La Javia, etc.
Hola a todos y todas. I'm writing this on my computer rather than at the internet cafe so I'll have more time. It's weird to be on this computer and not have internet access. I looked at the clock and it said 7:42 AM, and I got confused, and then I realized I'm going to have to manually change the time. Ooh, I just opened up my system preferences and clicked on the map where I thought El Salvador was, and sure enough "Closest City: San Salvador, El Salvador" popped up. Yay for me and my geography skills.
Yesterday was a lot of fun. We visited two praxis sites: Tepecoyo (specifically La Javia - I'm not sure if it's part of Tepecoyo or just nearby, but it's a small rural community, and everyone just says Tepecoyo) and Jayaque. On our way to Tepecoyo I was a little nervous because it's my praxis site, and I'll be spending a lot of time there. Trena (one of the program coordinators) had told us ahead of time that our visit to Tepecoyo would be a little different because it was the inauguration of the new sala de computación (computer lab), so a lot of the community would be there. When we arrived I was struck by the natural beauty and all the trees. I knew this was in a relatively rural area, and my perception of rural is huge open fields, pero aquí es muy diferente. There were a fair number of people there, and we introduced ourselves and a group played some music, which was really good. In La Javia there used to be a comedor (soup kitchen) that fed 60 children and 10 adults, but for a number of reasons it got closed down, so the community worked with an organization called ConnectEd (run by two Casa alumni) and the Casa program to bring computers into the community. This is a very poor community, and as they told us, they don't have social mobility. One interesting thing is that very few people from the community go to the United States (one of our leaders told us that 700 Salvadorans leave El Salvador every day), which means that they don't get money sent back to them. Remesas are a huge part of the economy in El Salvador, so in La Javia their resources are especially limited. It's really exciting to have computers there. Patrick and I will help teach people, mostly kids I think, how to use the computers. We'll also be teaching English and doing home visits. I liked it there but when I tried to talk to people I had a really hard time, in part because I couldn´t understand them, and in part because I didn´t have much to say. Hopefully communication will get easier though.
Then we went to Jayaque, which is nearby. We visited the Martín-Baró Cooperative (for those of you who know Ryan E., that's his praxis site). I went there last time I was in El Salvador, and the people are so nice. They talked about what they do (there's a dental clinic, a natural medicine program, a sewing academy, and a bakery) and the development of the program. They also give scholarships, and the scholarship students help with the projects in the Cooperative.
For the next part my mom has to close her eyes: We got into the backs of two pick-up trucks (standing up, holding onto railing) and drove up into the mountains. We stopped at a finca (coffee farm) briefly and got to see a bunch of unroasted beans. We drove up really high and the view was gorgeous. For a stretch we could actually see the ocean in the distance. Except for the bugs and dirt in my face it was really really fun.
You can open your eyes now.
We drove back to the Cooperative and had a little birthday party for Amy, one of my roommates, whose birthday is today. Then we drove back to the Casa and had dinner and a reflection. There's a group of us who have started doing a prayer thing every night, so we did that after reflection. A student named Adam brought a missal with the daily readings in Spanish, so the way we've done it the last couple nights is we open with a song, we read the readings in Spanish and/or English, we read something short (last night it was by Mother Teresa, the night before it was by Oscar Romero) and have a little reflection, then we do petitions and have some sort of closing prayer. I love it, though I'm not sure how long it'll last once classes start. We'll probably shorten it, but I really like it the way it is. It's like mini-church.
Today is a free day. A bunch of us went to Mass in the morning, which was nice. I went early with another girl, and the priest talked to us for a little while. He's from Italy and speaks English. He spent 10 years in the U.S. He seems nice. During Mass I was able to follow along pretty well.
A lot of people are going to the beach today, but I decided to stay here, relax, go to the internet cafe and the store, and maybe do my laundry. We're going to the beach as a group in a couple weeks, so I'll have more opportunities.
Hasta luego...
