Youth Leaders and Scholarship Students in San Vicente Circle up to Share Progress in Their Communities

On a cool damp day in June, thirty youth from communities in the CRIPDES San Vicente region arrived at the CRIPDES/CORDES offices for the mid-year assembly, to check in, to provide feedback on the scholarship program, and share about their work in their communities, organizing youth and working with community councils. Amilcar, a scholarship recipient himself, energetically ran the meeting and encouraged the youth to voice their opinions as they took turns sharing their impressions.



Before the assembly began, Amilcar asked the group to put their chairs in a circle to be able to see one another and participate collectively—the chairs were set up in rows, facing forward, with chairs formally placed behind the “mesa de honor.” It was a great way to start the meeting, with an emphasis on shared, horizontal leadership, with no one above anyone else in a hierarchical vertical structure. The meeting started with introductions and greetings as we went around the circle and took turns announcing who we were, which community or organization we represented, and why we were there. Soon after the introductions, the young adults took turns explaining what the scholarship meant to them.

“I have nothing negative to say, only positive words. I recognize the value in this program. It covers not only transportation, food, and the cost of education, but $5 can go to something else for the family. Helping our youth to study is so important. If we didn’t have this, the kids would not go to school. We appreciate it so much. Thank you,” expressed a very emotional mother in the group. Many other students and parents expressed very similar sentiments, recognizing that it not only helps the student attending school, but the whole family.

A focus of the assembly was also on the community organizing work youth participate in. Work ranged from the organization of cleaning campaigns and education about river pollution to plans to celebrate a community's anniversary, to an update about a mother’s day event that youth were central in planning in one of the communities. It took a while to warm the room up, but after some encouragement, youth shared more and more about their community organizing work, and about the achievements and struggles they have faced.




One of the greatest difficulties faced by these young leaders was the division of youth in their communities. As they took turns sharing their different experiences, a common thread was felt, and together they started to brainstorm suggestions of what they could do to build solutions. Through their formation and active participation of sharing their experiences, together they were able to begin the process for working through the problems.

Overall the young men and women wanted to make positive remarks and shared criticism to improve the program. The group was very positive and grateful to the scholarships and excited about their participation in their communities.

Amilcar, the visitors from SHARE, and the students all ended the afternoon with a fun, interactive “dynamica.”

In four small groups, youth chose an action, based on a household chore, and a song. Amilcar, standing in the middle of the room, would indicate to each group by raising his left, right or both arms when they should sing, act out their chore, do both, or stop. To the right, students act out the preparation of land before planting season begins with the first rains. The room was soon erupting in giggles as the students had some fun and got to know each other a little better through their actions and songs.




This dinamica also emphasized the importance of organization—if the group didn't have good communication and organization before Amilcar pointed to them, their actions wouldn't be coordinated and their song would be incomprehensible. From this silly activity, we drew an important lesson: only organized can people achieve their goals and salir adelante, move forward.

With a new generation doing things in a different way than in the past, the youth are working to create an atmosphere where it is comfortable to collectively participate and together create sustainable, alternative, democratic development in their communities. They enjoy the work they are doing and recognize its value for their communities. As they grow and develop as leaders, their communities, their region, and their country will benefit from the amazing work they are doing.

CCR High School Scholarship Assembly: The Literacy Circle Challenge

As a part of their commitment to community organizing, every two months recipients of a CCR-SHARE high school scholarship attend a youth scholarship meeting. This assembly overlaps with the CCR sistering meeting, allowing students to participate in and benefit from the space of analysis and, when possible, represent their communities in the discussion. When the sistering meeting is adjourned, the students and youth leaders stay to check in.

At first, it's like pulling teeth. In this group, like many groups of high-school aged youth throughout El Salvador, most of the teenagers are too penoso to participate in the beginning. The topic we began with was, in essence, how are we doing? What is working in our community work, and what isn't working? What do we like, and what don't we? When this didn't get any volunteers, Lucio, a young man himself, coordinator of the youth programs at the CCR, started calling on people and asking them to more specific questions, eventually leading to fruitful reflection.

