Monseñor Romero

Para hablar de Monseñor Romero podemos utilizar muchos apelativos: Pastor, Mártir, Profeta, Santo, ...; pero más allá de nuestra fe o creencia, Monseñor Romero representa VERDAD.

 

Por esta razón, los y las estudiantes de la Escuela de Español se unieron a la Red de Comunidades para conmemorar que el legado de Monseñor Romero sigue vivo.  Juntos recordaron sobre su gran amistad con el Padre Rutilio Grande, reflexionaron sobre el video Mi pueblo es mi Profeta y cantaron en su memoria.

Monseñor Romero vive en todos y todas aquellas personas que buscan la verdad y la justicia

We can use many different words when referring to Monseñor Romero: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Saint, etc; but more than faith or belief

, Monseñor Romero represents TRUTH.

For this reason, the Spanish School students  joined with the Communities Network commemorate the legacy of Monseñor Romero and acknowledge that he lives on.  Together, we remembered his great friendship with Padre Rutilio Grande, reflected on the video Mi Pueblo es mi Profeta (My People are my Prophet) and we sang in his memory. 

Monseñor Romero lives in each and every person who searches for truth and justice.

Día Internacional de la Mujer

Para el Día Internacional de la Mujer, los y las estudiantes de la Escuela de Español construyeron un collage relacionado a las mujeres.  El concepto MUJER tiene muchas imágenes y palabras asociadas. Cada una implica las innumerables formas de vivir la feminidad.  También evocan las diversas luchas de las mujeres.

Esta actividad fue acompañada con una charla de Delmy Linares, microempresaria y promotora de CIS.  Conocimos de sus luchas y su camino de empoderamiento.

La escuela de Inglés retomó la misma dinámica desde su propio espacio. 

International Women's Day

For International Women’s Day, the students of the Spanish School created a collage related to women’s issues.  The concept of WOMAN has many words and images associated with it, each demonstrating the numerous ways to live femininity.  The collage also evokes the diverse struggles of each woman.

This activity was accompanied by a talk from Delmy Linares, CIS promoter and small business owner.  She shared with us her struggles and path to empowerment.

The English School used the same dynamic during their own event.

                                                 

Update on The “Mercedes Arias” Solidarity and Social Transformation School for the formation of community leaders

This year 2014 the CIS’s Network of Communities are making a very important effort on human development.  We have started The “Mercedes Arias” Solidarity and Social Transformation School for the formation of community leaders.  The goal of this effort is to develop a group of leaders made up of 30 people (20 woman and 10 men) from the Community Network, Water Committees, and the Scholarship Program.  The school is designed so that the workshops are reproduced by the leaders in their local organizations.  It will be a multiplying team. 

The school is set up for seven months from January to July.  The topics are as follows: power, leadership, community organization, environmental contamination, access for woman to comprehensive health care, conflict transformation and solidarity.

All of these topics are prepared with a methodology that allows us to take a step back and examine how we are doing currently.  It is done in a way that each participant reflects on the topic from his/her reality.  We are going to look deeper into our groups in the communities.  Our orientation is that, as leaders, we should be actors and not spectators.  Change should first come from us.

The Methodology

We are working with a facilitator’s guide that is based in popular education.  Some of the material comes from what we worked on last year with an intern and other material is from Equipo Maíz.  We include techniques like role play, energizers, music, etc. We have participation guidelines for the workshops.  The truth it is a space where there is a lot of participation.

The people in charge of the school are some of the grassroots organizers. The participants are given a snack, lunch, and bus fair.  The workshops take place from 9:00am-3:00pm.  At each workshop the participants are give a Facilitator’s Guide so that each of them can put on the workshop in their respective communities.

After the first workshop on power, the leaders reproduced the workshop in five different municipalities.  Some of the comment that emerged was many people saw power as just being something from above that politicians have.  One woman said, “I had never heard people talk about power from below.  The ability that each an every one of us have…now I feel more important.”   On the topic of leadership one youth said “I see myself as a paternalistic leader.  I thought I was doing things the right way, but now I realized I have to change my attitude about my leadership.”  Another man said, “in leadership, honesty is very important.”

As a team we are satisfied with the work.  We think that after the workshops we will see important changes because we see that the participants have the will to change.

