Mission trip to El Salvador by group from St Paul's Lutheran Church in Alango, MN

1. Our Trip To El Salvador, 2012

2. El Salvador
Situated on the Pacific coast
of Central America, El
Salvador has Guatemala to
the west and Honduras to
the north and east. It is the
smallest of the Central
American countries, with an
area equal to that of
Massachusetts, and it is the
only one without an
Atlantic coastline. Most of
the country is on a fertile
volcanic plateau about
2,000 feet high.

3. El Salvador Suffered During Its 12-Year Civil War
 In the 1970s, discontent with societal inequalities, a poor economy, and the repressive
measures of dictatorship led to civil war between the government, ruled since 1961 by the
right-wing National Conciliation Party (PCN), and leftist antigovernment guerrilla units, whose
leading group was the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).
 The U.S. intervened on the side of the military dictatorship, despite its scores of human rights
violations. Between 1979 and 1981, about 30,000 people were killed by right-wing death
squads backed by the military.
 José Napoleón Duarte—a moderate civilian who was president from 1984 to 1989—offered an
alternative to the political extremes of right and left, but Duarte was unable to end the war.
 In 1989, Alfredo Cristiani of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) was
elected. On Jan. 16, 1992, the government signed a peace treaty with the guerrilla forces,
formally ending the 12-year civil war that had killed 75,000.
 El Salvador’s right-wing ARENA party narrowly earned a victory in elections held in March
2012 and now holds a greater number of seats than the ruling FMLN in El Salvador’s
legislature.

4. Environmental Disasters Effect El Salvador
In 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated the country, leaving
200 dead and over 30,000 homeless.
In Jan. and Feb. 2001, major earthquakes struck El Salvador,
killing over 12,000 people and leaving many more homeless.
An even worse disaster befell the country in the summer
when a severe drought destroyed 80% of the country's crops,
causing famine in the countryside.

5. Arriving in El
Salvador, January 9
We arrived in El Salvador
about 7:00 p.m. and had to
collect our baggage, get
through customs and meet
up with our group leader Joey
Bailey, our van driver Oscar,
and our interpreter Moses…
Then we had load up the
truck with ALL our bags,
about 16 total!

6. Casa Concordia, Our
Home for 10 Days…
Trinidad “Trini” Olmedo ran
the Casa Concordia lodging
where we stayed – she made
sure all of our rooms were
ready and our meals
prepared every day! Several
other groups stayed at Casa
Concordia at the same time
we were here… so Trini and
her staff were VERY busy!

7. In the City of San
Salvador…
A woman prepares the
tortillas she will sell from her
shop on the street in San
Salvador. She’ll make
hundreds of tortillas in one
day and sell them all before
she goes home for the night!

8. Out In the Salvadoran
Countryside…
The area we visited is
considered to be a Rain
Forest… We saw everything
from cactus to bamboo,
poinsettia trees to sugar
cane, and even some unusual
types of pine trees!

9. The Community of
Monsenor Romero…
Our first project here was to
enclose the sides of this
church so that the wind and
rain didn’t soak the people
inside during the rainy
season…

10. Our Project…
The women and children,
young and old, helped us
with our project. These
ladies are putting a waterproof stain on all of the
plywood panels that will be
put up as walls to enclose the
church building.

11. Everybody Helps…
These young men of the
community quickly learned
how to run the power tools
we purchased for them.
Here they are cutting a
plywood panel to fit just
right!

12. The Project
Continues…
The project continues as one
by one the new plywood wall
panels are installed. By this
time the men of the Romero
community have taken over
the project!

13. A Break for Lunch…
We bought enough food to
feed all the workers and the
rest of the Romero
community. We treated
them all to an American
lunch of hot dogs, French
fries, pop and cake. The
women of the community
prepared the food while the
men worked on the project…

14. Sugar Cane…
Sugar cane is a major crop in
El Salvador. When it is ready
for harvest , the field is
burned. Then the workers go
into the blackened field to
cut the cane. They work 12
hours a day and make 50
cents an hour – that’s only $6
a day for hard, dirty work.
But they are happy to do
what they can to make a
living.

15. Family life…
This is one of the families
that live in the Monsenor
Romero community. Homes
here are very simple, usually
built of concrete block with a
tile floor. Some homes have
only tin sheets for walls…

16. Bathroom facilities…
This is a typical outhouse
bathroom in the Salvadoran
countryside – the “banos”.
They are built so that there
are several steps to walk up,
as the ground is too hard to
dig a hole down. The toilets
are commonly concrete. The
door on this one is broken…

17. Next Stop – Chipilte!
On our way to the community
of Chipilte, we stopped and
purchased 13 new tables and 26
new plastic chairs for the
Sunday School room at the
church there. These were all
tied to the top of the minivan,
which was already heaped with
8 large suitcases filled with
goods for the community! And
then we stuffed 15 bodies into a
12 passenger minivan…

18. We Arrive in Chipilte…
The next community we
visited was Chipilte. This is
the church in Chipilte named
“Jesus de Vida”. It also serves
as a community meeting
center…

19. In Chipilte…
Chipilte is a very poor
community. This is one of
the typical homes there.
Most have only tin sheets for
walls and dirt floors. There is
little electricity or running
water…

20. In the Kitchen…
This is how most women
cook in Chipilte – over an
open fire inside the house.
Most meals consist of beans
and rice every day. Chicken
is the most common meat
available.

