Here is an interesting link to a NY Times article on poverty in the United States.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/19/us/19poor.html?ex=1153540800&en=3a4100970c38407b&ei=5087%0A
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Friday, July 14, 2006
Pictures of some of the YES students in El Pital, Chalatenango
Planting grass
Two students teaching a 5th grade class about stereotypes/gender roles
The kids were a big hit with the kids!
Making pupusas with the women
Hope
The wonderful thing about life--when so many things seem to be going poorly in the world, something happens to inspire and bring hope.
I spent Monday and Tuesday with an AMAZING group of teenagers from Houston, Texas. A Peace Corps Volunteer here in El Salvador worked with a teacher at an alternative school in the States to arrange a service learning trip to her village in El Salvador. The students that came down here were Hispanic (several of their parents were born in El Salvador), so all of them spoke Spanish and didn't seem quite as wide eyed as so many of us gringos! It was neat to see the cultural exchange between the kids and the people in the village here. It was also beautiful to see a REAL, human relationship between students and teachers, as well. The teachers shared with me that time is spent with both students and families--isn't that a novel idea?!
The most inspiring part for me, though, was seeing how hard these kids worked, how respectful they were to people, and how much they really seemed to care...So many times we hear about how children in the US don't have values anymore, are "me centered"--all of you know the rhetoric that I'm talking about! And I've experienced it, too...I get frustrated with the lack of knowledge and caring of so many people in the world, but this group of students and teachers brought hope back into my heart. So much of my experience here in El Salvador has been just that--learning how to hope again. Many, many people here (both Salvadoran and American) have given me the beautiful gift of hope.
While the students are here for 2 weeks they are building latrines, teaching English classes, life skills classes, and planting grass in an attempt to prevent further soil erosion.
If you want to find out more about the school, their website is:
http://www.yesprep.org
I spent Monday and Tuesday with an AMAZING group of teenagers from Houston, Texas. A Peace Corps Volunteer here in El Salvador worked with a teacher at an alternative school in the States to arrange a service learning trip to her village in El Salvador. The students that came down here were Hispanic (several of their parents were born in El Salvador), so all of them spoke Spanish and didn't seem quite as wide eyed as so many of us gringos! It was neat to see the cultural exchange between the kids and the people in the village here. It was also beautiful to see a REAL, human relationship between students and teachers, as well. The teachers shared with me that time is spent with both students and families--isn't that a novel idea?!
The most inspiring part for me, though, was seeing how hard these kids worked, how respectful they were to people, and how much they really seemed to care...So many times we hear about how children in the US don't have values anymore, are "me centered"--all of you know the rhetoric that I'm talking about! And I've experienced it, too...I get frustrated with the lack of knowledge and caring of so many people in the world, but this group of students and teachers brought hope back into my heart. So much of my experience here in El Salvador has been just that--learning how to hope again. Many, many people here (both Salvadoran and American) have given me the beautiful gift of hope.
While the students are here for 2 weeks they are building latrines, teaching English classes, life skills classes, and planting grass in an attempt to prevent further soil erosion.
If you want to find out more about the school, their website is:
http://www.yesprep.org
Friday, July 07, 2006
Violence
I've debated writing about the level of violence here in El Salvador so as not to alarm others in regard to my safety and also the ability to travel here, but it just seems too important to not write about...This week has just been filled with reminders of just how peligroso El Salvador (and the world for that matter) is.
I learned that an elderly couple in the town that I just moved from was killed over the weekend...the same day that I moved from there. I don't know what the real story is, and I hesitate to write about it as any information that I rely upon--be it newspapers, TV, Salvadorans, or other Volunteers--will be subjective and I have to consider it gossip. Where is the truth? This week, here in San Salvador, there was a demonstration at the University, supposedly because the bus prices had gone up, and during the demonstration 2 police officers were killed. There are so many implications for this that I don't even think that I can write about it all. Is the government going to pass laws to limit the people's ability to demonstrate? Are demonstrations here going to become more violent rather than peaceful?
So, these are just two examples of the violence that is present here. I could give several more examples, but I will refrain. A friend of mine here told me that the people here live in fear...Its extremely disturbing to hear that, and while I need to be careful, I can't live my life in fear.
As I said at the beginning of this, I'm not writing about this to alarm or deter others from seeing the beauty of El Salvador. Its just that with all the beauty of the land, and the goodness of so very many people here, there is the harsh reality as well that can't be forgotten. I still love this country, but like any loving relationship its not easy when reality sets in...
I learned that an elderly couple in the town that I just moved from was killed over the weekend...the same day that I moved from there. I don't know what the real story is, and I hesitate to write about it as any information that I rely upon--be it newspapers, TV, Salvadorans, or other Volunteers--will be subjective and I have to consider it gossip. Where is the truth? This week, here in San Salvador, there was a demonstration at the University, supposedly because the bus prices had gone up, and during the demonstration 2 police officers were killed. There are so many implications for this that I don't even think that I can write about it all. Is the government going to pass laws to limit the people's ability to demonstrate? Are demonstrations here going to become more violent rather than peaceful?
So, these are just two examples of the violence that is present here. I could give several more examples, but I will refrain. A friend of mine here told me that the people here live in fear...Its extremely disturbing to hear that, and while I need to be careful, I can't live my life in fear.
As I said at the beginning of this, I'm not writing about this to alarm or deter others from seeing the beauty of El Salvador. Its just that with all the beauty of the land, and the goodness of so very many people here, there is the harsh reality as well that can't be forgotten. I still love this country, but like any loving relationship its not easy when reality sets in...
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Public Health Music Video
Sarah Maclachlan donated the budget for the music video to 11 charities.
Sarah McLachlan :Afterglow :'World on Fire'
http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mode=2&pmmsid=1202713
Sarah McLachlan :Afterglow :'World on Fire'
http://us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mode=2&pmmsid=1202713
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