"Do not give to the poor expecting to get their gratitude so that you can feel good about yourself. If you do, your giving wil be thin and short-lived, and that is not what the poor need; it will only impoverish them further. Give only if you have something you must give; give only if you are someone for whom giving is its own reward."
- Dorothy Day
Today we woke up and got on the road for our final day of service. I returned to Ciudad Arce one last time. In the morning, I played with the kids. We brought paper bags, string, and other craft supplies for them to make puppets with. Lots of kids showed up, since there had been a parents meeting at the school that morning. Lots of families hung around afterwards to clean the schoolyard, dig a new water and sewage trench along the side of the hill, and to help with building the classroom. I played a quick pick-up game with some of the boys, and a few of us Americans had a dance-off to Michael Jackson music that the El Salvadoran kids got a huge kick out of.
In the early afternoon, a truck with 1,000 cinderblocks pulled up to the site, and we unloaded them all in 30 minutes! Daniel and Chele helped us, and we created a huge assembly line. One person picked the block up off the truck, and swung it over the fence to the next person, who swung it down the line to the next person, and so on until we reached the pile of blocks. Don Miguel was at the end, expertly stacking the blocks into a neat pile. By swinging the blocks down the line, we were putting the least amount of strain on our backs, and lightening the load rather than trying to lift each brick, walk it to the pile, and then set it down. It was really tough work!
Next week, the group that is volunteering will begin laying the cinderblock walls. By the time we packed up to head home, the foundation was 3/4 of the way dug. Just 2 of the 7 walls still had to be pickaxed. We compared the view to the first day, and were shocked at how much we had been able to accomplish. At the end of each day it looked like we hadn't done much, but now that we looked at pictures from the first day, we were able to see just how much we had been able to do in only 8 days. Although we won't get to see the finished product, we were a part of it, an integral part, and the work we did set the foundation for hundreds of kids in Ciudad Arce to be able to get a better education. I thought that was pretty cool.
As we loaded up for the last time and pulled away from the school, there were tears in my eyes. The boys I had gotten to know and played with all week stood on the steps of the school and waved as Don Miguel closed the gate behind us. Before we left, he had gathered us around and gave us a really heartfelt speech, thanking us for what we had done and for caring so deeply about the people of his little country. He sang us a song that was really beautiful, whose lyrics focused on the unity of humanity and the beauty that exists when we all work together as one. Before I left I hugged him, and wished him continued success with the rest of the project. I found my boys and hugged them also, and told them thank you for being such good friends and that they better study hard in school next year. Hopefully someday I will be able to return to El Salvador and to Ciudad Arce, see the finished product, and play soccer with them once more. I don't know if or when I will ever return, but I left a little piece of my heart in Ciudad Arce and will always have them in the back of my mind.
On the way home we stopped at the UCA, the University of Central America. That is the place where 6 Jesuit priests were murdered in 1989. We visited their graves, as well as the seminary where the murder took place. In the yard where the bodies were found there was a beautiful rose garden, planted by the gardener, whose wife and daughter were also murdered in the massacre. Underneath the seminary is a museum that has pictures of the murder as well as personal artifacts from each of the priests. The museum tells the stories of the priests and their murder by the National Guard. We learned that nobody has ever been charged in the deaths of the 6 priests and 2 women, even though their deaths were brutal, violent, and deliberate, and attracted international attention. It was a very chilling experience, especially to see the pictures and walk on the grounds. It was hard to stomach, but the experience was an important one that really helped us to understand more fully the history of El Salvador.
When we got back to the house, we showered and ate quickly before a group of El Salvadoran singers arrived. The six men played traditional instruments and sang songs to honor Oscar Romero. They were a very funny group, and the music was very beautiful. Their whole show centered around audience participation, and they taught us a lot about El Salvadoran culture through their songs. They made me get up at one point and sing the refrain of the song by myself in front of the entire group! It went, "Romero, oh Romero, Romero, Romero de El Salvador!" After they left we quickly began packing, because we were leaving early the next morning!
Hasta luego,
Julia Marie
A rare bird found at our worksite on the last morning!
A rare bird found at our worksite on the last morning!
Our tired crew in front of all the cinderblocks!
Dan with a big pile of dirt
The whole group at Ciudad Arce on the last day
The final view of the worksite
"If they kill me, I will rise again in the Salvadoran people"
A shrine to remember the lives of those killed at UCA
El Salvadoran art
Part of the shrine at UCA
A Romero statue at UCA
The rose garden where the bodies of the men killed were found
The rose garden where the bodies of the men killed were found
The rose garden where the bodies of the men killed were found
A stone honoring the place where the gardner's wife and daughter were found murdered
The clothes and personal artifacts of Rutilio Grande, Romero's friend. Grande was killed before Romero, and his death made Romero realize that he had to do something to help and stop the violence.
Many of the belongings of the men that were murdered were destroyed as well, like this bible that was found in one of the men's rooms.
Center for Human Rights at UCA
