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Sunday, January 8, 2012
Vozz El Salvador: Youth Cover 2012 Elections and Organize Local Forum
Thursday, October 20, 2011
the great flood of 2011
In Santiago Texacuangos alone, there were 586 people sheltered in 6 locations; 3 in the town center and 3 communaly run shelters in la Cuchilla, El Sauce, and Shaltipa, respectively. CEIBA offered support to nearly all of these shelters, in addition to 2 shelters in Santo Tomas, a nearby region. We aided in food, water, toothbrushes, toothpaste, clothing, maxipads, diapers, soap, floss, and coordinated with various organizations such as Anmutsipical, SSPAS, CIPJES, Generacion Ochentas, Caritas, and others. Probabaly our largest contribution was the immaterial; the puppet shows, the movie showings, painting classes, and the use of hundreds of crayons to start a process of psychosocial intervention with at least 350 children (and maybe more). We gave motivational speeches in the community run shelter of El Sauce, taught community members how to fill out shelter statstics forms, and much much more. So far, we have raised $2,000!!!!!! and have yet to spend all of it. The rains have stopped for today, so what we didn't spend on relief, we will surely need to spend on reconstruction.....
Here are some pictures with some good stories from the week (though there are so many more to be told)
1. candlelit spaghetti dinner. this was the most beautiful moment for me in all of the tragedy- eating spaghetti with my fingers in the shelter in El Sauce with the children. We have no utensils, but we did have hot (and really bland!) spaghetti. Since the electricity had been out ALL day, CEIBA pitched in with the community leaders to buy 20 candles for the shelter, so that we could eat by candle light. After noticing the teary eyes of the exhausting community leaders who has been running the shelter for 5 days straight, CEIBA decided to give a pep talk of sorts, encouraging the community to keep supporting their leaders and pitch in to run what we have dubbed "The 5 star shelter" when compared with nearly every shelter we has seen. This shelter was clean, dry, participatory, organized into commissions and felt so much happier than EVERYWHERE else. The adults camped out at the edges of the building, so the kids could run around in the middle.
2. destroyed home, el sauce.
This is the reason the El Sauce shelter filled so quick (over 80 people in a small small room). In the early hours of the morning (Sunday October 17th), the wall fell in on this humble home. Thank goodness the leader of the youth group, Tito, happens to live across the street, and jumped into action to pull the 6 person family out of the rubble. Its hard to tell in this picture, that there used to be a home here. The future of where this family will live now that the rains have stopped...is unknown.
3. Kevin and the Indy 500
In one of the ugliest moments of the disaster, when the first shelter opened in Friday Oct. 13th, with the first few families from Joya Grande (which would later grow to nearly 200 families from Joya), this family was standing around, looking terrified, just waiting for what to do next. I pulled some chairs out of the school director's office, and frantically began to search through the bags of dry clothes to get the soaking children a little warmer. These 2 characters, Erik, and Kevin, choose the Indy 500 shirt, and their eyes openedin delight as I explained the wonders of cars racings hundreds of miles an hour around a huge track.....
4. drawing water is rain.
5. finger paint. crayons are pretty exciting (most kids in your average salvadoran home probabaly do not own any) but finger paint is even MORE exciting. Karina's innocent and excited and ENOURMOUS brown eyes couldn't contain their excitement for the finger paint. she drew this. 6. vulnerability in shaltipa
this community didn't completely lose any houses- but almost. this landslide ripped down the hillside through an urban area, forcing nearly 30 families into community run shelters in churches and schools. The back wall on the house on the right could cave in any second. Though the rains have stopped for now, the saturation in the soil is preventing many familys from returning home just yet- any little old thundershower could send a landslide toppling all the homes in this picture over like dominoes.
7. How old am I?These tiny tiny boys with very rotten teeth appear to be 3 or for years old... think again! They are 7 and 8! These little munchkins, malnourished for sure, continuously giggled and tugged on my rain jacket, because they were wet and cold. I tried to fit them both in, and fought back the tears thinking about their obvious poverty- the kind of poverty you always seem to confront in disaster shelters. And I wondered as they lined up for lunch- were they not better fed in this shelter than in their day to day life? And is this cold, wet, school worse than their actual home? But you could never tell....Carlos David (munchkin on the right) continued to giggle and nuzzle further into my raincoat, asking me if I was already leaving....and when I would be coming back...
