in the heart of the city. After that it was time to go to a local chapel and a ghetto that was being helped by the local Catholic Church.
So Padre, Jicela, me and 3 others went. Unfortunately, as I said 3 of use got sick late Saturday night and so the trip was not pleasant. We cut the trips a little short and came home and I went to bed at 3 PM and slept until the following morning.
Monday all were feeling better and it was off to the Colegio. This group is very interested in education as the Padre is. So they were very pleased as they came into the walls of the school to be greeted by all of the children at the entrance. Shortly thereafter it was time for an assembly where each teacher introduced themselves and told them what they do. That was followed by some songs and a Salvadorian dance by several of the students.
The rest of the time was spent visiting each classroom and reviewing the workbooks and teaching methods. Of course the Padre explained the growth of the school from just 3 grades in 2010 to now kindergarten through 9th grade. He explained that during this time there have been 4 major building projects to accommodate the now 165 students. They were 8 new classrooms, a computer room a revised cafeteria, a cemented basketball court. Finally there is the partially completed Pilgrim house that will expand the kindergarten and provide a place for people like me to stay when we visit to help out. There are two additional rooms for a few young men that are going to college but come from very poor places and really have no place to live while they are starting to attend some advanced training.
The group was very impressed. In addition to this they reviewed the cooperative bakery that stands by itself at the back of the property which provide jobs for 4 ladies and a place to help to educate some of the older girls on the art of baking.
Beside that there is the carpentry shop. It also stands alone. Lots of donated equipment in this building. The Padre is trying to establish a program to teach the students this skill. He will admit that he has a ways to go in this area. I still think this is a big area that people in our own church could help if they have skills that they could give in getting this going better.
The Hope Renewed people were surprised with all of the progress in such a short time but recognized that as in any projects there are opportunities that could be worked on.
After that it was a short one hour trip to the city of Chaletenango. There the Padre had a medical clinic where he brings specialists in from San Salvador and provides primary care also. Besides this there is a Dentist, and a medical lab. The Padre asked the patients to pay $10 dollars for their visits if they are able. The doctors that come charge a lower rate because of their respect for the Padre and because they see the need to help over and above what is usually provided in the free public clinics that are around in the rural countryside. The group was surprised with its cleanliness and procedures that are provided. Besides this there is a small pharmacy close by run by the Padre for the needed drugs of the patients. Again it attempts to sell them at a reduced price to help the poor of the community.
So that was the little trip to El Salvador for this group. We arrived back in the early evening in San Salvador and had a discussion with them about our trip to their mission and theirs to ours. That was one of the objectives of this trip for me. The next step will be to see if we can work together along with all of the help we can get from people in the our church and others to make the Padre's missions the most successful ever.
Again to do this will take time and effort and a whole bunch of talent from many people. I hope you will want to help.
The next morning, on Tuesday, the Hope Renewed people left and we are on our way to our next project. That was taking some people to a town of La Libertad to have their eyes checked. That will be the subject of the next blog.
Post Script
I have been driving around a lot these last two weeks with the Padre. Of course you see some nice areas especially in San Salvador, but mostly you see people walking everywhere along the streets. You see them carrying loads of sticks to take back to their homes, or bottles of water being balances on their heads. You see people trying to sell just about anything along the road. It could be a fruit of some kind, a string of fish, some bread, some corn, some craps from the local probably polluted lake, a coconut and even an iguana once in a while dripping with blood. Besides this you see local huts along the road in the big cities, in the small towns, just about anywhere where people might stop and just might buy something. This is surely a society of people that just to survive must do these types of things. I am sure that on most days they are lucky to makes sales of 5 or 10 dollars. So much sitting and waiting for someone to come by and buy.
Many of the roads also have many children walking to school with their uniforms on. You see there are no school busses. If you are lucky and can afford it you might get in the pack of a pickup truck and be driven to school and pay a few coins for the service. Most people go by bus since most people do not have a car. Also realize that gas costs as much here as in the States. So if you make $200 dollars a months, do you think you could afford to pay for the gas? So you see the busses packed with people with the rear of the busses looking very low. You see pickup trucks with side rails that are just jammed with people. I wonder how they can breathe. Of course so many houses in the rural areas just made of tin or adobe. Built wherever. There is a lot of public land. The heat is repressive in the lower elevations and you have to admire the struggle that goes on with these people. It becomes very sad and overwhelming at times. Clearly in many ways a broken society. It however has potential. It could be lush and green it could have good businesses and education for all not just the rich. We will see.
See you next time.
Jim
Thursday, February 13, 2014
The time in Guatemala- Mission Trip 2014
Hello Folks, It is now Feb 13th 2014 and I now have a little time to catch up on my blog. When I left off we where planning to go to Guatemala. There is group that was established over there called Hope-Renewed. It is run by a man from Chicago. They have been in operation for 4 years. They focus on the poor in four areas. They work in the dump in the middle of the city. The ghetto at the edge of the city, a women's prison and a girl's orphanage. We visited all 4 places while there from Wednesday to Saturday of last week.
Guatemala is just north of El Salvador and it takes about 5 hours to drive there from San Salvador. So Padre, Jicela and I started on the trip and the roads were good the whole way. It was very warm that day in San Salvador but the Padre said I should take a jacket. I was surprised. But then I began to understand more what elevation means especially in the tropical areas of the world. The capitol city of Guatamala is about 4000 feet about sea level. So of course as we began our trip we started going up and up. By the time we reached the city the jacket was needed. And so I began to understand the beautiful weather that this city has. They say it is always between 75 and 85 degrees and not humid. Always very pleasant. All very lush. All plants seem to grow like weeds.
The city is a city of contrast, however. If we go to the rich areas you see skyscrapers and modern buildings and the best McDonalds, I have ever ate at. The surrounding houses high on the hills are mansions. You would feel like you are walking around the best area of our large cities. But just outside this area you begin to see the poverty. The city dump is a hugh valley almost in the middle of the city. We saw it from above looking at it from a cemetery, and then the other hillsides are covered with one room block houses attached to one another as far as the eye can see.
So it is a city of contrast. We have them too but not to the degree this city is. The rich truly do have it all here. I am also sure that they control the government to their advantage. So it is in this environment that this group has started to help the poor.
In so many ways there is not much difference between the two countries. Of course the language is the same and the poverty is almost the same. I would say that the rich appear richer in that country and the poor appear poorer. But, as the Padre has reminded me, I have not seen that in El Salvador, it truly does exist.
So we arrived and started at this organization's guest house. A nice place near the edge of the where the poverty zones begin. Three people from the states were there who were doing a mission trip along with a man about 30 who spoke English. He is Guatemalan and had come back from the states in the last year. His story is like so many. Was working in North Carolina and then one day he makes a U turn and gets caught by the police. The next thing you know he is one a plane back to his place of birth. How common this story is. The rate of people coming illegally from this country is as great as El Salvador. Just people wanting to find a way to take care of their families.
So the following morning we went with these people to the Dump. They had plans there to work with the children in a little commuity center they built there. The Dump, people living on the edge of the refuse. The "houses" are made of corrugated metal. The streets are dirt. One water faucet outside every 10 houses. No bathroom facilities. The reason they are there is the adults and children too, go through the new trash, dumped there by the truckloads each day to find scraps of metal or paper or bags or anything they can sell for a few coins. I am told about 3000 people live here. Of course the place can be dangerous and the local police never show up. No medical attention is available nearby.
It is in this environment the center was built by the group. It houses a pre school for the little children from 3 to 5. So this day it was building a gingerbread house they could eat and some songs and some dancing. Then came lunch which today was pizza. A treat they hardly ever get. Usually a snack is provided by the group during the 4 hours they are there each day. As usual the kids seems happy, bright and well behaved. I wondered what they ate at their little houses. There were several other aspects of this area that I could tell you about but this will have to do for now. It seems impossible that people could live like this.
From there we went to the Ghetto or in Spanish, La Limonada. Much larger and all over the hill sides. We were taken to just one area where we were also told is dangerous but not as bad as it was just a year or so ago. Area still controlled by gangs. Here the group is building a community center for educational reasons and starting a bakery to provide jobs and training for the people that live there. Also very interesting.
The following day we were off to a women's prison a few miles out of town. I was told that many women here still had not had a trial and it has been more than 8 years. Very common. The place was fairly clean. What surprised me was that the group was able to work with the prison to build some fencing that allowed the women to be outside some of the time, a basketball court in another area and a silk screen workshop for women to learn a skill that makes a profit and something they can do when they get out. I was told that this has helped the return rate to prison for these women. I was just surprised that the prison allowed someone to come in work on projects like this.
That evening we got in the car and drove to the coastal town of Mazatenango. It took about 5 hours due to the traffic on this two lane road. Lots of trucks. Lots of sugar cane fields in this area and processing plants. We arrived and stayed in a nice motel. The next day it was off to the girl's orphanage. This group just took over this private one. About 30 girls of all ages. Most from abused homes, the court has sent them there. Major problem in both countries when it comes to adoption. They are hardly not allowed in both of them. This process stopped in 2007. I do not understand. So the number of children living in private and public orphanages continues to grow. A sad situation for them both. This group has fixed up the buildings on the campus, provided better food, better schooling there, better social services. The sad thing to realize is that these kids could be there until they are 18. Better than being in an abusive home but still not much of life. They are doing the best they can. I saw the little ones peeking out the window. Only 3 to 5 years old. How beautiful they were. How many people in the US and other places could give them a wonderful home and yet it will probably be impossible unless the laws are changed. In the meantime at least they are getting proper care.
From there is was time to take the three people organizers from this group and begin the trip to El Salvador. We started at about 4 PM . The trip was long and mostly hot. We had a horrible border experience. Trucks parked for a mile waiting to be check in by immigration. We needed to find a way to get pass them or just sit there for hours on end. The solution was to just drive on the wrong side of road and then finally after having our passports checked finding a young man who stopped by our window who offered to find another way to go around the trucks that in this place the trucks were stopped on our side and passing on the other direction. So off we went. Now we were on the dirt side of the road almost in the ditch being waved on by the guy on his bicycle. He was stopping trucks, and doing whatever to keep us moving. Finally we made it pass at least a one-half mile of trucks to the El Salvadorian border. We stopped the car and paid the guy. I wanted to give him whatever. I pulled out a 20 Padre said to just give him 10. This I did. I thanked him profusely and took his picture. It was the best 10 bucks I have ever spent.
And so that is our little trip to that country. The border issue just made me realize again what a hard place this is for the people to live. Surely there is a simple solution to this border issue. Such a waste of time, such a waste of economic progress. How can we help? We arrived in San Salvador about 11 PM. Took our guest to a nice hotel and Padre, Jicela and I went back to the Padre's house. And then it started. I guess I ate something in a restaurant in Mazatenango. Do not know what. I was in the bathroom most of the night. Our guest from Guatemala had the same problem. The first time I have gotten sick.
The Padre's comment to all of this was 'That is the price that you must pay for helping the poor'. What a profound statement! He is so right.
More later
Guatemala is just north of El Salvador and it takes about 5 hours to drive there from San Salvador. So Padre, Jicela and I started on the trip and the roads were good the whole way. It was very warm that day in San Salvador but the Padre said I should take a jacket. I was surprised. But then I began to understand more what elevation means especially in the tropical areas of the world. The capitol city of Guatamala is about 4000 feet about sea level. So of course as we began our trip we started going up and up. By the time we reached the city the jacket was needed. And so I began to understand the beautiful weather that this city has. They say it is always between 75 and 85 degrees and not humid. Always very pleasant. All very lush. All plants seem to grow like weeds.
The city is a city of contrast, however. If we go to the rich areas you see skyscrapers and modern buildings and the best McDonalds, I have ever ate at. The surrounding houses high on the hills are mansions. You would feel like you are walking around the best area of our large cities. But just outside this area you begin to see the poverty. The city dump is a hugh valley almost in the middle of the city. We saw it from above looking at it from a cemetery, and then the other hillsides are covered with one room block houses attached to one another as far as the eye can see.
So it is a city of contrast. We have them too but not to the degree this city is. The rich truly do have it all here. I am also sure that they control the government to their advantage. So it is in this environment that this group has started to help the poor.
In so many ways there is not much difference between the two countries. Of course the language is the same and the poverty is almost the same. I would say that the rich appear richer in that country and the poor appear poorer. But, as the Padre has reminded me, I have not seen that in El Salvador, it truly does exist.
So we arrived and started at this organization's guest house. A nice place near the edge of the where the poverty zones begin. Three people from the states were there who were doing a mission trip along with a man about 30 who spoke English. He is Guatemalan and had come back from the states in the last year. His story is like so many. Was working in North Carolina and then one day he makes a U turn and gets caught by the police. The next thing you know he is one a plane back to his place of birth. How common this story is. The rate of people coming illegally from this country is as great as El Salvador. Just people wanting to find a way to take care of their families.
So the following morning we went with these people to the Dump. They had plans there to work with the children in a little commuity center they built there. The Dump, people living on the edge of the refuse. The "houses" are made of corrugated metal. The streets are dirt. One water faucet outside every 10 houses. No bathroom facilities. The reason they are there is the adults and children too, go through the new trash, dumped there by the truckloads each day to find scraps of metal or paper or bags or anything they can sell for a few coins. I am told about 3000 people live here. Of course the place can be dangerous and the local police never show up. No medical attention is available nearby.
It is in this environment the center was built by the group. It houses a pre school for the little children from 3 to 5. So this day it was building a gingerbread house they could eat and some songs and some dancing. Then came lunch which today was pizza. A treat they hardly ever get. Usually a snack is provided by the group during the 4 hours they are there each day. As usual the kids seems happy, bright and well behaved. I wondered what they ate at their little houses. There were several other aspects of this area that I could tell you about but this will have to do for now. It seems impossible that people could live like this.
From there we went to the Ghetto or in Spanish, La Limonada. Much larger and all over the hill sides. We were taken to just one area where we were also told is dangerous but not as bad as it was just a year or so ago. Area still controlled by gangs. Here the group is building a community center for educational reasons and starting a bakery to provide jobs and training for the people that live there. Also very interesting.
The following day we were off to a women's prison a few miles out of town. I was told that many women here still had not had a trial and it has been more than 8 years. Very common. The place was fairly clean. What surprised me was that the group was able to work with the prison to build some fencing that allowed the women to be outside some of the time, a basketball court in another area and a silk screen workshop for women to learn a skill that makes a profit and something they can do when they get out. I was told that this has helped the return rate to prison for these women. I was just surprised that the prison allowed someone to come in work on projects like this.
That evening we got in the car and drove to the coastal town of Mazatenango. It took about 5 hours due to the traffic on this two lane road. Lots of trucks. Lots of sugar cane fields in this area and processing plants. We arrived and stayed in a nice motel. The next day it was off to the girl's orphanage. This group just took over this private one. About 30 girls of all ages. Most from abused homes, the court has sent them there. Major problem in both countries when it comes to adoption. They are hardly not allowed in both of them. This process stopped in 2007. I do not understand. So the number of children living in private and public orphanages continues to grow. A sad situation for them both. This group has fixed up the buildings on the campus, provided better food, better schooling there, better social services. The sad thing to realize is that these kids could be there until they are 18. Better than being in an abusive home but still not much of life. They are doing the best they can. I saw the little ones peeking out the window. Only 3 to 5 years old. How beautiful they were. How many people in the US and other places could give them a wonderful home and yet it will probably be impossible unless the laws are changed. In the meantime at least they are getting proper care.
From there is was time to take the three people organizers from this group and begin the trip to El Salvador. We started at about 4 PM . The trip was long and mostly hot. We had a horrible border experience. Trucks parked for a mile waiting to be check in by immigration. We needed to find a way to get pass them or just sit there for hours on end. The solution was to just drive on the wrong side of road and then finally after having our passports checked finding a young man who stopped by our window who offered to find another way to go around the trucks that in this place the trucks were stopped on our side and passing on the other direction. So off we went. Now we were on the dirt side of the road almost in the ditch being waved on by the guy on his bicycle. He was stopping trucks, and doing whatever to keep us moving. Finally we made it pass at least a one-half mile of trucks to the El Salvadorian border. We stopped the car and paid the guy. I wanted to give him whatever. I pulled out a 20 Padre said to just give him 10. This I did. I thanked him profusely and took his picture. It was the best 10 bucks I have ever spent.
And so that is our little trip to that country. The border issue just made me realize again what a hard place this is for the people to live. Surely there is a simple solution to this border issue. Such a waste of time, such a waste of economic progress. How can we help? We arrived in San Salvador about 11 PM. Took our guest to a nice hotel and Padre, Jicela and I went back to the Padre's house. And then it started. I guess I ate something in a restaurant in Mazatenango. Do not know what. I was in the bathroom most of the night. Our guest from Guatemala had the same problem. The first time I have gotten sick.