La escuela de solidaridad y transformación social para la formación de líderes y lideresas comunitaria/os “Mercedes Arias”

Este año 2014 como red de comunidades del CIS estamos  realizando un esfuerzo muy importante sobre el desarrollo humano; Hemos iniciado la escuela de solidaridad y transformación social para la formación de líderes y lideresas comunitaria/os “Mercedes Arias” este esfuerzo tiene como propósito  la formación de un grupo de 30 personas (20 mujeres y 10 hombres) de la red de comunidades, comités de agua y programa de becas,  para que ellas y ellos  reproduzcan los talleres en sus organizaciones locales, en concreto será un equipo multiplicador

La escuela está programada para 7 meses de Enero a Julio los temas son:

El poder, liderazgo, organización comunitaria, contaminación ambiental, acceso a la salud integral de las mujeres, transformación de conflictos y la solidaridad.

En todos los temas  preparamos  una metodología que nos permita hacer un alto para revisar como estamos en la actualidad, pero además la reflexión la realizamos desde nosotras y nosotros y nos vamos a revisar al interior de nuestros grupos en la comunidades y orientamos que las y los lideres debemos ser actores y no espectadores y que el cambio debe ser primero desde nosotras/os

La metodología

Estamos trabajando con una guía metodológica de educación popular que trabajamos el año pasado con ayuda de un pasante y con algún material que tenemos del equipo maíz, incluimos  mucho las técnicas, los dramas, la exposición las dinámicas, música etc.  Tenemos reglas de convivencia, en realidad es un espacio muy bueno donde hay mucha participación

Las personas encargadas de del desarrollo de la escuela  son algunos de las promotores.   A las y los participantes se les proporciona un refrigerio, almuerzo y viáticos, pues el horario es de 9:00am – 3:00pm  además se les entrega una guía metodológica para la reproducción

Cabe destacar que en 5 municipios ya se reprodujo el tema del poder y algunos comentarios de las personas fueron que ellas relacionaban el poder solo desde arriba o sea desde los funcionarios o políticos etc. “Nunca habían escuchado hablar del poder desde abajo o sea la capacidad que cada una y cada uno poseemos”  “ahora me siento más importante” dijo una mujer y sobre el tema de liderazgo cuando trabajamos  los tipos de liderazgo un joven dijo “yo me ubico en el liderazgo paternalista porque pensaba que yo hacía bien ahora debo cambiar mi actitud respecto a mi liderazgo” otro  señor dijo  “en el liderazgo es muy importante la honestidad”.

Como equipo estamos satisfecha/os  de este trabajo y consideramos que después de los talleres se verán cambios importantes porque  vemos voluntad en las personas que están participando

Election Observations in San Luis La Herradura

This was my fourth election observer mission since 2009 and for the most part everything ran smoothly, with only a few minor inconsistencies mentioned below.  Even in the relatively short period that I have been observing the elections in El Salvador I have seen significant improvements in the process.  Residential voting, absentee voting, police being allowed to vote, and the electronic transmission of the Acta are all some of those improvements.  Although there are still some problems, I am confidant that they will be resolved and that the process will continue to improve.  The absentee voting had many problems this election, which is understandable since this was the first time it was used.  With these improvements and with the belief that things will continue to improve, I have high hopes for the future elections in El Salvador.   Now that the process has been in place, and the people see how it should work, it is hard to believe that they would ever go back to the way things were with so many checks and balances.

As mentioned, for the most part the elections I observed went very well, but there were a few glitches that I think are worth mentioning.

 *******The CIS is looking for International Observers for the run off election: March 3rd-11th.******

**************Contact us if you are interested: electionmission@cis-elsalvador.org***********

1.  Tinta (ink) – At the table I observed (8157) the President rarely, if ever, checked voters hands for tinta.

2.  Security, at some of the tables, was very poor and could have been easily fixed.  I never saw anyone taking advantage of this, but it could have been a problem.  Photos below illustrate this problem.

Voter could be easily observed

Voter being observed by non family member

An example of good security

Poor security

I could see how this voter voted

Too low and wide opened 

Crowds around voting booths and woman looks into voting booth

Poor security

3.  All the carbon copies of the Acta could not be clearly read.

4.  Ballot boxes placed in wrong locations and close together caused problems.  On three separate occasions I observed voters coming close to depositing their ballot in the wrong box.  Photos below illustrate this problem.

Ballot boxes too close together.  Caused confusion when crowded.