8. Una Vez y No Mas (once and not more)
This is the name of the improvisational puppet show that our partner organization, Anmutsipical has engineer together. Inside are Salvadorans Juancho (Anmu) and Tito (that heroic kid from El Sauce) who have invented a show about why they have come to the shelter, and how they are going to act there. The show is interactive, as the puppets talk to the audience, asking them how they feel, or the audience shouting advice to the puppets. Creative education (like puppets) is really important to our methodology, and totally magical for kids.
9. dedicated youth volunteers. the people who bring life and light into disaster shelters.....
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| Juancho, working with the children in El Sauce |
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| Daniela, interviewing families about their experience in the shelter |
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| Maggie, faithfully guarding the crayons while the local catholic church hands out clothes. This is why we do what we do. Thank you and your donations for helping us create smiles amidst the chaos. |
Monday, October 17, 2011
lo que significa perder las alas/what is means to lose your wings.
A MEDIO VUELO.
Llueve, lleva casi 10 dÃas lloviendo, comunidades enteras inundadas, niños muertos, polÃticos
diciendo mentiras, noticias en los periódicos y la televisión….préstamos internacionales
Y afuera gente recolectando vÃveres, gente desenterrando y llorando sus muertos….
El Salvador es el paÃs más vulnerable del mundo, el segundo más deforestado en América
latina después de HaitÃ, deforestación, desigualdad social, falta de educación salud,
desnutrición, violencia social y juvenil….pobreza….
Son casi medio dÃa, manejo sobre un cielo oscuro y triste asà como la risa de un niño que a
lo lejos me saluda…La comunidad “El Sauce” una de las comunidades en las cuales hemos
trabajado por dos años. Con su adesco y sus jóvenes esta en emergencia asà como todo el paÃs
debido a las constantes lluvias y sus mortales consecuencias…
Llego al albergue , la gente me saluda , agradece mi presencia y apoyo , da gracias porque
somos los primeros en llegar con unas cuantas bolsas de agua, no tiene comida ni agua potable
hasta ahora hay quizá 40 o 50 personas albergadas , la lluvia no cesa.
A lo lejos una joven me grita: Jonathan, ya se cayó una casa, camino a verificar el lugar y
hablar con la gente, el panoramas es terriblemente triste, la casa totalmente llena de lodo y
piedras, una cama destruida, una cocina totalmente inservible, ropa, etc.…
De la puerta de al lado un llanto estremece mi piel, es la dueña de la casa, una señora de 40
años quizá que sujeta con su mano sus dos hijos que sin saber que pasa rÃen entre ellos…
La abrazo siento su tristeza en mis hueso, veo la desilusión de todo un pueblo en su mirada,
quiero llorar pero algo en mi lo impide….
“era todo lo que tenia me dice, mi vida, todo mi esfuerzo, todo mi trabajo y ahora que va a
pasar” ella fue evacuada minutos antes de que su casa fuera destruida, no tiene casa para
esta noche dormirá como tantos otros en el albergue de la comunidad, pensando que pasara
mañana cuando la lluvia se marche…
Es notorio el estado de ánimo de ella, está llorando, la gente murmura entre ella, pobrecita
perdió la casa y todas sus cosas, ella mira a sus hijos y sonrÃe como quien tira la piedra y
esconde la mano, les besa la frente y les dice: Dios no se ha muerto, todo va estar bien…
Los niños corren energéticos sin prestar atención….
Entonces, me pregunto, te pregunto? que harÃas si fueras pájaro y la lluvia te cortara las alas?
A veces uno cree haber perdido algo y esa sensación rara en el cuerpo se apodera de nuestros
ojos, ahora imagina si todo el esfuerzo de tu vida desaparece en un minuto, tu casa llena
de lodo, tu cama con raÃces y piedras, tus hijos con la única ropa que llevan puesta, la lluvia
amenazando afuera….la muerte cantando sus canciones terribles en la puerta de tu casa…
A veces perderlo todo es otra forma de iniciar de nuevo de reparar nuestros errores, o de
demostrarle a la lluvia y a la muerte que Dios no ha muerto y que siempre o casi siempre
podemos volar sin alas…..
Jonathan Velásquez
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Support Children by Donating Today


The following message is from Beth Tellman, who currently is working with the population of refugees who have fled to the temporary shelter established in the Camilo Campos school in Santiago Texacuangos. When we last spoke she and several volunteers were coloring pictures with the children of the families in the shelter. Thanks to much work in recent years to overhaul the region's disaster-response system, the situation in Santiago Texacuangos is stable thus far. Unfortunately, that is not the case for the regions of the country that have been hardest-hit by this triple tropical storm week. Read below to see how you can empower CEIBA to offer assistance to the most delicate regions in this hour of severe need. The need is immediate, so please consider acting now.
Hello,
I know that you all and your various institutions are out supporting this country in these difficult moments.
We know that sometimes, although material needs like mattresses and food are covered, psychological support is left untended to, especially when it comes to children who survive disaster.
Our two collectives, Anmutsipical and CEIBA, are professionally trained in this area and we offer support in the municipality of Santiago Texacuangos. Here the shelter already houses 35 people who have fled their homes. This afternoon, we will go to Santo Tomas to see the situation there. Thus far, here in the southern part of San Salvador, all seems to be benefitting from a well-orchestrated disaster management effort from local governments, the Civilian Protection Ministry and other institutions, which have covered the majority of immediate material necessities.
Therefore, we would like to offer support in other regions of the country that have more immediate needs: places like the coast or the department of Ahuachapan, where the crisis has hit with more force and local authorities haven’t been able to respond adequately. What we lack to be able to reach that region is transport. If you would support us by donating funds for gasoline, we will be able to support the children of these delicate regions with our knowledge, materials and experience as they ride out yet another disaster.
Please see the formal financial proposal below.
Thank you,
CEIBA y Anmutsipical
Psycho-Social Attention Project Proposal
Who We Are
We are two youth collectives, Anmu-tsipical and CEIBA, which work in social community development with an emphasis in socio-environmental themes. We emphasize community organization, especially in the municipalities of Santiago Texacuangos and Santo Tomas.
What We Do
Our two collectives have united to carry out several projects over time, such as one that offered psycho-social support for 300 children who survived Hurricane Ida and who reside in the communities of Joya Grande, San Martin, and Santo Tomas. This project lasted 6 months. We also belong to and work through the following Salvadoran national youth networks: Juxvida, Youth in Favor of Life (an environmental youth network), and CIPJES (the Inter-Sector Coordination in Favor of Youth in El Salvador.) These networks unite to support each other when we are in need of volunteers, to carry out large events, and in times of crisis. Finally, our two collectives together have together trained two Children’s Emergency Committees in Santiago Texacuangos.
The objective of carrying out this type of attention is to support children in expressing their emotions after having lived through trauma. We help them to understand what is happening and how it is related to their feelings, so they can understand it and feel themselves empowered to be part of the solution to the problem. Our methodology consists in using different interactive techniques, like painting and drawing, puppets and games, and movement therapies like yoga, which help the children to fully comprehend the crisis they’re living.
The Resources We Offer
We have a team of 3 to 6 trained psychologists along with some materials like paper, crayons, puppets, movies and games.
What We Need
In order to provide immediate attention we need either vehicles to provide transport, or gasoline to fill up our SUV and to provide food for the psychologists during the work days. This attention is necessary immediately and lasting throughout the effects of the storms.
Contact Us:
CEIBA:
Telephone: 011-503-7403-2702- Beth or 011-503-7182-4827 Jonathan
Email: ceibaelsalvador@gmail.com
Facebook: Ceiba El Salvador
Website: www.friendsofsantamaria.blogspot.com and español www.ceibaelsalvador.org
Anmutsipical Collective:
Telephoen: 011-503-7904-5272 Juancho
Email: anmutsipical@yahoo.com.mx
Friday, October 14, 2011
heavy rains-donate if you can.
dont have much time to write will post pictures next week.
intense rains in elsalvador since tuesday night are continuing into the weekend. the most affected part of the country are on the coast but santiago texacuangos is in danger.
we have yet to open shelters, but there are landslides that have partially destroyed or entered some houses.
the largest landslide so far is in el sauce, and has filled part of a house with mud. by the time i arrived, the youth group was there, barefoot, with mud up to their knees, digging the family out. jonathan, henry, and tito were working tirelessly.
joya grande is fine so far, but the road has been obstructed so we are only communicating by phone.