Yesterday was a lot of fun. We visited two praxis sites: Tepecoyo (specifically La Javia - I'm not sure if it's part of Tepecoyo or just nearby, but it's a small rural community, and everyone just says Tepecoyo) and Jayaque. On our way to Tepecoyo I was a little nervous because it's my praxis site, and I'll be spending a lot of time there. Trena (one of the program coordinators) had told us ahead of time that our visit to Tepecoyo would be a little different because it was the inauguration of the new sala de computación (computer lab), so a lot of the community would be there. When we arrived I was struck by the natural beauty and all the trees. I knew this was in a relatively rural area, and my perception of rural is huge open fields, pero aquí es muy diferente. There were a fair number of people there, and we introduced ourselves and a group played some music, which was really good. In La Javia there used to be a comedor (soup kitchen) that fed 60 children and 10 adults, but for a number of reasons it got closed down, so the community worked with an organization called ConnectEd (run by two Casa alumni) and the Casa program to bring computers into the community. This is a very poor community, and as they told us, they don't have social mobility. One interesting thing is that very few people from the community go to the United States (one of our leaders told us that 700 Salvadorans leave El Salvador every day), which means that they don't get money sent back to them. Remesas are a huge part of the economy in El Salvador, so in La Javia their resources are especially limited. It's really exciting to have computers there. Patrick and I will help teach people, mostly kids I think, how to use the computers. We'll also be teaching English and doing home visits. I liked it there but when I tried to talk to people I had a really hard time, in part because I couldn´t understand them, and in part because I didn´t have much to say. Hopefully communication will get easier though.
Then we went to Jayaque, which is nearby. We visited the Martín-Baró Cooperative (for those of you who know Ryan E., that's his praxis site). I went there last time I was in El Salvador, and the people are so nice. They talked about what they do (there's a dental clinic, a natural medicine program, a sewing academy, and a bakery) and the development of the program. They also give scholarships, and the scholarship students help with the projects in the Cooperative.
For the next part my mom has to close her eyes: We got into the backs of two pick-up trucks (standing up, holding onto railing) and drove up into the mountains. We stopped at a finca (coffee farm) briefly and got to see a bunch of unroasted beans. We drove up really high and the view was gorgeous. For a stretch we could actually see the ocean in the distance. Except for the bugs and dirt in my face it was really really fun.
You can open your eyes now.
We drove back to the Cooperative and had a little birthday party for Amy, one of my roommates, whose birthday is today. Then we drove back to the Casa and had dinner and a reflection. There's a group of us who have started doing a prayer thing every night, so we did that after reflection. A student named Adam brought a missal with the daily readings in Spanish, so the way we've done it the last couple nights is we open with a song, we read the readings in Spanish and/or English, we read something short (last night it was by Mother Teresa, the night before it was by Oscar Romero) and have a little reflection, then we do petitions and have some sort of closing prayer. I love it, though I'm not sure how long it'll last once classes start. We'll probably shorten it, but I really like it the way it is. It's like mini-church.
Today is a free day. A bunch of us went to Mass in the morning, which was nice. I went early with another girl, and the priest talked to us for a little while. He's from Italy and speaks English. He spent 10 years in the U.S. He seems nice. During Mass I was able to follow along pretty well.
A lot of people are going to the beach today, but I decided to stay here, relax, go to the internet cafe and the store, and maybe do my laundry. We're going to the beach as a group in a couple weeks, so I'll have more opportunities.
Hasta luego...
posted by Amber at 12:09 PM
3 Comments:
You what?! (I didn't close my eyes.) Actually, it does sound really fun! I'm glad for all of the great experiences you're having there.
I felt united with you today by our both having been at Mass. As Fr. Sparks has said before, the whole church is united in the Eucharist, even though participating at different times. We sang today: "One bread, one body, one Lord of all, one cup of blessing which we bless. And we, though many, throughout the earth, we are one body in this one Lord." (John Foley). I though about you and the Salvadoran people there.
I'm pondering the potential effect of the computers and computer training on the culture and lives of the people in La Javia. What are the goals of the training? What will be the beneficial aspects for their community? What are the potentially damaging aspects? I'm not criticizing, just curious, thinking about the balance of the positive and negative influence of computers in the lives of active, rural, traditional people. Do you know what I mean?
Great blog - gracias!
Hola Ambaaaar!
That sounds amazing! Good luck teaching the kids about computers, that should be fun. ;) You should teach them to make pictures out of letters, like this:
__,..,…_¸¸.•¤**¤•.¸.•¤**¤•..
.•**JUST PASSING BY 2 SAY HI!**•.
.,/.•*•… ¸..•¤**¤•., .•¤**¤•.*.
Because that's a valuable computer skill.
Adios,
Yo ser su buena amiga, Raquel!
Gracias for helping.
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