Kid friendly version of El Salvador 2014 presentation by St Paul's Lutheran Church

1. Our Trip To El Salvador, 2014

2. El Salvador
Situated on the Pacific
coast of Central America,
El Salvador has
Guatemala to the west
and Honduras to the
north and east. It is the
smallest of the Central
American countries, with
an area equal to that of
Massachusetts, and it is
the only one without an
Atlantic coastline. Most
of the country is on a
fertile volcanic plateau
about 2,000 feet high.

3. Environmental Disasters Effect El Salvador
In 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated the country, leaving
200 dead and over 30,000 homeless.
In Jan. and Feb. 2001, major earthquakes struck El Salvador,
killing over 12,000 people and leaving many more homeless.
An even worse disaster befell the country in the summer
when a severe drought destroyed 80% of the country's
crops, causing famine in the countryside.

4. A land of many
volcanoes!
El Salvador's Chaparrastique
volcano erupted Sunday,
December 29, sending a dark
cloud of ash miles into the sky,
forcing thousands to evacuate
from their homes and snarling
travel in the Central American
country as airlines canceled
flights. This was only 90 miles
away from our destination in
San Salvador!

5. Arriving in El
Salvador, on Friday,
January 3, 2014 –
Delayed 2 days!
We arrived in El Salvador
about 9:00 p.m. and had to
collect our baggage, get
through customs and meet up
with our Pastor Joey “PJ”
Bailey, van driver Oscar, and
our interpreter Moses… Then
we had load up the van with
ALL our bags, about 24 total!
By 11:00 pm. we arrived at
Casa Concordia where Trini
Olmedo had a light meal
prepared for us – it was a long
trip but so good to be back at
the Casa and among our
friends!

6. Casa Concordia, Our
Home for 8 Days…
Trinidad “Trini” Olmedo runs the
Casa Concordia lodging where we
stayed – she made sure all of our
rooms were ready and our meals
prepared every day! Several other
groups stayed at Casa Concordia at
the same time we were here… so
Trini and her staff were VERY busy!
Trini’s personal story is extremely
compelling – go to this site to read
about her life during the war
http://www.embracingelsalvador.org/maria-trinidad/

7. Day 1 … A visit to
the Community of
Fe y Esperanza –
“Faith and Hope”
During the civil war, this
community housed over 500
refugees. Now there are far
fewer residents but they are
trying to subsist by farming
with natural fertilizers and
pesticides, maintaining a
tilapia fish farm and raising
chickens.

8. Cooking lunch…
Most of the kitchens in this
community are set up outside
of the house because the
cooking is done on an open
fire…

9. Reminders of the
civil war…
Inside the church there
are graphic reminders
about the war, which
many in this community
suffered through and still
remember vividly.

10. Our mission…Pure
water and solar
lights
After a tour of the
community, we assembled
water filtration units,
taught a class on how to
use them, and distributed
solar lights, clothing and
toys to the folks at the
church.

11. Day 2 - Out In the
Salvadoran
countryside, on our
way to Chipilte
community
The area we visited is
considered to be a Rain
Forest… We saw
everything from cactus to
bamboo, poinsettia trees
to sugar cane, and even
some unusual types of
pine trees!

12. Sugar Cane…
Sugar cane is a major crop in
El Salvador. When it is ready
for harvest , the field is
burned. Then the workers go
into the blackened field to
cut the cane. They work 12
hours a day and make 50
cents an hour – that’s only $6
a day for hard, dirty work.
But they are happy to do
what they can to make a
living.

13. Helping the school
in Chipilte…
Part of our mission is to
support the school and
the students’ families with
a Sponsorship program –
which has been hugely
successful! Each family
receives $5 for their
sponsored child, and the
school receives $5 or $10
for needed supplies and
educational materials…

14. A special day at the
school in Chipilte!
The school children had a
special presentation
prepared just for us! Here
the students are doing a
traditional folkloric dance
where the girls are chased
by a little “torito”…

15. Students at the
school in Chipilte
We were treated to other
songs and dances,
presentations and a tour
of the school’s facilities.

16. A school in El
Salvador…
This school has only 3 big
rooms with some desks
and shelves for supplies.
Another building has a
row of computers for
students to use. Students
are done with school after
Grade 9, unless they want
to continue their
education.

17. Life in the
community of
Chipilte…
Chipilte is a very poor,
rural community. Most
homes are a made of a
rough frame work with tin
sheeting for walls and
roof. Few homes have a
water source and almost
none have any electricity.