The Padre's comment to all of this was 'That is the price that you must pay for helping the poor'. What a profound statement! He is so right.
More later
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
First two days of El Salvador trip 2014
It is now Wednesday morning Feb. 5, 2014. I arrived in El Salvador on Monday afternoon. I was picked up by Padre Fuentes and we went to his home in San Salvador. He has lived here for about 10 years. This is his home base and where he lives with the 5 adopted children that he has. All of the children are doing great in school. They all come from very poor circumstances. By them living with the Padre they are going to a good school and now have the potential to become a productive member of the community.
They of course all love him and call him Popie. I was able to bring down a few gifts for the children this time. A puzzle, a Lego truck, a Lite Bright, and that loom that makes the rubber band bracelets. All gifts were appreciated. Although the Padre provides a lot for the children, such things as toys and books are really not available to them. It was fun to see how excited the kids were and how they eagerly played with them. The rubberband bracelet was a really big hit. Oh yeh, one more thing, chocolate bars, they are always a hit for kids and adults alike.
The next morning it was time to head to the colegio. We started at 5:30 AM and this time also picked up an American who is a mason by trade who will be helping build the next building at the colegio.
We arrived and I got to see for the first time all of improvements just since last Jan 2013 when I was there. Three new classrooms on the second floor of one of the buildings. New cement picnic tables for the teaches and children. The addition of a Kindergarten and a 9th grade and a record 165 students attending the school. To take care of all of the new kids there were 3 more teachers added. Finally the Padre showed the two of us the newest building that is still in the state of construction. It is called the Pilgrim House. It should be done in two months. It will have on the first floor a dinning room, an infirmary, a small office for staff, a kitchen and 2 bedrooms. On the second floor will be 3 more bedrooms.
The main reason for the building is to house people that come down for a period of time to help in the school. There is always a need for help in teaching English, helping in curriculum, establishing a library, or helping to build the next building. So it will be well used. As all of the buildings are, they are built of cement block and a tin roof.
I spent the rest of day teaching English to the 8th graders for a while and then working with Jicela Gonzales. She is called the Project Manager for the Missions of Padre Fuentes. I have been working with her on a weekly basis for a few months now. Her English is perfect and she has great organizational skills. The major topics of the day were starting up the 9 donated used laptop computers I received from Bishop Hartley High School. We have 8 of them and the challenge now will be to see how we can use them to aid the teachers as well as improving the curriculum of the school. That is challenge that the colegio can use some expertise in if someone would like to help. We also spent time on the project that begins next week and that is taking people to have their eyes checked through an organization called Eye Care International. We are sending 50 people to get eyeglass and 23 people to see if they can get surgery for cataracts or a few other eye problems. More on that later.
Finally we talked about the plans to go Guatemala on Wednesday. We will be meeting a group that works with the poor in that country and have developed a very well thought out program. We will learn about them more and then determine if their mission and that of Padre Fuentes should be linked together somehow to be able to help even more people. The Padre, Jicela and I will be going. We are all looking forward to the trip. We will be there until Saturday and then that group will come to El Salvador to see what the Padre has been doing for the last 15 years of his life.
So if it is a marriage, then there will be a need for help in establishing it to be the best possible. Stay tuned and we will let you know how to help.
They of course all love him and call him Popie. I was able to bring down a few gifts for the children this time. A puzzle, a Lego truck, a Lite Bright, and that loom that makes the rubber band bracelets. All gifts were appreciated. Although the Padre provides a lot for the children, such things as toys and books are really not available to them. It was fun to see how excited the kids were and how they eagerly played with them. The rubberband bracelet was a really big hit. Oh yeh, one more thing, chocolate bars, they are always a hit for kids and adults alike.
The next morning it was time to head to the colegio. We started at 5:30 AM and this time also picked up an American who is a mason by trade who will be helping build the next building at the colegio.
We arrived and I got to see for the first time all of improvements just since last Jan 2013 when I was there. Three new classrooms on the second floor of one of the buildings. New cement picnic tables for the teaches and children. The addition of a Kindergarten and a 9th grade and a record 165 students attending the school. To take care of all of the new kids there were 3 more teachers added. Finally the Padre showed the two of us the newest building that is still in the state of construction. It is called the Pilgrim House. It should be done in two months. It will have on the first floor a dinning room, an infirmary, a small office for staff, a kitchen and 2 bedrooms. On the second floor will be 3 more bedrooms.