The first young man to share, Luis from La Reina, the youngest in the room who we later gave a ride home through the pouring rain of the beginnings of Tropical Storm Agatha, shared that his professors give way too many exams and tests, sometimes up to three in one day, which is stressful and makes it impossible to study. They are too demanding. It was clear that this wasn't just a complaint about too much work, but a concern from a student who wants to do well but feels little support. Heads nodded around the room in agreement and understanding. With others experiencing the same thing, Lucio suggested that these students assume their role as youth leaders and rally fellow students to talk with the professor, present their difficulties and ask for support.

One by one, Lucio called on youth and they shared about their work in their communities. Beatriz from Ramirez shared that the youth committee is organizing fundraising events to buy sound equipment for the community—any time there is a community event, including patron saint festivals, marches, intermural activities, the all-important soccer tournament, they have to rent or borrow microphones and speakers, which is tedious and expensive. Pedro Antonio from Concepción talked about the cleaning campaigns that the youth committe carries out, while María Catalina from Teosinte shared her work with the local health clinic, supporting the children's nutrition program in the community.

The second half of the meeting was dedicated to a proposal from the CCR. The Education Ministry, under the new government, is beginning a community literacy program for adults and youth. In El Salvador, the illteracy rate for those over the age of 15 is 16%, a total of 1,354,057 people throughout the country that cannot read the news, write a letter, or often times sign their name. Chalatenango is among the departments with the highest illiteracy rates. While a literacy program has existed under previous administrations, according to FUSADES, the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development, as reported in 2009, programs have lacked in funds and in clear focus and attention towards the most affected population (Contrapunto.com.sv). Vice President and Education Minister Sanchez Ceren has set the goal of reducing illiteracy to 3.2% by 2014, the end of his term.

This is no small challenge. The government has hired local promoters to organize literacy circles in communities throughout the country, recognizing that time and transportation are huge barriers to even informal education, but they have asked for support from communities in leading these circles. This is where the CCR and youth leaders come in.

Lucio began by sharing a very personal story. Now a professional and university graduate, Lucio grw up in a very poor rural family. He talked about his family, about the sacrifices his own father made so that he and his siblings could continue their education. Three graduated from university, a gigantuan feat for a campesina family from Chalatenango. Despite this, Lucio shared that his father cannot read or write. When asked who had a mother, father or other relative who did not know how to read and write, almost all the hands in the room went up.

In the majority of the scholarship student's communities, where need is palpable, literacy circles are being established. The CCR's proposal is for these youth leaders to seek out the promoter in their zone and volunteer to facilitate a circle in their communities. The promoter will organize and monitor the groups, while the youth would work with them on a weekly basis to learn basic and necessary skills that have remained out of reach. “This is an important way for us to give back to our communities, offer something in return for the work our families have done to make our education possible, and a way for us to feel useful and helpful. Our families work the land, milk cows, do everything possible to make enough to complement the scholarship so we can study. This is a way to give something back and to thank them for their sacrifice,” Lucio said.

Most of the students were immediately on board with the proposal, although there were lingering doubts about how to facilitate this kind of process and the support they would need. We reminded students that this space enables them to come together every two months to share struggles and acheivements and create solutions to the challenges they face, providing support that they would not otherwise have. They can learn from each other's experiences, mistakes and successes, and look to the CCR for support and guidance.

In closing, reference was made to the morning's discussion about the change El Salvador so desperately needs. “Here is our opportunity to participate in these changes, to convert theoretical conversations into concrete actions.” From this group of students, who will learn and grow as they facilitate their own literacy circles, more Salvadorans will have the basic skills necessary to participate in a more complete way in the development and organization of their communities, region and country.

Roots of Justice: Delegate Reflection on El Salvador

The following reflection was written by Suzanne Bottelli, who accompanied her students from The Northwest School in Seattle, WA, on a delegation to El Salvador in March 2010. Northwest students actively support their sister region, UCRES, in youth and women's organizing projects and are equally active in advocacy and political action in their home city.

In March of this year I was fortunate to accompany a group of students and faculty from The Northwest School to join a SHARE delegation in El Salvador. We traveled for two weeks in order to have a week to learn about and experience the country and a week to participate in the events surrounding the 30-year anniversary of Archbishop Oscar Romero’s martyrdom on March 24, 1980. There are so many highlights that I could share, but I will tell you about visiting our sister school (in the community of Huisisilapa) and about our visit with Danny Burridge, who is a friend to the St. Pat’s community.

