5/29-5/30
Monday we had our first meeting together and we discussed our plans, expectations and anxieties regarding the program and impending life in the campo.
Most of the day was spent doing orientation stuff and at night we did a sort of reflection as a group with the whole staff. In the exercise, we split up into Salvadoreans, gringos and north americans who had lived here for a long time, and we discussed separately, then in a group what our cultural notions regarding family and community were. I think it was such a compelling subject for people that they seemed to really get into and speak even faster than usual. (perhaps this is just me.) Of what I caught, a main suggestion, of course, was the way in which Salvadorean culture largely considers a wider network of people family than in the U.S. We also discussed different ideas that young adults in the two cultures have about independence and family among other things.
Tonight with this exercise, I really struggled with and sort of accepted where my Spanish is. In the course of the discussion I was asked a simple question and I went absolutely completely blank. It was like one of those moments when your life feels like a movie. Time slows down, the camera pans around to expectant faces and my voice went completely, painfully blank. Like the nightmare of a kid about to go into a spelling bee or something, the sound of your heartbeat and/or imaginary crickets completely deafening. I am the oldest person in the SIPPIE group at 26 and today I found it hard to simply accept where I was at in terms of my ability to communicate and I just felt really angry with myself for sucking. We talked about it afterwards in our smaller group of SIPPIES and the coordinators were incredibly helpful. I remember them saying basically that sometimes the blow to the ego is a little stronger than we expect and that we have to be ¨gentle with ourselves.¨ Yeah, thats pretty much it. Amen.
So, Tuesday we visited the University de Central America, the UCA and heard a speech/talk (in English) given by Dean Brackley, a priest and professor at the University. He gave us a history of the war and the murders of the Jesuit Priests and two women staying with them in 1989. He described the murders in the context of the civil war as the ¨crime that wouldn´t go away.¨ After years of fighting, with substantial military aid from the U.S. the murders perfectly reflected the sense of impunity with which the Salvadorean military acted, helping create international pressure which ultimately contributed heavily to the peace accords in 1992. (at least this is my way simplified understanding.)
After discussing the war and the significance of the murders he also discussed the current role and philosophy of the University/church in light of today´s circumstances. At present, El Salvador is producing very little for export, and it has the most generous remittance rate of any country in the world (money being sent from relatives in the U.S.) at $1,000 per Salvadorean.
Though its poverty is not unusual the abysmal rate of social spending is.
According to Brackley, in El Salvador an estimated 2/3 of residents live in various degrees of poverty and only 1/3 of kids high school age attend, with the overall average of school years completed at 6. Part of the way in which the school and the church lives its philosophy of social justice is by providing traveling tutors to help students pass entrance exams and subsidized tuition for students for whom tuition is grossly out of reach, to ¨project the resources of the University outside the walls of campus.¨ I found this really fascinating and I kept wondering if any of the students walking by were ones who were making a journey into the city, representing their rural community, etc. and what that might be like for them.
This speech was really the first time I have been explicitly exposed to liberation theology and I just absolutely loved his approach. It wasn´t just the information he presented but the way he presented it. He was open-hearted, realistic, respectful, funny, optimistic, not heavy handed or guilting, etc. He generally described the evolution of liberation theology as a ¨church in critical dialogue with its surroundings,¨ where the ¨poor set the agenda for the church.¨ Apparently around the time of the 25th Anniversary of Romero´s death, the Pope died and the new pope, I forget his name, had publicly debunked liberation theology, or something along those lines. Brackley was inundated by reporters because he was at the UCA, the or one of the birthplaces of liberation theology, and he spoke English. He asked the reporters, ¨In your picture of the world where are the victims? Are they in the center, on the side, or not even in the frame?
When he said that the church will live or die based upon where it stands with the victims, (of ¨structural sin¨ or systematic oppression,) I thought of the current administration in the U.S. and how religious they are. I have never heard these ideas stated like that and it inspired me.
I better go to bed or at least stop speaking english.
