Walk the Line: Wednesday Night at the English School

Every other Wednesday evening at CIS there’s an optional English activity wherein Emily plans something awesome such as “Article Club” or “Game Night”, and most of the volunteer English teachers attend and some of the English students show up, and we have a fun time mixing students and teachers and levels and languages.

This past Wednesday we had a “Cultural Exchange”. What began last teaching cycle as a lecture/slideshow-type activity transformed this cycle into something more interactive and, we hope, even more stimulating of learning language and sharing cultural values. Each of the teachers had set up a little booth with some visual information of their hometown/state/country which varied from as near together as Minnesota and Wisconsin to as far away as Maine and Australia with a couple in between (Arkansas and Oregon – okay, it was a pretty U.S.-centric exhibition, but I digress).

We set out a variety of U.S.-inspired food fare including buttermilk pancakes, Wisconsin-style cheese, and apples from the Northwestern U.S. and began the evening as a kind of cocktail-hour-milling-about-time during which the English students were free to (and did!) nosh and schmooze about the room, learning about our different home realities as we learned more about theirs’ as well (“that’s what it’s like in Maine, so what’s it like in your hometown?).

After cocktail-hour-milling-about-time, a couple of us taught some dance forms that we do at home, namely country line and Irish set dancing. As we danced to Johnny Cash and traditional Irish music and experienced culture from a more visceral place in ourselves, I marveled at the universality of having fun and looking silly.

All in all, it was a lovely night to walk the line.

By Rachel Winograd

Some students even took a video!

Hugs from Distrito Italia

Today the CIS’s Delegations coordinator, two volunteers, and I went to the third year anniversary of The Roque Daltón Library and Alternative Community Formation Center.  When we arrived to Distrito Italia in Tonacatepeque the children from the library came running down the lane and showered us with hugs. I was very excited to go to the anniversary because while I have worked for CIS for a year now and have heard about many of the projects in the library as well as work closely with the Jaragua collective artisans, it was my first time being able to go visit them.  I have not just heard about the work that the library does with teaching English as well as art classes in the news papers and on the news I hear about the infamous “Distrito Italia” as very violent and dangerous area in the outskirts of San Salvador.

In 2009 Distrito Italia was categorized as an area with one of the highest levels of violence in the country. What this means is that there is strong pressure for youth to join gangs or be victims of the gangs.  Extortion or threats to get money out of poor families is carried out by gang members.  Since the majority is poor, local authorities do little to combat crime or offer alternatives for youth. 

In this context the community library and formation center has worked with many different projects that opens a space for children and youth to express themselves and work together as a community.  When we arrived to the library, I was pushed to the front with the delegation’s coordinator to sit at the table of honor, next to the doctor from the Ministry of Health as well as the Directory of the School in Distrito Italia. 

Two young women were the MC’s for the morning.  We starting by singing the anthem of the library- Casa Abierta (Home that is Open to all).  It brought us all together and also reminded us of one of the people who has poured her love into this community- Antonia.  While she was not able to come and sing with us we felt her love.  During the activity each of the programs gave a small presentation where we got to see some of the amazing talent that comes from this marginalized neighborhood and is all too often disregarded.

Art Classes:  The Mental Health section of the Ministry of Health gives art classes every Thursday at the library.  The team of the art teacher, psychiatrist, psychologist and the health promoter were there to represent mental health team.  The art teacher and the health promoter come to the library every Thursday to give art classes. The art courses are an open and safe space for artistic expression and a place to dream that many of the children do not have in the routine struggle of their day to day lives.  It is a space to listen to each other, to share together, and to grow together, providing them with a communal strength and unity that sow the seeds of hope for the future of the community. 

English Classes:  Every Friday volunteer English teachers go out to Distrito Italia to spend the day with the children and share with them.  Two of the volunteer that have been coming for a few months introduced some of the students.  Two students shared in English about what they thought about their classes and what it meant to them to participate. When teachers come, listen to them, allow them to express themselves, and share with them for a few hours of the day, it is not just about learning English; it shows them that people outside the district have not forgotten them. It shows them that people care about them, believe in them, invest their time in them, and demonstrates an affectionate solidarity that they themselves are trying to cultivate within their community.  After the two students shared their pieces, the volunteer had to translate to Spanish for everyone.

Young women and single moms:  This group of women has recently started in the community; they meet one Saturday every two weeks.  While unfortunately many of them were not able to attend because of other commitments, the women who were present gave us an idea of their group.  Each meeting one of the women prepares a topic to talk about, for example two of the topics they have done are sexual reproductive rights and depression. 

Artisan Collective Jaragua:  Two women from the group gave a brief explanation of this group that is really the roots and the body behind the library.  With the proceeds of the products they sell they are able to contribute with snacks for art classes and some other small costs of the programs.  The collective has been together for ten years now and was born out of unemployment.   They as artisans have tried to work over the years not just to benefit their families, but all invest and give back to their communities.  One of the biggest demonstrations of this is The Roque Daltón Library and Alternative Community Formation Center.

Revy Fair Trade Scholarships:  Two of the students who receive scholarships through the Revy Fair Trade Store coordinated by CIS talked to the group about what this means for them and their family to receive this support.  They talked about how without this support they would need to make sacrifices, like not eating, in order to pay for their studies.  These scholarships are not just helping the students, but also are a huge contribution for to their families as well as their community. 

Girl’s Soccer:  The group of girls ran up to the stage with their giant trophy.  While they were egger to show everyone that they had not lost a single game, and were the champions of a tournament recently, many of them were reluctant to take the microphone.  One of the mom’s chimed in to share that this is a group for the girls to play and to show that soccer is not just for boys, but girls also should play and have fun.  While they are limited in the games and tournaments they can enter because they have to pay for the referee, transportation, and snacks, they have shown that as a team they can work together and play hard.

Between each of these presentations there were artistic presentations of musical groups as well as dance groups.  The talent and potential that these children and youth have is incredible. To wrap up the activity the group presented diplomas to those institutions as well as individuals who have supported them in the past three years of the library.  I struggled for words of how to accept the diploma as I am so inspired and continually impressed with everything they do in their community -especially in the mists of violence and marginalization.  When the English volunteers as well as the health professionals listen to these children at the library, they hear so many stores of oppression, violence, and abuse; however these spaces that the library creates illuminate the hope in their stories.   It was a great honor for me today to receive hugs from the children and youth of Distrito Italia. 

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!

Election Day El Salvador March 11th 2012

by Frikard Ellemand

One thing that really surprised me during the municipal and legislative assembly elections of El Salvador 2012 was what you could call the mood of the day. I had expected strong tensions - only 20 years have passed since the signing of the peace accords marked an ending to the war between left and right in the country. Since then the old guerilla has transformed itself into a political party growing stronger and stronger each passing election culminating in winning the presidency in 2009. The political climate in El Salvador is extremely polarized. There is no love between the two big parties, and the newcomer GANA, being a split from the old right wing Republican Party ARENA, doesn’t exactly make things more romantic. Considering what happened during the 12 year civil war it would have come as no surprise if things were tense.

However the actual “feel” of the day was all but tense. Yes, I did hear the stories of hard discussions and petty rejections over what were obviously only formalities, but what I saw and heard that day myself was quite the contrary. Let me give you some examples. Several of the tables were in good spirit and one table in particular was joking all day long, even to a point where they would make technically improper remarks (“…and thank you for casting the correct vote”) but instead of calling upon the electoral authorities to complain, the members of the rivalling parties would laugh and come up with something equally jokingly offensive (“...because we all know what you voted!”).

Another case would be the vote count. During our training we have been prepared to expect that every possibility of contesting a vote would be taken, even to the point were it the voters intention would be blatantly obvious – in short really bad sportsmanship. But what I actually met at the table during the count was a harsh but fair count. Only one vote was contested (the ink had bled through and marked another x) but after a short dispute they decided to give vote to the CD vigilante whose party was not even represented in the Junta of the table (“she only has three, let her have it!”).

Combining those examples with a very tranquil day were the worst incident was the return of the drunken voter who was refused earlier, leaves me slightly confused; are they really the same people who stopped killing each other 20 years ago? It very well might be that it was not a presidential election and that I was observing in a very partial and therefore quiet part of the country, but that aside I couldn’t recognize the expectations of pettiness and bitter rivalry we were given during the training. Whether this is a tendency or not is an open question but what it does show is that at least it is possible for people to move on in order to make the democratic process work. One can only hope that the good sportsmanship shown on this occasion will reach the higher levels of the electoral institutions.

Election Week

by Ida Nilsson

Election week came suddenly. Having it as a far-away-in-the-future-event for a long time made it kind of hard to realize that it was over us. After spending a couple of months in Guatemala, going back to San Salvador and CIS again felt like coming home. Happy faces from 12 different countries met us in the white washed corridors of the Hotel Grecia Real and excitement was in the air. The final training before Election Day could begin.

My experience as an elections observer started in the beginning of October last year. I had already been with CIS for 3 months, so as I prolonged my commitment I was really happy to get the opportunity to really get some in depth knowledge on the process and the history of democracy in El Salvador. There were 5 of us at the very beginning and we would always leave our training with our heads full of new information. It struck me already then that I probably know more about the system in detail here in El Salvador than I know of the behind the scenes process in Sweden, where I’m from. At every training session, questions would arise and I would find myself thinking – how does this work in my country? Never thought being in San Salvador would teach me more about Sweden J

 At that time, Election Day felt very distant but you could still notice how the parties were preparing themselves for winning the votes of the people. The posters were still not directly asking for the vote, but they were there. The faces and names of the big contenders in the race started to appear everywhere.  We were lucky enough to get the chance to meet with all the mayoral candidates of San Salvador, something they had time for because the campaigns hadn´t (officially) started. Silvia Aguilar of GANA, Jorge Schafik of the FMLN, Vicente Ramirez from PNL (See picture to right) and Andrés Espinoza from CD all agreed to meet with us and we had some very interesting discussions about their plans for the capital and their views on the, at the time, ongoing electoral changes. The current mayor of ARENA, Norman Quijano, sent a representative to our meeting which was a little bit disappointing because it would have been interesting to meet him and find out more about where he stands. The rumors say that he wants to run for president in 2014, so we might hear more from him in the future.

There were a lot of things going on. The TSE ( Supreme Electoral Tribunal) was fighting to get  some reforms approved by the parliament, while not exactly always agreeing internally (Picture to the left CIS mission meeting with the TSE). Two of the old right wing parties, PCN and PDC, were cancelled after an election failure in 2009 (Salvadorean law states that parties who don´t make the 3% limit  have to be dissolved)  but they were of course not going to go down without a fight, and therefore tried to ignore the sentence. The rains hit El Salvador in October and just wouldn´t stop. Over 30 people were killed and many villages completely shut off after mudslides. Some candidates saw this as a chance to create a good image of themselves and were handing necessities out in the shelters in their party clothes something that was denounced by many. Civic campaigns were going on to make people go and update their information so that they didn´t come to the voting centers missing one letter in their name and were denied to vote. There were also thousands of names in the national register belonging to deceased people and the need to refresh the lists was great.  It is not that uncommon for the dead to vote here in El Salvador.

Before anything was resolved, we left for Guatemala. Of course we tried to keep up with everything but it´s funny the way things become distant even though we were only a couple of hours away. Returning, the intensity of the week and all the energy of the people around us very soon made it all come back though and I felt super ready for the long day of observing once it came. My group was in Ilobasco, 10 of us in total and 3 in my center. I was expecting to be a lot more tired as the day progressed but everything was so interesting to see after all the time talking about it in theory that time just seemed to fly by.

In my opinion, El Salvador has some real challenges to face in the future to consolidate their young democracy. Some structural and very important changes have been made, like implementing the residential vote, but other things are still missing. Real electoral content; presenting the suggested solutions a party has to the issues of the country is one, instead of simplifying the country´s future in catchy slogans. But I must say I am impressed by the dedication many salvadoreans showed on election day, both as voters and in the many functions of the process. Even though the information on all the changes was late and many didn´t understand the new process, and even though training of officials had serious shortcomings, people were dedicated and did the best they could. I´m happy to have witnessed that and to have been a part of this adventure. 

The plans for returning in 2014 are already being made. See you then! J

See the CIS's website for the COMMUNIQUÈ OF THE 9TH INTERNATIONAL ELECTORAL OBSERVATIONS MISSION.

Getting Ready for the 2012 Elections

Blog by: Carlitos Malischke

Nine political parties.  Every mayoral position up for grabs.  And all 84 congressional seats.  While this may not be a presidential election, this is a very significant electoral event in the democratic process of El Salvador.

CIS started observing elections in 1994, the first year I was here as an observer.  I was here again in 2004 observing in El Paraiso, and also in Chalatenango city in 2009 when the FMLN won the presidency with the nation electing Mauricio Funes.  People said it was the culmination of 75 years of "la lucha".

Now we are less than a week away from March 11th, another election day in El Salvador.  For the first time there will be residential voting in half the country.  Many Salvadorans who previously had to hitch a ride in the back of a pickup to vote in the next town, will now be able to walk to their village grade school to vote.  This will make it much easier for many Salvadorans to exercise their right to vote.

However, when they get to the voting site they will encounter a far more complicated ballot.  Actually there will be two separate ballots, listed below.  One for electing the mayors.  The ballot that just has the party flags, which is the traditional ballot.  Just mark the symbol of your favorite party and you are done.  

Town Council Ballots 

 With the easy vote out of the way a voter will then have to deal with the ballot for legislative assembly seats, or "diputados".  Each department of El Salvador is apportioned seats based on its population.  For example, Chalatenago has three seats.  San Salvador, with its much larger concentration of people, has twenty-five. And there are independent candidates not affiliated with any party.  They appear on the bottom of the ballot.