Our first stop on the way out to Huisisilapa was actually in the town of Aguilares, where we visited the offices of UCRES, a regional alliance of communities in the northern part of the country [Union de Communidades Rurales del Norte de San Salvador y Libertad]. Here we had an amazing talk with the current director of UCRES, Alex Torres, and with a few of the program directors as well. The director of Youth Programs, Denis, told us about his own experiences as part of the generation of young people who were kids during the war and yet were often recruited (or kidnapped) by both the army and the rebels and forced to fight as child soldiers during this brutal 12-year conflict. During the war, Denis escaped this fate but his father was assassinated and other members of his family were also killed. Now, these same young people, having had their families devastated and their educations interrupted, are being recruited by gangs and narco-traffickers for a life of even more violence. A striking thing about leaders like Alex and Denis is that they have come up through the youth councils that local communities such as Huisisilapa foster, and many have had access to high school and university training and to leadership opportunities through assistance from organizations such as SHARE.

We made our way to our much loved partner community of Huisisilapa, which was built by a community of families from various parts of El Salvador who were living as refugees in Honduras after the war and who returned to build a new community, literally from bare, burned ground, eighteen years ago this April. We were greeted by Wilfredo Mendoza, the director of the school and a respected and beloved member of the community. Throughout our visit, the students would call him by names such as “Wilf” or “Prof,” and always with affection and a certain amount of delight. He was an exceptional host and tour guide, showing us many parts of this well run community and yet also highlighting the significant challenges faced by the families there, including the contaminated river that runs through it. In stark contrast to our earlier visit to the marginalized community of “Las Nubes,” an informal settlement on the shoulder of San Salvador’s volcano, Huisisilapa boasts electricity, running water, a school, a community meeting center, a church and a clinic building. In addition, the families privately own their homes and the tracts of land on which they sit, while the farmland is collectively owned. Most homes have their own mini silos of milled corn that comes from the fields worked by the residents during the growing and harvest seasons. Unfortunately, November 2009’s Hurricane Ida wiped out the beans that had been planted, so beans that are usually home grown must be purchased this year. This alone has been a challenge in a year when remittances from the US have been drastically reduced by the financial and housing crises. Yet the spirit of determination and solidarity that comes through each time we visit speaks to the difference that such intentional communities as this one can make in the lives of everyone, young and old. In fact, while we were meeting with our young hosts, the pre-school was being cooperatively staffed by the mothers in the community, classes were in session through 10th grade, and a support group was meeting for people with injuries from the war. I am thankful to have had the opportunity once again to visit with our loving and courageous friends in Huisisilapa,

During one of our days in San Salvador we joined our friend Danny Burridge over at the inner city parish Maria Madre de los Pobres. They have celebrated their 25th anniversary recently, and the history of the parish was briefly described as one man’s mission to “live out Romero’s message.” Padre Daniel, as he is known, is a priest who came from Spain to this community in 1984 and slowly built a number of much needed programs during his 21 years of service to the parish. There is a pre-school and day care center, a school, a health clinic (with dental and vision care), a small pharmacy, a library, a sport court, and of course a simple but beautiful church, all carved out of the hillside there in one of the poorest and most underserved neighborhoods in San Salvador. Also, there is an after school program called “Open School,” created and still served by Danny, who is in his final year with the Voluntary Missionary Movement. We had a terrific visit with the kids there. After some sweet and funny greetings and sharing of interests, we did some calisthenics en Espanol and went out to play some basketball. It was a hot day, but it seemed good for some of our students to sweat and play and run around. It was also awe inspiring to visit this peaceful and loving place and to see such beautiful kids getting a chance to be happy and healthy.

To have participated in the 30-year commemoration of Archbishop Oscar Romero’s life this year was a real blessing for me, but to have witnessed the strength, joy and solidarity of these young Salvadorans, and of the many who walk with them, was truly profound.

Tropical Storm Agatha Hits El Salvador

Dear SHARE community,

As Tropical Storm Agatha moved over Salvadoran territory beginning last Thursday, El Salvador braced itself for yet another disaster. Heavy rainfall for days straight led to flooding and landslides throughout the country, and after elevating alert levels throughout the weekend, a state of emergency was declared. In his Sunday afternoon address, Funes asked citizens to cooperate with authorities and heed calls for evacuation, promising security for the homes and belongings families would leave behind and food and shelter at their destination. He made a call to solidarity organizations, political parties and governmental institutions to respond and unite to this most recent disaster.