I hope everyone is well. thanks for reading/skimming.
much love,
deb
Monday we had our first meeting together and we discussed our plans, expectations and anxieties regarding the program and impending life in the campo.
Most of the day was spent doing orientation stuff and at night we did a sort of reflection as a group with the whole staff. In the exercise, we split up into Salvadoreans, gringos and north americans who had lived here for a long time, and we discussed separately, then in a group what our cultural notions regarding family and community were. I think it was such a compelling subject for people that they seemed to really get into and speak even faster than usual. (perhaps this is just me.) Of what I caught, a main suggestion, of course, was the way in which Salvadorean culture largely considers a wider network of people family than in the U.S. We also discussed different ideas that young adults in the two cultures have about independence and family among other things.
Tonight with this exercise, I really struggled with and sort of accepted where my Spanish is. In the course of the discussion I was asked a simple question and I went absolutely completely blank. It was like one of those moments when your life feels like a movie. Time slows down, the camera pans around to expectant faces and my voice went completely, painfully blank. Like the nightmare of a kid about to go into a spelling bee or something, the sound of your heartbeat and/or imaginary crickets completely deafening. I am the oldest person in the SIPPIE group at 26 and today I found it hard to simply accept where I was at in terms of my ability to communicate and I just felt really angry with myself for sucking. We talked about it afterwards in our smaller group of SIPPIES and the coordinators were incredibly helpful. I remember them saying basically that sometimes the blow to the ego is a little stronger than we expect and that we have to be ¨gentle with ourselves.¨ Yeah, thats pretty much it. Amen.
So, Tuesday we visited the University de Central America, the UCA and heard a speech/talk (in English) given by Dean Brackley, a priest and professor at the University. He gave us a history of the war and the murders of the Jesuit Priests and two women staying with them in 1989. He described the murders in the context of the civil war as the ¨crime that wouldn´t go away.¨ After years of fighting, with substantial military aid from the U.S. the murders perfectly reflected the sense of impunity with which the Salvadorean military acted, helping create international pressure which ultimately contributed heavily to the peace accords in 1992. (at least this is my way simplified understanding.)
After discussing the war and the significance of the murders he also discussed the current role and philosophy of the University/church in light of today´s circumstances. At present, El Salvador is producing very little for export, and it has the most generous remittance rate of any country in the world (money being sent from relatives in the U.S.) at $1,000 per Salvadorean.
Though its poverty is not unusual the abysmal rate of social spending is.
According to Brackley, in El Salvador an estimated 2/3 of residents live in various degrees of poverty and only 1/3 of kids high school age attend, with the overall average of school years completed at 6. Part of the way in which the school and the church lives its philosophy of social justice is by providing traveling tutors to help students pass entrance exams and subsidized tuition for students for whom tuition is grossly out of reach, to ¨project the resources of the University outside the walls of campus.¨ I found this really fascinating and I kept wondering if any of the students walking by were ones who were making a journey into the city, representing their rural community, etc. and what that might be like for them.
This speech was really the first time I have been explicitly exposed to liberation theology and I just absolutely loved his approach. It wasn´t just the information he presented but the way he presented it. He was open-hearted, realistic, respectful, funny, optimistic, not heavy handed or guilting, etc. He generally described the evolution of liberation theology as a ¨church in critical dialogue with its surroundings,¨ where the ¨poor set the agenda for the church.¨ Apparently around the time of the 25th Anniversary of Romero´s death, the Pope died and the new pope, I forget his name, had publicly debunked liberation theology, or something along those lines. Brackley was inundated by reporters because he was at the UCA, the or one of the birthplaces of liberation theology, and he spoke English. He asked the reporters, ¨In your picture of the world where are the victims? Are they in the center, on the side, or not even in the frame?
When he said that the church will live or die based upon where it stands with the victims, (of ¨structural sin¨ or systematic oppression,) I thought of the current administration in the U.S. and how religious they are. I have never heard these ideas stated like that and it inspired me.
I better go to bed or at least stop speaking english.
I hope everyone is well. thanks for reading/skimming.
much love,
deb
posted by D.Helt at 6:59 PM
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