ceiba is coordianting with proteccion civil, since we are part of the comission municipal.
since we are trained in trauma therapy for kids, we are going to movilize to other parts of the country with more needs to implement tramua therapy in shelters (still deciding where, possibly la herradura in la paz or berlin in usulutan or in auhuchapan....we are coordinating with cipjes, unes, and the red cross to decide WHERE are people most underserved). we met at cafe la T last night with juancho from anmustpicial, erik and jenni to plan our campaign.
we are getting all of your donations out of our storage. the clothes, the batteries, the wigs, the puppets, and the crayons. THANK YOU SO MUCH. how useful they are these tough days.
we do need some monetary support-
$100 to buy plastic to prevent more landslides
$150 for gas to get to far away shelters this weekend to implement trauma therapy
$50 for communications (we have been using new early warning technology frontline SMS to communicate with local gov and the community leaders via text message. each text is .6 cents so its cheap...but we already used up $10 yesterday so if this continues we need support for the communications system.
i think about $300-500 bucks could get us thru the next few days and help A LOT.
the local gov office had no car (neither did the police, and the health clinic has no amblulence!) so i was driving a team from local gov and proteccion civil around to verify landslides, needs, write down names and stats. good think my car is in tip top condition ! just got it back from the shop....its a real tool worth investing in. the local gov gave me gas $$ to drive out to the most affected locations.
i have seen the most heartwrenching poverty these days.
kids in my youth group who literally live between pieces of plastic.
the eldery has affected me the most. i have seen many old women with blue lips, chattering teeth, and when i ask if they have a sweater to put on, just shaking heads.
we are going to be delivering all the sweaters from our storage to the elderly. and plan on brewing HUGE vats of coffee and choclate as well...just to try and warm some bodies and spirits these terrifying days.
will write more reflections and stories and pics when this is over. but for now please pray for Salvadorans, and if you can make a small donation we promise to make excellent use of it.
with dedicated volunteers, we are doing our best to help where and when we can in these wet wet times!
we are not in crisis in santiago tex YET but we are on the brink. hopefully with good communication and some prevention we can make a difference
Friday, September 23, 2011
Filling a big hole with tires- preventing more than landslides
| tito, with his accounting notebook in hand |
| henri, 8 , children's emerency comittee la marmonera |
In an evaluation of the event, the kids reflected on how good it felt to help out another family, and try to accomplish a project they started. Many kids told us it was the "best weekend ever.." Because we didn't just work! The El Sauce kids decided to spend the night in the Casa Comunal of Joya Grande, and build relationships with the youth of another community. Each youth group presented the history, mission, and vision of their group, and the challenges they have had making change in their own community. El Sauce was pretty impressed with the Joya Grande youth's many projects- plans to put up a Red Cross post in Joya Grande, extensive surveys of the community, and a Halloween party to raise funds for the group. Jonathan from CEIBA then gave a presentation on obligatory military service in El Salvador (the governments newest "violence prevention" plan). We discussed the structure of WHO makes decisions FOR youth in El Salvador- and the fact that youth are not actively involved in writing such proposals and projects. Everyone was unanimously against obligatory service, and concluded that the real problems of gang violence are rooted in unemployment and lack of access to education. To follow up on these issues, CEIBA is involved with CIPJES , a national network of youth organizations that encourage political and democratic participation. We sent two of the El Sauce Kids, Jorge and Linda, to the CIPJES formation schools to learn about many issues affecting Salvadoran youth- among these- integral strategies for violence prevention.
and then of course, we danced! Joya kids brought their HUGE booming speakers, and we got down in the Casa Comunal. but alas, not for long. at about 10pm, we were told that the local MS/13 clic from nearby community Shangallo had rolled it, and we had to keep it down so they wouldn't notice and come mess around. Hard times to be a youth in El Salvador these days....