The main reason for the building is to house people that come down for a period of time to help in the school. There is always a need for help in teaching English, helping in curriculum, establishing a library, or helping to build the next building. So it will be well used. As all of the buildings are, they are built of cement block and a tin roof.
I spent the rest of day teaching English to the 8th graders for a while and then working with Jicela Gonzales. She is called the Project Manager for the Missions of Padre Fuentes. I have been working with her on a weekly basis for a few months now. Her English is perfect and she has great organizational skills. The major topics of the day were starting up the 9 donated used laptop computers I received from Bishop Hartley High School. We have 8 of them and the challenge now will be to see how we can use them to aid the teachers as well as improving the curriculum of the school. That is challenge that the colegio can use some expertise in if someone would like to help. We also spent time on the project that begins next week and that is taking people to have their eyes checked through an organization called Eye Care International. We are sending 50 people to get eyeglass and 23 people to see if they can get surgery for cataracts or a few other eye problems. More on that later.
Finally we talked about the plans to go Guatemala on Wednesday. We will be meeting a group that works with the poor in that country and have developed a very well thought out program. We will learn about them more and then determine if their mission and that of Padre Fuentes should be linked together somehow to be able to help even more people. The Padre, Jicela and I will be going. We are all looking forward to the trip. We will be there until Saturday and then that group will come to El Salvador to see what the Padre has been doing for the last 15 years of his life.
So if it is a marriage, then there will be a need for help in establishing it to be the best possible. Stay tuned and we will let you know how to help.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
My trip to El Salvador 2014
I take off for el Salvador on Monday. Padre Fuentes will pick me up at the airport in San Salvador and we will go to his home there.
The time I am there should be interesting. We are planning a trip to Guatemala to look at another mission group's activities and then they are visiting us in El Salvador to view the missions of Padre Fuentes.
After that we are taking some people that need eye surgeries and eye glasses to a town on the coast. That town is La Libertad. The group is called eye care international. They have a website if interested. They have been helping the people with these needs for 15 years. It is an all volunteer group. I am told that in a 2 week period of time they see between 3000 and 5000 people. It is hard for me to understand that there is such a need for this type of medical attention. This should be interesting and it will be great to see that some of the people in the town of Aqua Caliente where the Padre's school is will get a little help for their eye problems.
Our goal is to see if we can get them to come next year to our area so that thousands can be helped.
Finally, several projects at the Padre's school we are working on. The school year in el Salvador began on January 15th until November 15th. I am bringing some used tablet computers donated from Bishop Hartley High School, to see if we can get them working and figure out a way to work them into the curriculum.
So lots to do and lots of people to see. The weather will be hot and dry. This is their summer which lasts until about April. Then it is winter when it starts to rain. So all is dry now. The roads are dusty and crops have been harvested from the mountain sides.
Hope you continue to look at the blog as time goes on.
Jim
The time I am there should be interesting. We are planning a trip to Guatemala to look at another mission group's activities and then they are visiting us in El Salvador to view the missions of Padre Fuentes.
After that we are taking some people that need eye surgeries and eye glasses to a town on the coast. That town is La Libertad. The group is called eye care international. They have a website if interested. They have been helping the people with these needs for 15 years. It is an all volunteer group. I am told that in a 2 week period of time they see between 3000 and 5000 people. It is hard for me to understand that there is such a need for this type of medical attention. This should be interesting and it will be great to see that some of the people in the town of Aqua Caliente where the Padre's school is will get a little help for their eye problems.
Our goal is to see if we can get them to come next year to our area so that thousands can be helped.
Finally, several projects at the Padre's school we are working on. The school year in el Salvador began on January 15th until November 15th. I am bringing some used tablet computers donated from Bishop Hartley High School, to see if we can get them working and figure out a way to work them into the curriculum.
So lots to do and lots of people to see. The weather will be hot and dry. This is their summer which lasts until about April. Then it is winter when it starts to rain. So all is dry now. The roads are dusty and crops have been harvested from the mountain sides.
Hope you continue to look at the blog as time goes on.
Jim
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