18. Inside the Home…
Homes usually have
only two or three living
areas – a place outside
to cook, a family area
and a sleeping area.
There is little furniture.
Clothes are often just
hung over a rope inside
since there are no
closets or dressers.
Often a family of seven
will live in a home this
size…

19. In the Kitchen…
This is how most women
cook in Chipilte – over an
open fire inside or outside
near the house. Most
meals consist of beans
and rice every day.
Chicken is the most
common meat available.

20. Corn is a food
staple in Salvador…
Heaps of corn are stored
by families in Chipilte.
The corn is husked and
shucked from the cob,
then brought to a local mill
where it is ground into
cornmeal to make tortillas.
Tortillas are served at
virtually every meal.

21. A thriving garden…
This year we again saw a
large garden where there
was nothing but bare
ground 2 years ago
Six women tend to the
garden to produce
tomatoes, cucumbers,
cabbage and other
vegetables that can help
feed the community and
be sold at market,
providing a small income
for the families.

22. Bathroom facilities…
This is a typical outhouse
bathroom in the
Salvadoran countryside –
the “banos”. They are built
so that there are several
steps to walk up, as the
ground is too hard to dig a
hole down. The toilets are
commonly concrete. The
door on this one is
broken…

23. Our Projects…
One of out first projects
last year was to build a
floor for the community’s
Sunday School room.
The floor was just packed
dirt which in the rainy
season became a pool of
muck and mud. A raised
wood floor would make
this room functional all
year round!

24. Everybody Helps…
The men of the
community quickly
learned how to run the
power tools we purchased
for them. Despite the
language barrier,
everybody understood the
plan for the project and
we had plenty of help to
get the work done!

25. The new and
improved school
room…
Here is how the Sunday
School room looked when
all the work was done!
The chairs and tables
were purchased by a
member of our group
when we visited last
year… We also provided
books and other
educational resources,
including a white board
and a supply of markers.

26. The Projects
Continue…
The projects continued as
a new walkway to the
church was constructed.
The rocky, slippery slope
to Chipilte’s church was
replaced with a set of
gravel steps. Again, once
we explained project, the
men of Chipilte took over
to get the job done!

27. The Finishing
Touches…
The church received a
new coat of blue paint and
a hand crafted cross was
mounted over the
entrance.

28. Last Year’s Project –
Water filtration
units!
Like most rural
Salvadoran communities,
the water is NOT good
water for drinking. As
visitors, we were always
careful to drink only
bottled or purified water
no matter where we were.
But the community
members have no choice
but to drink, cook and
wash with water laden
with bacteria and
contaminants, which
creates health problems –
many of them serious,
especially in children and
the elderly.

29. WavesForWater…
The water filter units were
purchased from
WavesForWater, an
organization whose goal is
get portable water filters into
countries that need them.
Learn more about this
wonderful organization at
http://www.WavesForWater.org
This year we found that the
filters we installed last year
were still running fine!

30. Reconnecting with
our friends in
Chipilte…
We had only one day to
spend in Chipilte this year.
After distributing the
water filter replacements
and more solar lights,
clothing and toys, there
was little time left to visit
with the people here who
have become our friends
and treat us like family…

31. Day 3 – A Visit to
Puxtan
Puxtan is a remote
mountain village still
inhabited by the
indigenous natives, who
still live according to their
traditional cultural
practices and spiritual
religious beliefs .
We were welcomed with
drum and flute music, and
met by the spiritual healer
who purified us with
incense as we entered the
village.

32. Clean water and
solar lights for
Puxtan…
In all the communities we
visited, our main mission
was clean water and solar
lights.
Again we assembled the
filtration units, explained
their care and use,
distributed lights as well
as clothes, toys and other
goods.

33. Providing Solar Lights
for the communities…
We partnered with LuminAid Lab,
an organization which developed a
unique solar lantern for distribution
in third world countries. They
generously donated 2 cases of
solar lantern units to us to bring to
Salvador

34. Day 4 – El Carrizel,
another remote
community…
After spending the night in
Santa Ana, we traveled
the next day to El Carrizel,
another remote farming
community in the western
part of El Salvador.
Again, water filter systems
and solar lights were our
main focus, as well as
distributing clothes and
toys…And sharing a day
meeting with new friends!

35. Sharing food and
friendship…
In every community we
visited, the folks prepared
a meal and shared it with
us. We were never
hungry when we traveled!
This meal was similar to a
tamale, made with
cornmeal, wrapped and
cooked in a leaf, served
hot and was delicious!