We reverted to playing cards and indoor soccer, altho the shouts coming from each mini goal was just as loud as the booming reggaeton...
| untying the human knot on the island |
| first boat ride ever for many |
Thanks to Ryan Alaniz's Futbol Project, we then distributed 4 sets of jersyes, socks and shorts! (one for each women's and men's team in each community). Sweating in our new gear,
| enjoying our coconut juice, sweet victory, and NEW JERSEYS! |
At our weekly meeting in El Sauce, Tito informed me that the Joya Grande kids would be coming to visit El Sauce, and kick their butts in soccer. Their idea, their logistics, their youth group. That is project sustainability- give youth groups skills to plan and fundraise, and the responsability to manage an event...and they start to plan and execute their own projects. It may seem small or silly, but to live in a world of poverty and violence and take the initiative to plan intercomunal youth activities...is a bold step in the right direction for violence prevention. What kids need here is to be given a PLACE, a VOICE and to feel VALUED.
When a good friend Colette interviewed the El Sauce kids on violence prevention ideas, one kid replied, "well, I think what CEIBA is doing you know, coming here and opening up a space for us to feel good and hang out." Pretty simple concept- but somehow so complicated for the government to take seriously. Art, soccer, and education....are probabaly much cheaper projects to run than obligatory military service. In fact, in one weekend we spent $400 to fill in a sinkhole to save someone's house, foment intercommunal youth participation, discuss obligatory military service, talk about our dreams, and play soccer. Clearly, we prevent more than Josue's house falling over. This kind of good clean fun and positive development of our ideas and dreams, as well as critical analysis of government policies, is cheap and effective violence prevention. The real win of the weekend was not the service project- it was the space that was created for youth to participate, help out, and ENJOY BEING YOUNG, something that doesnt happen very often here.
So this weekend, I get to give El Sauce kids $40 of what they raised to make the BIGGEST bucket of Tang ever been seen, and 100 chicken sandwhiches for a post game celebration....no matter who wins.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Help El Sauce youth fill the sinkhole in Joya Grande!
Santiago Texacuangos 15 August 2011
St. Thomas Aquinas Church
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
We humbly wish to write you wishing many blessings and success in your work and school.
Via this letter, we want to communicate with you and simultaneously give thanks to the youth who in solidarity collaborated with us on various community projects that benefited both El Sauce and the community of Joya Grande.
Via this letter we would also be very grateful if this delegation of youth with a little of their resources could help us with some economic support. Said support would serve as much help because it would cover costs of transportation and food so that we can help our brothers and sisters of Joya Grande to help finish filling the sinkhole that threatens many families from the previously mentioned community.
We want to thank you beforehand for your response to the request we write to you.
Sincerely, JUBDIS (Jovenes Unidos Buscando Desarrollo Integral El Sauce/ Youth United Seeking Integrated Development of El Sauce)
Fernando Jose Villelas Serrano
Mirna Roxana Urias Lopez
Jocelyn Yajaira Vasquez Perez
Jairo Francisco Diaz Hernandez
Lester Esau Perez Sariano
Jesus Enrique Lopez Lopez
Carlos Alberto Sanchez
Ricardo Francisco Urias Lopez
Henry Alexander Vasquez perez
Erlinda Beatriz Valladares
Carlos Alejandro Sorto
Milton Gustavo Cruz
Kevin Antonio Prolen
Jorge Eduardo Fuentes Moncada
Item Number Cost
Lunch for volunteers 140 350
Dinner for youth 25 37.50
Transportation to joya - 40
Water 5 25
Gas - 35
Breakfast 25 75
subtotal - 557.50
Other possible costs 10% of total 55.75
TOTAL - 613.25
Santiago Texacuangos 15 de Agosto 2011
Iglesia Santo Tomas de Aquino
Indianapolis Indiana USA
Atentamente nos dirigimos a ustedes deceandole muchas benidciones y exitos en las labores que desempenan.
Por medio de la presente les hacemos comunicar y asi mismo a gradecerles al grupo de jovenes que solidariamente nos colaboraron con diferentes trabajo a beneficios de la comunidad de El Sauce y el canton Joya Grande.
Por medio de la presente les agradeseremos mucho a este delegacion si por medio de un poco de sus recursos nos pueden ayudar con aporte economico dicho aporte nos servira de mucho ayuda para asi poder cubrir gastos de transporte y alimentacion y asi poder ayudar a nuestros hermanos de joya grande para poder terminar una carcava que amenaza a varios familiars de la zona anteriormente mencionada.
Agradeciendole antemano su ponta respuesta a la solicitud nos suscribimos de ustedes.
Atentamente:
JUBDIS (Jovenes Unidos Buscando Desarrollo Integral El Sauce)







