Berta, English Student turned English Teacher

Hi, my name is Berta,

Receiving her Diploma!

I would like to share my experience at CIS. In the beginning I was a student and the most important thing that I learned of CIS was "How important it is to promote solidarity in El Salvador". When I finished improving my skills I was invited to participate as an English Volunteer teacher. This was a really good experience for me because it gave me the opportunity to practice my English knowledge by helping other students.

Berta with her students

Several years ago I graduated from the University of El Salvador with a degree in Business Administration. My experience as a volunteer English teacher at CIS inspired me to return to school to obtain a teaching certificate. Last year I took a break from my classes and volunteering at CIS to complete a one-year program. I hope to obtain a teaching job and I will be returning to volunteer at CIS in April too.





I invite you to participate in this program because you can have the opportunity to practice Spanish with native speakers, to know about our culture and, the most important thing - to promote solidarity between our countries.

Margie comes back every year!

Margie showing off the pockets in her new backpack from the CIS store.

Margie Legowski is a former teacher, Peace Corps volunteer, education and training specialist
and program manager with the Peace Corp and the Corporation for National and Community
Service (the agency that funds AmeriCorps, VISTA, Senior Corps, NCCC). She is active in Holy
Trinity Catholic Parish, Washington, DC, the group that first brought her to El Salvador and a
group which has had an on-going relationship of support and solidarity with the parish of Maria

Madre of Los Pobres (where she now has a goddaughter) in San Salvador for over twenty-five years. Margie has been involved in this solidarity work for the past five years and has studied at CIS four times in order to learn Spanish and/or increase her fluency. In addition to spending time working in the parish, she has also participated in election delegations with CIS and Cristosal in 2014 and 2015. She is here again this year for two months and is spending her mornings studying at CIS, so we had a chance to interview her about her experience with classes at CIS and her time in El Salvador. 

Elections forum

Margie´s words:
My first teacher was Zulma and there were only two of us in the class. Basically, Zulma took us
from where we were to a new level. My fellow student and I both love music so she used music
and her own stories to engage us in learning. All the CIS teachers have helped me understand
¨la lucha¨ - the struggle for justice here in El Salvador – and all use very creative strategies to
work with us to improve our language skills.

Each time I have come, I have stayed with Nora, who has one of the host homes for students and volunteers at CIS. She is one of those women made in heaven– former teacher, activist with the FMLN and even in her 70´s full of more energy than most young people. She has also been a student in the English classes at CIS. 

My experiences with CIS and with Maria Madre Parish have led to so many other things in my life. I have new friendships in El Salvador and with people in DC, Baltimore and other communities that work for justice Latin America. I've participated in several the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) meetings in Fort Benning, Georgia, and a few months ago I joined a delegation to Venezuela to broaden my perspective about Latin American issues. And I am now an emergency foster parent with the Latin American Youth Center in DC. 

I can see that security issues are difficult for people living and working in El Salvador. The people at CIS, my host mother and my friends and family at Maria Madre de los Pobres do everything they can to to keep us all safe. I'm particularly interested in the issue of security as I lead my church's delegations here twice a year. The CIS document analyzing violence in El Salvador was particularly helpful in that regard.

Basically, I listen to the advice Salvadorans give me: I take cabs when I am out after dark, and I don´t carry or wear valuable items when I am out traveling around by bus or on foot. I use many of the same safety precautions here that I use at home in Washington, DC. or when I travel anywhere outside of my own country.

Erica connecting with her cultural roots and understanding her parents' stories

Erica (left) and her sister with a great view of the volcano!

 Hi I’m Erica and I’m a university student from Vancouver, Canada. I first learned of CIS

while doing research on development projects and NGOs in El Salvador and was really

drawn to the CIS’s mission of promoting cultural exchange and social justice in El

Salvador. My parents are from El Salvador and they left during the civil war in the 80s

and most of what I knew about El Salvador was from the stories they shared with me.