As the rains diminish and we receieve more and more information about the aftermath from sister communities and counterparts, including organizations that SHARE was able to support after Hurricane Ida in November, we write with our own call: please help us respond to this most recent emergency.

Preliminary data from the Civil Protection Department informs that 10,335 people are currently in temporary shelter in 198 shelters throughout the country. Flooding of the Río Lempa caused evacuations in San Pablo Tacachico and El Paisnal along with dozens of communities in the Bajo Lempa, including the municipality of Tecoluca, along with dozens of communities in La Libertad, Cuscatlan, La Paz, Usulutan and San Vicente.

It appears that warning systems and coordination between community response teams and government institutions greatly reduced loss of life in this most recent storm. Many homes and communities have been destroyed or damaged, school on the national level has been suspended and many highways have been damaged from land and mudslides. Additionally, planting season already began, meaning that much of this year's crop may be lost from flooding, landslides or saturation of water.

In a press conference today, director of Civil Protection Meléndez declared that the situation is too generalized to have complete data, and while an evaluation of all damages on the national level has not been compelted, the country will remain red alert. The Enviornmental Minister, Herman Rosa Chavéz, for his part, informed that the levels of rain during Agatha were above 483mm in only 24 hours, surpassing those during Hurricane Mitch, at 375mm (source: Diaro CoLatino).

While government institutions ask people to remain on alert even when the rains diminish, we at SHARE have another request: as you did so generously in November after Hurricane Ida, please give to help the Salvadoran people respond and rebuild after this most recent disaster. Mail a check with AGATHA in the subjet line to the SHARE Foundation, 415 Michigan Ave. NE, Washington, D.C. 20017, or contact us at sharedc@share-elsalvador.org for more information.

In solidarity,
The SHARE Foundation: Building a New El Salvador Today

State of Emergency Declared in El Salvador

After elevating the alert level throughout the weekend, President Funes declared a State of Emergency in El Salvador on Sunday, due to torrential rains causing flooding and landslides, putting 90% of the country at risk in his estimation.

The rains were caused by Tropical Storm Agatha, which arrived over Salvadoran territory Thursday, causing heavy storms and heavier rainfall. Communities throughout the country, including in the Bajo Lempa, Ilopango, Mejicanos, San Pablo Tacachio and El Paisnal have been evacuated, and many homes have been destroyed. There is not yet an official number of the communities and families affected.

In his Sunday afternoon address, taking the place of what was to be a celebration of the first year in government, Funes asked citizens to cooperate with authorities and heed calls for evacuation, promising security for the homes and belongings they would leave behind and food and shelter at their destination. He made a call to solidarity organizations, political parties and governmental institutions to respond and unite to this most recent disaster.

The SNET, the National Service of Territorial Studies, has avised that the worst of Agatha has passed, although rains and storms will continue in certain parts of the country through tomorrow.

The SHARE Foundation expresses its solidarity with the families and communities affected by this most recent emergency, and will publish more information about the situation as it becomes available to us, as well as ways to respond.

The Fiery Furnace: Modern Day Easter Play about Mining in El Salvador

The following is a play written by participants in the 2010 Romero 30th Anniversary Delegation and performed at University Lutheran Chapel, SHARE sistering parish, for their Easter vigil. We at SHARE applaud their creative approach to outreach and raising awareness, and are grateful for the laughter and joy that they have brought to the anti-mining struggle, so important for El Salvador today.

Daniel 3:1-29 (The Fiery Furnace)

Narrator reads the text from the lectern.

Intro: Throughout all time and history, people have vested their hopes and dreams in false gods: power and wealth and gold. Not just in the United States and El Salvador, but also in ancient Babylon...

(During this section, the slides go up) (3:1) King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue whose height was sixty cubits and whose width was six cubits: he set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. (3:2) Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent for the satraps, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to assemble and come to the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. (3:3) So the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, assembled for the dedication of the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Character Number One: (Pacific Rim) I am Pacific Rim mining company, I have the opportunity here in El Salvador to make A LOT of money! The gold here, nestled under the ground, underneath these paltry communities, is the key to my extreme wealth and power....muahahahaha

When they were standing before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up, (3:4) the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, (3:5) that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. (3:6) Whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire.” (3:7) Therefore, as soon as all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, pipe lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble, all the peoples, nations, and languages fell down and worshiped the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

Character Number One: (Pacific Rim with syrupy sweetness) Pacific Rim cares about the community in which it works. Free trade and open market systems help everyone. The gold mines here are the key, not only to my success, but for everyone. Help me help you so we can all profit. When Pacific Rim mines everyone wins! Together! (shakes hands with the audience) Will you help me? I have gifts for you....(passes around the gifts & phrases)

(3:8) Accordingly, at this time certain Chaldeans came forward and denounced the Jews.

Character Number Two enters and stands ominously....(Pacific Rim security guard toting large machine gun)

(3:9) They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O King, live forever! (3:10) You, O King, have made a decree, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble shall fall down and worship the golden statue, (3:11) and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. (3:12) There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These pay no heed to you, O King. They do not serve your gods and they do not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

Character Number Three (crowd organizer): We are not going to put up with this! We need to tell the truth about these mines! Neoliberal economics don't work, these mines are destroying our land and water and soil! (hands out signs)

Signs are lifted: berets are put on, fmln flag is raised, signs saying "stop the mines," "save our water!"

(3:12) Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought in; so they brought those men before the king. (3:14) Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is is true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednégo, that you do not serve my gods and you do not worship the golden statue that I have set up? (3:15) Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum, and entire musical ensemble to fall down and worship the statue that I have made well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire, and who is the god that will deliver you out of my hands?” (3:16) Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to present a defense to you in this matter. (3:17) If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. (3:18) But if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”

SHOW DOWN: Pacific Rim is waving money around urging his side of the crowd to keep making noise, trying to get the other side of the room to come over. Demonstrators are urging their crowd to make noise. (Adlib a lot of noise!)

(3:19) Then Nebuchadnezzar was so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face was distorted. He ordered the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary, (3:20) and ordered some of the strongest guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and to throw them into the furnace of blazing fire. (3:21) So the men were bound still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the furnace of blazing fire. (3:22) Because he king’s command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated, the raging flames killed the men who lifted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Community Organizer: (Marcelo Rivera Pic- from mural?) was director of the Casa de Cultura in San Isidro, Cabañas, and was active in social justice and environmental struggles. Rivera made public denunciations of San Isidro Mayor Ignacio Bautista of the ARENA party. Rivera was also active in the national movement against mining projects that threaten El Salvador's principal watersheds. His lifeless body was rescued from a well on June 30th, with clear signs of torture. Que Viva Marcelo! (demonstrators respond Que Viva!)

Another Community Organizer: Ramiro Rivera Gomez (Ramiro Rivera Gomez Pic) was vice president of the Cabañas Environmental Committee and a leader in the resistance against the Pacific Rim Mining Company. After an attempt on his life in July of 2009, he was put on permanent security detail. He was gunned down and killed on December 20 while under the protection of two security guards of the Witnesses and Victims Protection Init of the National Civil Police. Que Viva Ramiro! (Que Viva!)

Another Community Organizer: Dora Alicia Sorto Recinos (Alicia Sorto Pic) was the wife of Santos Rodriquez, a farmer and active member of the Cabañas Environmental Committee. She and her husband were working in opposition to Pacific Rim´s proposed El Dorado gold mine. She was shot and killed December 26^th when she was returning home from doing laundry in a nearby river. She was eight months pregnant at the time. Que Viva Alicia! (Que Viva!)

(3:23) The three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down, bound, into the furnace of blazing fire. (3:24) Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up quickly. He said to his counselors, “Was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O King.” (3:25) He replied, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the fourth has the appearance of a god.”

Community Organizer: Although our comrades have fallen, they are with us still. They are fighting alongside us for the truth. Don't you remember what Monsigneur Romero said "Y si me matan, resucitaré en el pueblo salvadoreño” "If I am killed, I will be reborn in the Salvadoran people!"

(3:26) Nebuchadnezzar then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said ‘Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. (3:27) And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men; the hair of their heads was not singed, their tunics were not harmed, and not even the smell of fire came from them. (3:28) Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They disobeyed the king’s command and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship and god except their own God. (3:29) Therefore I make a decree: Any people, nation, or language that utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be torn limb from limb, and their houses laid in ruins; for there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.”