21. Inside the Home…
Homes usually have only
two or three living areas –
a place to cook, a family
area and a sleeping area.
There is little furniture.
Clothes are often just
hung over a rope inside
since there are no closets
or dressers. Often a
family of seven will live in
a home this size…

22. Outside the Home…
Outside you may find a
few plastic chairs, some
barrels to hold water,
clothes washed and
drying on a line. Here
we are visiting with one
of the families in
Chipilte…

23. Serving the Chipilte
Community…
While in Chipilte, we
distributed clothing,
shoes, toys and health
care items to people of
the community. Here are
some of the children
waiting patiently while we
get ready to hand out
goods to everyone who
came to the church that
day…

24. Lunch Time…
As we did in Romero, we
also provided lunch for
everyone in the Chipilte
community. Once again,
hot dogs, chips, French fries
and watermelon proved to
be a big hit. Here the
community members line
up for their picnic lunch…

25. Local Musicians…
After lunch we were treated
to some songs performed by
these young men who sang
and played their guitars.
They entertained us for the
afternoon, until it was time
for us to leave…

26. Leaving Chipilte…
As we were getting ready
to leave Chipilte, some of
the children came to say
goodbye. Many were
wearing the new clothes
that they received from us.
And ALL of them loved the
candy that we handed out!

27. One More
Important Visit –
Casa Esperanza….
Our last mission visit was
to Casa Esperanza –
“Hope House” – a
homeless shelter and
soup kitchen. The shelter
serves people who are
often alcoholics, drug
addicts, prostitutes, or are
mentally ill and have no
other place to go…

28. Sharing His Story…
A few of the men at Casa
Esperanza shared their
stories with us. Many were
just down on their luck
having lost their jobs and
homes. Some spoke
English because they had
lived in the U.S. but were
deported back to El
Salvador…

29. Lunch at Casa Esperanza
We served lunch to about 60
people, mostly men. The
food was purchased or
donated and then prepared
by the Casa staff. Today we
served mashed potatoes, a
salad, two tortillas and a
beverage. It is the only hot
meal most will have for a few
days…

30. Side Trips and
Other Visits…
We visited Equipo Maiz, an
agency in San Salvador
dedicated to educating the
public about the history,
culture, economics and
politics of El Salvador.
Note the razor wire… Most
businesses in town were
protected by armed
guards…

31. Cuscatlan Park…
Here we viewed “The Wall
of Remembrance”, a
memorial dedicated to
more than 25,000 men,
women and children who
died or disappeared during
the civil war in El Salvador
in the 1980’s.

32. UCA – University of
Central America
We got a personal tour of
the UCA campus, a
modern major university
in San Salvador. Here in
the Library you can look
out the window and see
the volcano… Tuition at
UCA is very reasonable for
those who cannot afford to
pay in full.

33. Centro Monsenor
Romero
Here at this Center on
the UCA campus, we
learned the story of six
Jesuit priests who were
murdered in 1989 by
Salvadoran Federal
troops… Also killed
that night were a
housekeeper and her
young daughter.

34. The Rose Garden…
This rose garden is a
memorial that
commemorates the lives
of the six priests and two
women who were killed
on the UCA campus in
1989.

35. Romero Chapel…
The Romero Chapel on the
UCA campus is home to
these beautiful art works,
created by a local
Salvadoran artist, which
depict the terrible impact
of the war.

36. The Subversive Cross…
This cross resides in the
Resurrection Cathedral.
During the war, church
members wrote their
feelings about the war
and the government on
this cross. Political
leaders called it The
Subversive Cross and
locked this cross in a jail
cell during the war. It was
just recently returned to
the Resurrection
Church…

37. Chalchuapa Park…
This is a beautiful park in
the center of town,
featuring many varieties of
trees, shrubs and flowers.
Some bushes were even
formed into the shapes of
animals…

38. Mayan Ruins…
We spent time at the
Mayan ruins of
Tazumal, which are
among El Salvador’s
oldest and most
impressive.

39. Saying Good-bye…
After 10 days in El Salvador we
had many new friends! It was
hard to say good-bye. We all
feel that we got as much back
from the people of El Salvador
as we gave to them. I look
forward to going back again
NEXT year to meet more
people, make new friends and
work on projects that can help
make their lives better!!

40. Questions???
I’m happy to answers any
questions you might have
about the country of El
Salvador, the people we met,
the life they live, or the
projects we worked on…
Just Ask!!

41. A Presentation Created by
Laurel Chilcote
On behalf of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Alango, MN
And Calvary Lutheran Church, Orr, MN