I decided to teach English at CIS; at first I didn’t know what to expect as I had never

taught before but CIS does a great job at preparing their volunteers, I really liked their

use of the popular education concept for teaching and learning. Teaching English was

definitely an exchange of ideas, each class was structured so that every grammar lesson

Erica presenting during a cultural event

was accompanied by a social issue topic. Some sample topics included mining, the

environment, gangs, and historical memory. Getting to know my students and learning

about El Salvador through them was definitely the highlight of my experience.

Through my time at CIS I learned a lot about the current political and social realities in El

Salvador, another highlight for me was definitely taking part in the Political Cultural

Program at CIS. Through the program other volunteers and I had the opportunity to visit

various sites of historical and cultural significance in El Salvador, and it really allowed

me to gain a better understanding about Salvadoran history and its current reality. Many

of the social and political factors that led to the civil war that my parents escaped are still

visible in various forms in El Salvador, and those same factors contribute to the current

Salvadoran reality.

Some of the students and teachers at the CIS

While in El Salvador I didn’t run into any major security issues. I took the buses during

the day, but at night travelled by taxi. In general it’s a good idea to avoid walking around

alone after dark as well as carrying flashy valuables. CIS was always really great in

making sure students and volunteers always had a safe way of getting home after classes.

As part of my experience I also had the opportunity of enjoying the beauty that is El

Salvador: the land of volcanoes (23!). I got to climb a couple and it is definitely worth the

trek, once you are at the top the views are incredible! The beaches are not too bad either!  

Being in El Salvador was really like being home, it really allowed me to connect with my

Taking a boat to visit a women's sewing business on an island!

cultural roots and gain a more complete picture of my parents’ stories. I would really

recommend anyone, especially those with roots in El Salvador to learn more about its

history and its current reality. My experience at CIS definitely provided me the

opportunity to do this, and along the way I got to meet incredible people, many of whom

I’m still in contact with today. I’m really looking forward to my next visit home!

Sam's Experience

Sam Lawrence still wanted to share his story, from his experience a couple years ago!  Cheers Sam.  Saludos from El Salvador!

I cannot imagine a better place to learn Spanish.  I often had one on one instruction or had class with
one or two other students – it was a great student- teacher ratio.  I loved that aspect of CIS.  The
teachers are very well trained in both language teaching and in popular education techniques.  I learned so much about people and issues of El Salvador, Central America and Latin America while learning to speak Spanish – It was a perfect mix for me. It was an intense immersion.  I went from nil to fluent enough to use Spanish in my professional life, and it was great for understanding the social landscape of Latin America.

I felt like I became friends with all of my teachers and felt very comfortable with them.  They were not intimidating.  The teachers at CIS are very warm people who made me feel safe to go all out and get out of my comfort zone and I feel like I have lasting friendships and I can Skype and visit with them at any time.

I went to El Salvador with some of the same apprehension other people feel because of how El Salvador is portrayed in the media and having read all the warnings.  I never felt unsafe.  I lived in a neighborhood with a host family that had security in their area and I walked to school every morning and took a taxi home after dark.  I think that CIS staff and my host family and all of my friends were very, cognizant of our fears and very accommodating to make sure we were as comfortable as possible – to make us both feel and be safe.  I had no bad experiences and took the same precautions I took living in New Orleans.  I would come back in a heartbeat if I had the time and funds.

Teaching English was a really thrilling experience.  It has stuck with me and I think I´ll remember it for the rest of my life.  The training program was great – to learn philosophies about language learning and popular education.  I was nervous at the beginning but I found my stride.  And I learned so much from my students – the experience left me with a lot of optimism because my students were so great and thoughtful.  I feel really confident that I can translate the skills to my work in the USA – teaching, leading meetings, bringing groups together to have discussions about important issues in a very exciting way.

I came to El Salvador not knowing how to conjugate a single verb, and when I got home I was ready to use Spanish in my professional life.  I worked for the juvenile public defender in New Orleans and I was able to use my skills to help the lawyers communicate with clients and their families – and now I am using my Spanish skills in my graduate program in Social Work working with Spanish speaking kids and their families in the schools in Siler City, North Carolina.

