This is going to be a beach day in the west of the country near El Maizal, the fourth and last Anglican village built by ERD. Two of us worked at this site four years ago when it was a field marked out by stakes where the houses would be. The beach nearby is call Playa Metalio, a small resort about 3 miles away. Afterwards, we will celebrate the Eucharist at the church in the community of El Maizal, Divina Providencia.
We drive again by Lago Coatepeque and down to the coast, where it is 20 degrees hotter and wiltingly humid. It is astonishing to see the changes in the vegetation alone here after four years. When we pull into El Maizal, the lay reader, Virginia, and her husband, Antonio, greet us warmly. Don Antonio was the agricultural engineer who worked with ERD on the project four years ago. Educated in California, he and Virginia have moved here from San Salvador to support the development of the community. We also see Don Mauricio, caretaker of the grounds, who was our work foreman during the project.
One of the first things that we are shown is the new swimming pool. It looks cool and refreshing and overlooks the wide playing field below, used by the community as well as by church groups for soccer matches. We strike out across the field for a tour.
As we go up through the vegetation, Don Antonio points out the stand of Teca trees. The trees are at least twenty five feet high. In fact, they are pretty much a forest. We can't believe it. We helped to plant these trees, and they were about two to three feet tall. These are very special trees, which Antonio calls "green treasure", or money in the bank for the church. They are rapidly-growing, straight-grained trees used for fine furniture and artisanry. They can be sold for a very good price in about four or five years. When each one is cut and sold, they will plant a new one to sell in another ten years. Each year they have planted a stand of them until last year when they ran out of room.
Next we see the fruit and nut orchard where there are mangos, avocados, canela, cashews and other fruits that we don't recognize. The mangos have already borne fruit for several years. 
This is what they looked like four years ago.
Don Antonio rattles off their names in both Spanish and English. He does not speak much English, but understands more than he lets on.
Beyond the orchard are acres and acres of corn. Each family has its own area to farm. There is also a women's agricultural school to train women from around the diocese in agricultural techniques that they can bring back to their families and villages. Each of these individual women also has a plot planted in corn, beans and peppers among other things. We are told that the seed is donated to the people of El Salvador by the Millenium Challenge Account, a US aid organization started by the Bush administration. In the case of this church community, Episcopal Relief and Developent purchases the seed and fertilizer.
Cutting through the cornfield, we enter the new village. All thirty houses are completed and inhabited. Most people have started their door gardens. The community appears to be thriving. There is a school just beyond the houses for Pre-Kinder through 2nd grade with two teachers. The place is hopping. There are plans to make a playground and community center across from the school when the resources are available.
We walk back down the road to the guesthouse and have a quick lunch on the veranda. Virginia gives us a tour of the kitchen, showing us the water filter and the sanitary conditions. She is instructing the community members in safe food preparation, artisan workshops and computer skills, as well as mentoring students, providing pastoral care and celebrating services at the church next door. One of her special concerns is for the older girls in the community who tend to drop out of school due to the cost of transportation, often becoming single mothers. She manages all of these tasks in a competent, motherly way, and it is evident the great compassion that she has for the people here.
After changing into our suits, we head to the nearby beach resort at Metalio. There are shady cabanas and a wide beach with pounding surf. Mindful of the strong undertow, several of us play in the waves while others stay in the cool shade. Coconut vendors and waitresses come by selling refreshments.
Don Antonio, who has come with us, suddenly remembers to tell us that there has been a coup this morning in Honduras and that the president has been removed. We ponder that for a while in the context of leading mission trips. One apparently should be prepared for the possibility that the government could fall - not sure how we would have handled that!
We have a delightful hour at this beautiful beach, then head back in our sandy suits to go to the afternoon service at the community chapel, Divina Providencia. There is a good crowd there by the time we arrive. Father Geoffrey celebrates the Eucharist; a small choir sings and plays guitar during the service; Virginia gives a short, but stirring homily about building each other up in Christ and giving of our time, treasure and talent. After the service we show them our pictures from the past trip, before the houses and school were built. They enjoy identifying people from the pictures. They also invite us back to the veranda for coffee.
This has been a very uplifting end to our trip. It has been especially eye-opening to see the tangible results of the ERD community development projects such as this one. We can see hope and improvement in the quality of people's lives due in small part to our efforts and those of our church. We can also observe the importance of the Episcopal church to the people whom we have met. Working together with these communities we have all made a difference and done something that we could not have done without each other.
Arriving back at the guesthouse in San Salvador, Mercedes and Blanquita are preparing their most special pupusas of pork, cheese and beans with tomato sauce to put over them and a coleslaw-type salad. It is heaven on a plate! When we can eat no more, we drift back to our rooms to pack. This trip has gone so quickly; it is hard to believe that we are leaving tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment