Joe the Maryknoll!

Joe, top right, with his homestay famil

Joe is a Maryknoll lay missioner who arrived in El Salvador in January 2014.  Maryknoll is a community of priests, sisters and lay missioners of the Catholic Church who have been working in El Salvador since the 1960´s serving both local churches and community services. Missioners usually study Spanish and culture at CIS for their first three months in El Salvador and can, as Joe did, continue with individual  tutoring focused on his needs and interests.  

Joe started language study with his Spanish at an intermediate level and progressed to the advanced level, more or less ready to survive on his own!  He attended classes during two national elections in El Salvador – the 2014 presidential election and the run-off – when the school was filled with election observers from many countries who were also studying Spanish.  Though large class sizes were a drawback, the election observer program offered students special field trips, speakers, and events to learn not only about the elections, but also the country’s history, ecology, and community organizations. 

Checking out the 'carpets' at a vigil.

Joe learned a great deal from the field trips of the Political-Cultural program led by Don Oscar.  Some trips were planned in response to students’ interests. e.g. Joe’s interest in archaeology led to a visit Joya de Ceren, a place where an ancient Mayan village has been excavated and preserved.  Other field trips gave him the opportunity to practice translation in an easy setting.

The CIS staff also arranged for him to visit CIS community programs as a way to further learn about El Salvador – he traveled with Don Luis to visit some of the communities where CIS has a program providing clean water and with Delmi to one of the women’s sewing cooperatives. He participated in leadership workshops with Iris, gaining an introduction to the culture and processes used in community organizing here in El Salvador. 

“The staff at CIS oriented me to basic safety for life here, which involved learning a new mindset of awareness and conscientious choices about where and when to go and how to get there.  They oriented us to the bus system, the neighborhoods, etc.  Safety here depends on being informed, and the best help CIS provides is a great staff from whom one can ask advice about getting around, and meeting other students – both Salvadorans and others – so you can always go with someone. 

Speaking with mining activists

Solidarity Crafts

Maude, English Teacher and Election Observer

Maude Dews

Maude and her mom at a community radio station

I first arrived at CIS, together with my mother, in June 2014. We had come to teach in the English school during the three-month summer term. Various vaccinations were required before I left Europe, and I think this was probably the most difficult part of the entire process! Once we had arrived, we were guided and advised by staff at CIS, who have a lot of experience in helping foreigners orient themselves to Salvadoran society. We were lodged with a very caring host family and discovered that El Salvador is good at providing substantial breakfasts with red beans, scrambled eggs, and fresh tropical fruit such as papaya and plantain -- and mango from the tree in the garden! After some training and discussion exercises at CIS, we began to lead regular classes. Students at CIS come from a variety of backgrounds and are highly motivated to learn English. The classes are based not only around grammar and vocabulary, but also around mutual cultural exchange between students and teachers. Students decide which political-cultural topics they would like to cover during that term’s class, and each lesson – the CIS has plenty of resources to help with lesson planning – is based around one grammar topic and one political discussion topic. During these discussions, students improve their vocabulary and their fluency

The other volunteers

and confidence in speaking English, while teachers learn about the history and culture of El Salvador, and about the students’ views on the country’s current political situation. As well as teaching in the evenings, my mother took Spanish classes in the mornings. Spanish classes are based around much the same model as the English classes, a model which she felt helped her make rapid progress.

Teachers in the English school can also participate in the CIS’s political-cultural program, which involves visits to sites of interest around the city of San Salvador and indeed the whole country – as the country is so small, it’s easy to see a lot of it in a relatively short time. A highlight was our trip to Joya de Cerén, one of the world’s archaeological jewels: known as the Pompeii of the Americas, it is a farming village from that was preserved in ash during a volcanic eruption. It is

Statue at the museum of the Revolution, Perquin

unique in giving us a look at the life of ordinary Central American people 1,500 years ago.

The English teachers and English school coordinators also traveled together to the remembrance site for the El Mozote massacre, which took place in 1981 during the civil war, and visited the Museum of the Revolution in Perquín and the National Museum of Anthropology in San Salvador. With friends, I visited the Museum of Folk Art, another hidden gem, which contains many remarkable and often humorous miniature clay sculptures.

While at CIS, I met several people who had been coming to El Salvador to volunteer every year for a decade or more.  I myself enjoyed my spell with the English school so much I decided to return to El Salvador the following January, in 2015, as an international election observer, taking up an invaluable opportunity to play a small part in the political process of this new democracy.

After my duties as an election observer were over, I stayed still longer, and traveled to the beautiful rural, mountainous area of Chalatenango in order to serve as an observer in a local referendum on whether to allow mining companies into the area. The result was overwhelmingly No, and the struggle to prevent mining companies from polluting local water sources continues. I know I am not the only CIS volunteer to have found it difficult to tear myself away from El Salvador, and to intend to come back again in the future!

