Delegation from the University of Maryland School of Social Work

by Agatha So  

 Delegation: University of Maryland School of Social Work

  In January 2012, I joined 10 of my classmates to travel to El Salvador as part of a course on international social work, offered by the University of MarylandSchool of Social Work and coordinated by the CIS.  To tell you the truth, I knew very little about El Salvador or Central America prior to going, but I learned quite a bit leading up to and during the trip. And being in El Salvador was a powerful experience because I learned about the stories of people who have been through so much together, and love so much together still.      

What does a trip to El Salvador mean for a social work student? For one, seeing how Salvadorans were doing things -  everything from community organizing, health, communication, caring for children, and fundraising, gave me a new perspective on what I was brought up and taught to believe was “the ways things ought to be”.

  The trip gave me a new perspective and ideas for approaching social work practice once I get my master’s degree. On another note, because my university is located in a part of the U.S. where the Salvadoran immigrant population is continuously growing, seeing where people come from, and learning about the reasons for migration helped me to understand what it would mean to work with these communities in the U.S. 

These women work in the Indigo Cooperative, this is just some of the beautiful work that they do.  Visit our webpage to see more indigo products and order yours!