 

Legislative Assembly Ballots (Each department has a different number of faces according to the deputies being elected.  For example San Salvador 25 and Cuscatlan 3) 

  

Pictures of the 25 assembly candidates for each of the nine political parties.  This is the first time that pictures of assembly candidates will appear on the ballot.  Your vote for the candidate of your choice will influence the election outcome.

Keep in mind there are a lot of illiterate folks here, many who can't read or even sign their names.  They "sign" the voting register with their thumb print.  

  

Rosita from Guarjila explains the various voting options. 

Yet, I fear that many people know little about these candidates.  Last week I visited the small community of Teosinte in Chalatenango Department.  This is one of the repopulated communities.  They are highly favorable to the FMLN.  In Chalatenango there are three seats up for grabs.  And the FLMN has three candidates.  I asked Yolanda if she knew who the candidates were.  She could only name one.

I'm not here in El Salvador just to observe elections.  I'm here to be with family and friends.  Some 20 years ago the good folks from several of the repopulated communities in Chalatenango invited churches to sister, or twin with them.  I'm proud to say that today, there are three Milwaukee area Catholic churches, as well as the Lutheran Synod of Wisconsin, with 20 years of sistering with communities of El Salvador.  International solidarity is strong and essential to our world today.  So, I come to be with friends and family. 

The week before joining the Elections Delegation at CIS I traveled north to the Department of Chalatenago.  It was Ash Wednesday in Guarjila, a humbling call to conversion.

CIS facilitates my relationships and my ministry with the people of El Salvador.  I owe much to CIS and all those who work and volunteer at CIS.  It's a wonderful family to be part of.  I try, in the small way that I can, to contribute to the ongoing mission of CIS.

Back in the capital of San Salvador we met with some of the political parties and members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE).  Jorge Schafik, son of Shafik Handel, is the FMLN candidate for mayor of the capital city of San Salvador.  He explained the party platform to our group of observers.

(Candidate Shafick holding fold-out)

I'll be observing in the town of San Jose Villanueva, where the voting population is close to 13,000 people.  I expect the one main school building where voting will occur will be jam packed all day next Sunday.  It will be quite a priviledge to observe, and a long day at that.

Preparations for voting begin at 5am.  The Voting Center opens at 7am, closes at 5pm.  It's going to be a long, hot day.  And then the counting of the ballots.  I hope we're done by midnight.  But, they are predicting a long night.  And the people will be awaiting the results.

 Life goes on in El Salvador.  The struggle is an everyday challenge.  But, amid the pain and suffering there is joy and celebration of life and love.

Teaching English in San Luis

Claire (Volunteer) with her Students in San Luis

This past Sunday I turned out of the beaten-earth yard of a home in the community of San Luis Los Ranchos, leaving the chickens pecking beneath the mango tree. With each step the yellow dust of the road spilled over my boots; it was, quite literally, ankle-deep. But my mind was not on the state of my clothes as I walked, nor on the pines that shelter the coffee bushes in the adjoining finca (coffee-growing estate). I had just bid farewell to the family who’d welcomed me into their home each weekend for the past two months.

The Classroom

Typically I would arrive on a Saturday, teach an English class for community kids that afternoon, stay overnight, teach another class the following morning, and return to San Salvador late Sunday afternoon. In the family’s cocina (kitchen) I’d eat beans and corn tortillas, and sip coffee picked, roasted, and ground on-site. In their sleeping shelter at night I’d listen to the mountain wind buffeting the corrugated metal walls, and in their open-air communal area I’d read the story of “Senor Mole” with the kids. In the spare time we had we’d go for walks through the finca or play football in the local cancha (football/soccer field).

The end of the CIS teaching cycle meant that I now needed to move on, and I found it impossible to explain the reasons why to six-year-old Nahun. This had nothing to do with my limited fluency in Spanish. Unlike his 11-year-old sister, Michelle, he has no understanding of entrance visas and election observation missions. But unlike his three-year-old niece, Alejandra, who was still calling: “Clarita? Clase de inglés manana?” (English class tomorrow?) as I waved goodbye, he knows I won’t be coming back.

I came to CIS believing I’d be teaching English to adults in the city, and ended up teaching children and youth in El Salvador’s countryside, a choice that called to me when presented as an option. Mine was a very different experience from the other volunteers in the English program this cycle (January to March 2012), one that required weekend travel, an acceptance that classes might be cancelled when students had to work, help their families, or take part in other activities, and an understanding that the outdoor classroom could be used for community meetings. It also involved affirmation of the importance of learning more than ensuring acquisition of a language. I did not test my students, nor did they graduate from a level. As time passes, will they remember any of the vocabulary and phrases that we covered in our classes? Hard to say. But I think they will remember that someone – CIS – cared enough to make the time for them.