Students and Teachers having fun!

Ana, English Student

Hi!

Ana at work

My name is Ana Gutiérrez, I live in San Salvador.

I work as a Physical Therapist, Occupational and Speech Therapist too.

I work with deaf people in my church, doing interpretation in Sign Language and I´m a volunteer in the Red Cross.

Ana with some classmates

I´m learning English because knowing English, I can serve many people in different ways and places.

English helps me to have contact with English speakers who want to work with people that I work with. It allows us to do the work with more efficacy and we can provide more people with necessary services. 

Why do you study English at CIS - what is special about CIS?

I enjoy studying English at CIS because I have the opportunity to practice my English with native speakers.

At CIS we have the space to speak about subjects and topics of social interest, and CIS provides us a good environment for expressing our opinions, It´s a good place for listening to different ways of thinking and for learning to respect others’ thoughts.

Sign Language

In CIS at the same time that we have an education of quality we don´t invest too much money.  This is a advantage for us; due to the economy in our country.  Salaries are really poor and in my case I couldn´t afford an education with native speakers and with this high quality in another institution.

The location of CIS is accessible for people who come from different places of San Salvador. The CIS´s facilities are comfortable and good for learning. 

Why is it important to native English speakers to come to teach?

From my point of view, it´s important to learn English with native speakers because it helps us to learn the correct English pronunciation and at the same time we can learn to understand diverse accents. That is important because we can speak with people who come from distinct countries.

We learn about the cultures of the countries that our teachers are from and it´s good for us to have a better comprehension of the world.

I think it´s excellent for me to have the chance of to make new friends.

Ana's class

Meg, a social worker

CIS changed my life in so many ways. From becoming proficient in Spanish which has opened a world of opportunities to me, to growing in solidarity with the people of El Salvador, to forming wonderful bonds with friends from El Salvador and around the world, to meeting my amazing Salvadoran husband, I can’t imagine my life now if I had never gone to CIS!

 I studied at CIS several times between 2012 and 2014 for a total of about 6 months. I kept coming back because I could see I was improving and was fascinated with the classes. I started in level Basic B and finished in the Advanced.  Thanks to learning Spanish at CIS, I later worked as a delegation leader and translator at a NGO in El Salvador before I was hired at my current position as a social worker in Washington, DC in large part because of my Spanish proficiency. I now spend large parts of my workday working directly with immigrants doing clinical work in Spanish.

I was attracted to CIS because I knew Spanish fluency would be essential for the social services work I was going into and I wanted to study in a more meaningful way than typical Spanish classes.  I knew I wanted to go to El Salvador because I was also very interested in its rich history of liberation theology and struggles for social justice. The fact that CIS uses a popular education model and shares the lived experiences of people in Central America further drew me.  I wasn’t disappointed! The material presented a rich cultural and social justice history, and I felt absorbed in learning.  It was practical and useful and what I wanted – practice talking about issues – from water rights, to land ownership, to politics. The teachers come from shared or lived experiences that we are learning about and were eager to share their culture and history with us. And in the evening, I could use the language skills I was learning to bond with my host family over dinner or playing with their dogs to further deepen my learning experience.

Meg with one of her classes

The Political-Cultural program in the afternoons and some weekends was important, as well. I connected what I learned in class with seeing things and practicing using the language, which made the language and the history and social justice issues come alive. Some of the most powerful moments were hiking Puerta del Diablo, visiting the UCA massacre site, and learning to dye indigo. We experienced food, people, music, natural environment-all the special things that make El Salvador one of a kind.

Vigil at the UCA

I also experienced the country could be in solidarity with the people of El Salvador without feeling that my safety was compromised. We got a thorough security briefing upon arrival that left me feeling aware and prepared. My whole time there was without incident because of all the precautions put in place, and I never felt less safe that I do in my home city of New York – mainly we just took universal safety precautions that anyone would take traveling to any city.

Teaching English was a really powerful experience, as well. In addition to learning really helpful teaching and training techniques, by far the greatest learning experience I had was getting to learn from and hear first-hand accounts from my students about their experiences living in El Salvador in present time – while working on grammar they could also express from their heart. Also, it’s FUN! I did a ton of fun events with CIS to foster community, from cultural nights, to Halloween party, to a field trip celebrating “Teacher’s Day.” Some of my favorite exchanges were teaching my students about my home in NYC-

Indigo Dresses!

I made wonderful friends between my students and fellow teachers from around the world who were

studying, teaching and volunteering on election delegations – rich friendships that I still have 4 years later, some of whom even flew in from around the world to my wedding in El Salvador.

CIS remains an important part of me and my husband’s lives-we even had the favors for our wedding 

made by one of the cooperatives that CIS supports through their program for women artesans and our 

musician was my former English CIS student! I can’t imagine my current life now without CIS and would 

encourage anyone considering a powerful and effective way to learn Spanish and apply!

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.