Conclusion: Throughout all time people have vested their hopes and dreams in false gods: power, wealth, and gold. And throughout time they have met their opposition in those who stand up for what is true and what is right. In Babylon, the US and El Salvador, we continue this fight today.

Community Organizing and Local Advocacy for Disaster Prevention: Inagurating Prevention and Mitigation Projects in the Bajo Lempa

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch ravaged El Salvador, claiming hundreds of lives, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of families and destroying homes, bridges, roads, crops and cattle. Mitch hit the Lower Lempa region especially hard. Seventeen communities in the Lower Lempa region were completely evacuated and devastated; Mitch made the vulnerability of the zone, felt by inhabitants since repopulation began at the end of the war, painfully clear. After Mitch, organization and advocacy in the region got stronger as people came together to demand prevention and mitigation projects. Private companies were contracted by the government to repair levees damaged by the floods, but while they made incredible profits, the companies hired did shoddy work.

Twelve years later, the national government finally responded to the pressure of these communities. On April 29, representatives from the Department of Public Works (MOP), the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), the Mayor of Tecoluca, CRIPDES San Vicente and ACUDESBAL—both long-time counterparts of SHARE, representing the Tecoluca (West) and Jiquilisco (East) sides of the river, respectively—and hundreds of community members gathered to inaugurate a series of prevention and mitigation project along the banks of and in communities surrounding the Lempa River.

The MOP and MAG have been in dialogue with CRIPDES San Vicente and ACUDESBAL about how best to carry out this project. The communities have put in the work to clear off the levees, overgrown with vegetation and worn away by years of neglect, and cut down the trees that threatened to fall and do further damage, the intense physical labor to pave the way for mechanized, professional work to be done by the MAG and MOP. This volunteer work was organized among affected communities, each responsible for an amount of work proportional to their population. Community councils divided the work among the men, women and children of the community, organizing work days to clear away their only defense from the rushing Lempa.

Flooding in the Lower Lempa region, a perennial problem, is affected greatly by the pollution, garbage and run-off that fill the Lempa River upstream. Thanks to deforestation, rain washes earth into the river and, in many places, the Lempa is much shallower than it used to be, crossable in some points on foot. During heavy rains, there is nowhere for the excess water to go but over the banks and into communities. This is worsened by bad management of the dams, which are thrown open to allow excess water upstream to flow down and flood the Lower Lempa.

As we stood on one of the sections of the levee to be repaired and reinforced, the Mayor of Tecoluca spoke about the importance of the project. “Without organization,” he states, “this wouldn’t have been possible, wouldn’t have been achieved. What has been done until today is thanks to the work of the communities, of men, women, and children to care for the levees.” He warms that vigilance of the coming work is very important, as private companies will be contracted.

This prevention and mitigation project, which, with rainy season only weeks away and the work scheduled to take six months is certainly getting a late start, will include the construction of one kilometer of new levee; repairs, reconstruction and reinforcement of levees all along the east and west banks of the Lower Lempa river, which includes heightening and widening many of the existing levees, a total of 24 kilometers of levees in Tecoluca and 27.5 in Jiquilisco; the construction of eight cattle crossings so cattle can drink from the river and use the grazing land along the river’s banks; and the cleaning of 18 kilometers of drainage canals that run through the zone, many of which are completely grown over with trees and brush. Rehabilitation of these drainage canals is vital, because even when the river itself doesn’t flood, a few days of heavy rains can flood communities as the water accumulates and has nowhere to go. The MAG will respond for all work relating to the levees and the MOP will work on the drainage canals, all work that requires heavy machinery and technical expertise.

After the photo opp at the levee 15 minutes outside of San Carlos Lempa, the 200 community members, activists and government representatives returned toCRIPDES San Vicente’s offices for more in-depth presentations and Q&A that lasted the rest of the morning. Presentations included more specific, technical information about the planned work, the timeline, and numbers detailing how much each department will invest. Marcos Machorta (right) from San Bartolo, on the Jiquilisco side of the river, spoke in representation of all communities affected by flooding: “our dreams of living a little more securely.”

Although the work is yet to be done, this is a significant step forward for the thousands of people that have fought since returning to El Salvador in the early 90s for a safe, secure place to live, a place where each new storm doesn´t threaten to flood communities or put their homes in the path of the Lempa River.