36. And fresh coconut
“milk” too…
Really fresh, right off the
tree! Cut open with a
machete, the coconut
provided both a beverage
and fresh coconut “meat”,
scooped out with part of
the shell…

37. Day 5 - A Visit to
Casa Esperanza….
Our delegation spent
next day at Casa
Esperanza – “Hope
House” – a homeless
shelter and soup kitchen.
The shelter serves
people who are often
alcoholics, drug addicts,
or are mentally ill and
have no other place to
go…
Mostly the crowd is men,
but there are often a few
women and children that
seek refuge here.

38. Sharing His Story…
A few of the men at
Casa Esperanza shared
their stories with us.
Many were just down on
their luck having lost
their jobs and homes.
Some spoke English
because they had lived
in the U.S. but were
deported back to El
Salvador…

39. Lunch at Casa Esperanza
We served lunch to about
75 people, mostly men.
The food was purchased
by our delegation,
prepared by the Casa staff,
and served by us. Today
we brought chicken – a
special treat! - along with
mashed potatoes, a tortilla
and a can of pop. It is the
only hot meal most will
have for a few days…
Health items were passed
out to the folks there and
medical supplies were
delivered to the small clinic
housed at Esperanza.

40. Time for some
Cultural
Education…
Here at Cuscatlan Park
we viewed “The Wall of
Remembrance”, a
memorial dedicated to
more than 25,000 men,
women and children
who died or
disappeared during the
civil war in El Salvador
in the 1980’s.

41. Centro Monsenor
Romero
At the Romero Center
on the UCA campus, we
learned the story of six
Jesuit priests who were
murdered in 1989 by
Salvadoran Federal
troops… Also killed
that night were a
housekeeper and her
young daughter.

42. Romero Chapel…
The Romero Chapel on
the UCA campus is
home to these beautiful
art works, created by a
local Salvadoran artist,
which depict the terrible
impact of the war.
The Peace Accord was
signed just 20 years
ago. Many Salvadorans
who lived through the
war still carry vivid
memories, and scars,
from this terrible time.

43. Day 6 – Loma de
Ramos
On our last day we
headed for Loma de
Ramos, a small
mountainside village halfway up a volcano! It was
too remote and rocky for
our driver’s mini-van, so
we went up the mountain
in the back of two 4-wheel
drive pick-up trucks…

44. The view going up
the volcano…
El Salvador is a
beautiful country, and
we enjoyed the view
on our ride up the side
of the volcano to the
village of Loma de
Ramos

45. A service at the
church in Loma de
Ramos…
We attended a
church service that
included 3 Baptisms,
3 First Communions
and 2 Confirmations!
There was singing (in
Spanish), celebrating
and fellowship!

46. After church, some
entertainment!
After the service was
over, we were treated
to some traditional
folkloric dancing, and a
humorous dance
presentation by two of
the young students…
And then, of course,
we shared a delicious
meal with the people in
the community!

47. Always
remembered…
Gathering in the school for
our meal and
presentations, we saw
even here a grim reminder
of the civil war that cost so
many lives.
The Loma de Ramos
community was created
when, during the war,
people were forced higher
and higher into the
mountains to escape
terror and death at the
hands of the military.

48. The last of the solar
lights and water
filters…
The last of the solar lights
were demonstrated and
handed out to those that
needed them the most –
folks with no electricity in
their homes.

49. And the last of the
water filters…
The guys assembled the
last 9 water filter units, a
brief demonstration with
instructions followed, and
we distributed the rest of
clothing, toys and candy
that we brought with us.

50. All together in the
Loma de Ramos
school…
We all gathered together
for a group photo. Behind
us are the portraits painted
of the people who, 8 years
ago, helped build this
remote school halfway up
the side of a volcano! Our
Pastor, Joey “PJ” Bailey,
and team member Carole
Greene are humbled to
have their pictures included
on this wall that honors
their hard work and
dedication!

51. Saying Good-bye…
After 8 days in El Salvador it
was hard to say good-bye to
our friends, new and old.
We all receive as much
back from the people of El
Salvador, if not more, than
we give to them.
I look forward to going back
again NEXT year to reunite
with our friends there, make
more new friends and
continue to work on projects
that can help to make their
lives better!!

52. Questions???
I’m happy to answers any
questions you might have
about the country of El
Salvador, the people we
met, the life they live, or
the projects we worked
on…
Just Ask!!

53. A Presentation Created by
Laurel Chilcote
On behalf of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Alango, MN
And Calvary Lutheran Church, Orr, MN
And The Well, Virginia, MN