Delegation: January 2020
The January 2020 delegation was comprised of a great group of 11 travelers: three from St. Stephen’s, three from Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd (Salinas), four from Trinity Presbyterian (Santa Cruz), and one from Peace UCC (Santa Cruz). For three people, it was their first trip to El Salvador.
Santa Cruz al Salvador is beginning its 26th (!) year of accompaniment, walking with the people of Guillermo Ungo, El Pilar, and other parts of El Salvador.
Two things are perennial highlights for me: the Scholarship Award Ceremony and watching people meet their prayer children for the first time. We had a record number (112) of students attend the ceremony to receive their gift packet from their sponsor as well as their scholarship package of shoes, uniform, and school materials. Barbara Rice is shown here with her prayer child, Ivania, at the craft project. She had met her a day earlier at the scholarship ceremony, and then met her family at dinner.
Jeanette Dawson had a double: she was able to meet Heydi, Stephanie Laufer’s long-time prayer child who graduated in 2019, and Elizabeth, her new Kinder prayer child. The tears of joy flowed and their were many hugs.
Everyone worked well together on the trip and kept the whining to a minimum. It is hot after all, and the bathroom facilities are rarely up to North American standards. A new experience was a visit to Cinquera, a national park in El Salvador. We took several of the older prayer children along on the park outing. The trail was too difficult for my physical ability, but reports on the trail, falls and swimming hole were excellent.
Another new destination this year was the historic and beautiful town of Panchimalco, located southwest of San Salvador. The colonial church, Santa Cruz de Roma (Holy Cross of Rome), is shown here. According to Wikipedia, it is the oldest surviving colonial structure in El Salvador. Panchimalco is known as one of two surviving settlements with an indigenous Pipil population. It also is the home of many artists and galleries.
We spent a night in Suchitoto, where we stayed at the hostel in the “Centro”, the Art Center for Peace. The Center is always bustling with art projects and classes. It is the local institution that handles our scholarship money for Guillermo Ungo. Sister Peggy, President, always has a creative take on current events; and she also works in a little theology for good measure.
Since we started the water and sanitation projects in El Pilar, comprised of Bendicion de Dios and Las Orquideas, it’s important to include them. This year was no exception. While part of our group hosted a craft project for the kids, the board members met with the leadership of the two communities to discuss our ongoing latrine project. We have been using an NGO, ESNA, to be our people “on the ground” for the project. This year, we are trying something different: we have forged an agreement to work directly with community leaders and have worked out a way to transfer funds. We hope to save money this way and build more latrines!