5.  Vigilantes performed tasks beyond their purview.  Photo below illustrate this problem.

Vigilante counts ballots at opening

6.  Laminated DUIs caused considerable discussions at many tables.  How different JRVs resolved this issue was not consistent.  This should be cleared up by TSE. Photos below illustrate this problem.

Discussion over laminated DUI

7.  Observers had the right to photograph completed Acta and then accompany it to the transmission room.  Photos below.

The secretary filling out the final count form-acta. 

Transmission room where the final results are scanned, posted online, and a copy given to each party.

8.  Roles at table not completely clear.  TSE should continue to improve training.

For the first time the Police was able to vote in the center they were stationed at today.

Assisting voters find their JRVs using a smartphone

2014 Presidential Elections Update

Eugenio Chicas, President of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in El Salvador recently visited CIS to give us an update on the TSE’s work for next year’s Presidential election. In 2006 El Salvador began the process of moving to a system of residential voting – making polling places much more accessible to all Salvadorans.  And now Chicas and his staff are moving rapidly to complete a system of residential voting everywhere in the country – vastly expanding the polling sites.  This process would be difficult to complete anywhere – finding local sites, notifying every voter of their new polling place, allowing for people to ask for changes, training up sufficient numbers of election workers to staff so many sites and making sure that everyone has proper documents for voting here.  But in El Salvador there are additional challenges. Chicas told us about the struggle to locate voting sites in areas controlled by gangs and the difficulty in securing those sites using the national police or even the army, and making sure that people who live in one gang territory don’t have to vote in another gang territory.   

Despite the challenges of rapidly completing all this work, Chicas said that the challenges posed by the competing political parties and their candidates may be greater.  This year there are already five declared Presidential candidates and he anticipates another announcement soon.  Each of those parties and candidates has the right to have observers in every polling place – and each of them is very interested in the work of the Tribunal – both the system here in El Salvador and new systems being created to accommodate voting by Salvadorans in the diaspora around the world.  In 2014 Salvadoran citizens living outside the county will be able to vote by mail for the first time if they have registered to vote and have a valid DUI.  Chicas also made the note that there is a very low number of people registered because ARENA blocked the emission of the DUI outside the country for two years.  They did not start emitting DUI’s until December of 2012 and people were not able to register to vote until the end of May*.  They have also had problems because the TSE does not have an adequate budget to do publicity. By law, the candidates are not allowed to campaign until 90 days before the election but the parties are already running advertisements, putting up billboards, hosting events, and making public statements.  It promises to be an interesting and wild six months leading up to the February 2^nd election and the very likely March 9^th run-off.

 

The launch of voting outside the country May 27th 2013

At CIS, we need you.  We need long term volunteers to help organize the mission starting November 2^nd or January 2^nd.  We also need international observers be a part of the one week long mission January 27^th- February 4^th and very likely run off mission March 3^rd-March 11^th.  As an international observer or volunteer you will help to insure that the elections here are fair, without fraud, and democratic.  So, check out the attached information and submit your application.  

More information on Election Observation check out our website or email us: electionmission@cis-elsalvador.org.

Information on volunteering and how to apply (Spanish required and at least three month commitment)

Information on observing and how to apply (No Spanish required, 9 day mission)

*For more information on how to register to vote go to the TSE's website

Celebrating Sexual Diversity in the Spanish School

 La Escuela de Español acompañó las luchas de la comunidad LGBT.  Primero se visitó a la Organización Entre Amigos.  Joaquín Cáceres explicó a los y las estudiantes la historia de la Asociación y la problemática actual de la comunidad en El Salvador, principalmente los crímenes de odio y la persecución de los y las activistas locales.

The Spanish school accompanied the struggles of the LGBT community.  First they visited the organization “Entre Amigos” (Among friends).  Joaquín Cáceres explained to the students the history of the association and the current issues the community in El Salvador faces, mainly hate crimes and persecution the local activists.

In the classes, we reflected about sexual diversity as a human right.  Each student shared his or her opinion.

En las clases, reflexionamos sobre la diversidad sexual como un derecho humano.  Cada estudiante compartió su opinión.

Además tuvimos una pequeña participación en las actividades programadas por la comunidad LGBT como la Plegaria Rosa.

In addition we had a small participation in the LGBT community's activity the Pink Prayer Ceremony.