Jill Stiemsma, retired teacher and volunteer

Made it to the top of the volcano!  I'm in the middle!

Hi.  I’m Jill Stiemsma, a retired college instructor from Wisconsin. I first became aware of CIS when I joined an SOA-Watch delegation that traveled to El Salvador to

honor the 30^th anniversary of Oscar Romero’s assassination.  SOA-Watch contracted with CIS to lead this delegation, and it was truly an amazing experience.  As luck would have it, two other members on the trip had previously studied Spanish in a Bolivian language school and encouraged me to do the same. As a 60-year-old Spanish student, I was struggling in basic University courses back home.

So, yes, I spent six months in Bolivia.  But when I returned home, I thought, “What can I do now to keep using my Spanish?”  And in the mysterious ways of the universe, what would appear in the mail the very next day but a letter from CIS, wondering if I’d be interested in teaching English for them.  Would I be interested???  What a silly question!  I immediately applied.

Jill with her first group of Beginner English Students at the CIS

I’m now teaching my fourth English cycle over a five-year span and have made seven trips to El Salvador, all told.  I’ve been an English teacher, a Spanish student (as a CIS English teacher, I pay half price for my classes), an Elections Observer, and a member of one other CIS delegation (the last one for the beatification of Oscar Romero).  Because of CIS’ Cultural Program and organized teacher trips, I have a really good background in the Salvadoran Reality.

Since teachers must pay their own transportation and housing costs here, why would I keep coming back, especially to a country deemed so unsafe?  Quite frankly, I get a lot more out of working and living directly with Salvadorans than they get from me.  When I enter El Salvador these days, I immediately sense that “I am home”.  I firmly believe US citizens owe El Salvador a lot, given our funding of their Civil War and our sending planeloads of gang members back to El Salvador, sometimes daily (and then having the audacity to admonish them for not solving “their” gang problem). 

Getting coffee during election observations

Am I safe?  I think so.  I don’t take public transportation or walk at night; CIS places us in decent (though not fancy) housing in non-gang neighborhoods.  As a gringo, I’m less likely to be harmed anyway (or so I think).  I know enough not to argue with robbers; I’ll just give them what they want.  Here, the teachers’ biggest complaints revolve around taking cold showers, quite frankly!

Please come.  Please support CIS as a teacher, as a traveler, as a language learner.  The experience will change your life.  It absolutely will.

Natalie's Experience with the English School

When I decided to spend the summer studying Spanish and teaching English at the CIS in El Salvador, I had very little idea what to expect. I arrived knowing almost nobody and nothing about the country, apart from what I had heard on the news and from the few people I knew who had traveled there. Little did I know I would walk away from the summer with not only new friends and incredible experiences, but also a newfound knowledge of and love for El Salvador.

Spanish classes at the CIS are unique because they focus on the history and current reality of El Salvador. The three teachers I had throughout the summer each had fascinating experiences, having worked with the government, youth, or unions, and were excited to share these experiences and their knowledge of the country with us. We talked about everything from poverty and wages to free trade agreements to gender roles in El Salvador. We watched documentaries about guerilla leaders during the civil war, short films about El Salvador’s environmental problems, and a speech from the current mayor of San Salvador to university students. We practiced speaking Spanish, talking about what our respective countries were like and finding many similarities.

Mural in the main square of Cinquera, showing the town’s history.

These opportunities to learn about El Salvador didn’t stop with Spanish class, but continued into my English class. Over the summer, my students taught me as much about El Salvador as I taught them about English. They practiced speaking by discussing everything from consumerism to environmental problems in the country, and were excited to learn about America from me. Many of them were lawyers, students, or worked with non-profits, and each one brought a unique perspective to the class.

The best part of the summer was not only learning about El Salvador in the classroom, but getting to experience the country as well. With an incredible group of volunteer teachers, we traveled during days and weekends to various parts of the city and country. We went to the gay rights parade, a march to commemorate the 1975 massacre of University students, an island in the Pacific Ocean to visit a women’s cooperative which the CIS supports, and much more.

View from the rainforest hike in Cinquera. 

My favorite trip was a weekend spent in Cinquera, a small town about two hours northeast of San Salvador. It’s not only a beautiful town, but was also an FMLN stronghold during the Civil War, giving us an opportunity to learn about its history as well as appreciate it as it is today. We stayed in the town’s small hostel and spend an afternoon hiking in the nearby rainforest. With our guide leading the way, expertly cutting vines out of her way with a machete, we hiked up and down steep hills, visited sites that had been guerilla camps during the civil war, and swam in a pool at the foot of a waterfall. That night, we attended the commemoration of a 1984 massacre in the next town over. With a group of about 100 people, we marched down the main road towards the town, holding candles, chanting, and singing. When we reached the main road of the town, the mood turned celebratory, with the community giving away pupusas, cookies, and coffee, and a lively church service that went on all night. We learned about the history of the town and saw a wall, littered with bullet holes from the 1984 massacre, which made the sometimes abstract history of the Civil War feel much more real.

Commemorative March for UES students killed in 1975

The next day, we visited Cinquera’s iguana farm and toured the town’s main square and many murals with a tour guide who was a former FLMN leader. He told us about the town’s history and explained how the American government helped the Salvadoran army cause destruction and commit many massacres during the war. But he also told us something which resonated with many of us. Although the American government has done many harmful things to the country, he said, American people have a history of being in solidarity with the people. We love Americans, he told us. We are grateful that you’re here, and we hope you’ll come back.

This attitude reflected what I experienced everywhere I went in El Salvador. I spent much of the summer learning about the damage that the American (and other foreign governments) have done and are doing to El Salvador, and returned home with a much more critical eye and awareness of America’s role in the world.  But I never experienced any bitterness or anger from the wonderful Salvadorans I knew. Instead, they were friendly, welcoming, excited to show me their beautiful country and make me feel at home. And by the end of the summer, I did. 

-Natalie, the CIS thanks you for this blog, for your efforts with our English school and the laughter.

Best Wishes,

Mujeres Tinecas—San Martin, El Salvador

Alicia is one of three York interns here for three months.  She was a volunteer with the Solidairy Crafts program for three months.  We hope you will be reviewing her Christmas crafts catalog soon!
 

Today I had the opportunity yet again to go out into the community and meet one of the groups associated with CIS, this time las Mujeres Tinecas, in San Martin. What made this particular trip special was that I would be teaching some of the women a bit of the calligraphy and lettering that I learned in high school as well as from watching my mom doing it growing up. I had to swallow my nervousness about speaking Spanish in front of a group of locals, and try to teach what was essentially an art class, having no prior knowledge of the capabilities of my students.

I certainly wasn’t prepared for the sweet Ancelma, the lady who makes the quilled cards for the group, and who doesn’t know how to read or write. Calligraphy, which had always meant for me a style of “artsy” penmanship, had lost all of its traditional linguistic meaning, and had become instead simply drawing patterns of art. I enjoyed the experience though, and appreciated the effort and enthusiasm of the ladies—I’m confident that after they spend some time practicing, the new lettering on their cards will look beautiful.

Afterwards we talked a bit about their lives and their work, and their little neighbourhood in San Martin. I hadn’t even realized that one of them had to come out to meet us and bring us in (I thought we just needed directions), to ensure our safety in their gang-maintained neighbourhood. There were young boys flying kites, men at work, and women keeping home—washing, cleaning, gardening, cooking, etc.—and other students coming home from school. Though it was clearly a poor area, there was a kind of majesty to it all: the sounds of the carpenter’s workshop, the smiling children with their kites, cars zooming down the highway in the background, the towering and empty industrial tanks behind the galvanized houses, and somehow the flowers finding space to bloom in their kaleidoscope of colours everywhere.

I’m excited to see what the future holds for the group; I hope they keep practicing to make their already beautiful cards stand out even more, to increase their sales, and ultimately, to improve their lives and secure a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their community.