No More Complaining....

Posted by Terry McNichols

Before I leave the topic of my recent trip to San Diego de Tenango, El Salvador, I wanted to post a couple of pictures that tell the story of how hard the people in this village work, just to get by.  We here in the U.S. often complain about how much work we have to do, how hurried we are, how difficult our lives are.  But people in poverty work all the time!  My husband has stated that the most important thing he has learned in visiting our villagers is just that -- being poor is a whole lot more work than having the means to take care of yourself!

So here are three pictures, book-ending the lives of the villagers.  The first is Jaqui, an 8-year-old girl, who a few years ago was one of the little kids who spent a lot of time playing with us when we visited.  This year, she was hard at work.  The second is Victoria, a 68-year-old woman, who works just like this all day long.  The firewood is continuously collected to keep the oven fire burning.  And the last picture -- about 20 minutes of kneading this corn to rid it of its outer shell -- before you take it to the mill for grinding to use in tortillas and most other food!   I will not complain about my work load -- ever again.    Well, at least I hope that I will remember how easy my life is! 

If You Won the Lottery....

Posted by Terry McNichols

I wonder what you would answer if I were to ask you what you would do it you won the lottery.  What would you buy first?  Second?  Then what?  What would your other family members say they would choose?  On our trip to El Salvador, we invited the women of the community to come to a "conversation circle" and told them they could ask us anything and we would ask them questions.  Everyone was allowed to pass if they didn't want to answer.  This would not have worked if we had tried this on one of our earlier visits to this community.  But by the time we had visited 3 or 4 times, we thought it was worth a try.

We were surprised at the turnout of women, old and young.  We kept adding chairs and enlarging our circle.  We asked them several questions and they asked us a few, such as how old we are and what we (women) do.  The women in this community haven't had much to look forward to in the past other than having babies and working all the time,  and they were very interested in what we do in the world.  We were saddened to hear later that they really had a lot of questions they would have liked to ask us, but were shy.  Maybe by the next visit they will have gotten up the nerve to actually ask us.  They got a laugh out of our insistence that we really do look a lot better than we do when we come to visit!  They all are clean and neat and we are all in our REI zippable pants, work shirts, sweat running down our faces, hair straggly, no makeup.  We aren't used to the heat and have a hard time keeping our "looks" intact!  It was fun to show them a couple of pictures of ourselves actually looking nicer! 

One answer that made us sad was the question "What do you do for fun?"  They talked about a Patron Saints Festival in February.  But "what do you do for fun in a normal week?"  The answer?  "Nothing.  We work all the time except when you come to visit!"  They really couldn't come up with the concept of "free time."

But the big question was reworded from the lottery to "What would you do if you had a whole lot of money all at once?"  After a long pause, one of the braver women said, "I would buy enough food for my children and family."  Another said "I would pay off our land."  "What else?" we asked.  Nothing.  Nothing at all.

I am ashamed of our wealth at times like this.  These families lost 30% of their beans and 70% of their corn crop in Hurricane Ida.  (I think I got those figures right).  These are their main food crops.  We raised money to help Agros make sure they have food supplies until their crops recover. 

I do recognize that there are many in our own country who also do not have enough to eat.  But most of us would have an entire "wish list" of things that we would name were we asked the lottery question!  And enough food for our families wouldn't even make the list!

El Salvador sorrow....

Posted by Terry McNichols

Our recent trip to El Salvador to visit the village of San Diego de Tenango was extremely fruitful in the eyes of our team members.  We felt that we connected at a much deeper level with the villagers and also bonded as a team.  I would like to write about a few of our experiences over the next couple of weeks.

Because I was in charge, along with my husband, and because I like things to be organized and precise, I spent a lot of time going over the schedule and making sure things were simple enough for flexibility but interesting enough to challenge both the team members and the villagers.  Our schedule was a perfectly timed week of events.  But because I know what happens in the village and in the best laid plans, we also had a theme for the week:  we went in the "Spirit of Gumby" and were prepared to flex in whatever way we might be called upon to flex.

How little we knew what changes would come about and what flexibility would be required of us!  We arrived in the village on Monday morning and had a welcome ceremony from the villagers.  After lunch and setting up our "tent city" we then took a tour of the improvements that had happened since our last visit.  But we were also informed that one of the village families had that very day delivered a 6-month-old stillborn son in Suchitoto, 1-1/2 hours away.  On Tuesday we waited while arrangements were being made for a burial ceremony in Suchitoto, planning on having a few of our team participate.  Due to administrative snags, however, the arrangements could not be made for Tuesday, so the plans changed and the baby was brought back to the village for a wake.  Our Tuesday schedule was to include an evening showing of Veggie Tales, which we immediately scrapped under the circumstances.  Our entire team participated in the wake.  It was a time of deep sorrow as well as deep connection with the grieving village.

Wednesday morning we changed all of our scheduled events and three of us women went back into town and participated in the ceremony at the cemetery.  We were able to purchase a spray of artificial flowers for the grave site and stood by while the grave was dug and the cross was painted with the baby's name.  We three women sang Amazing Grace through our tears during the somber ceremony. 

The lesson we learned from this experience was that no matter how planned and organized we are, the life of the villagers does not stop just because we are visiting.  We became a part of their sorrow for just a short time, and suffered together as a community of believers.

Return to El Salvador

Posted by Terry McNichols

My husband, Ken, and I are on my 4th and his 3rd trip to a small village in the middle of El Salvador.  We are leading a team of Journey With A Village (JWAV) participants, a combination outreach of our local church and Agros, International.  Our village, San Diego de Tenango, is made up of about 125 people, originally displaced by the long civil war.  These people were exiled in a Honduras refugee camp for years before returning to land purchased by Agros.  They work the land and will someday own their piece of land outright.  Agros is dedicated to land ownership and sustainability. 

My first introduction to Agros was as a volunteer in their local office.  Over the course of two years, I became a cheerleader for the type of work being done and began to get excited about joining a team.  When the opportunity arose to participate with my church, I jumped at the chance.  Ken was a little slower to jump.  In the past he hadn’t really wanted to give up treasured vacation time for hard work in a hot and muggy place, so I decided to go on my own.  I had a lot of fears about the unknown, but had read enough about the JWAV service trips to know a little of what I was getting into.  My main fears had to do with my own physical stamina.  Would I get enough sleep?  Would I be able to do the work?  Did I really have anything to offer?  Would I be a hindrance to my team?  Would I be able to keep up?  Was I too fearful of the risks
involved?  Could I handle the intense heat and humidity?  Was I too old for such an adventure?

And what an adventure it was!  Our team sleeps in tents in an open community center at the village.  We share one very-appreciated shower and a self-composting outhouse.  On our first visit the villager adults were a little shy, leaving us alone unless there was a planned activity.  The kids, however, were another story.  From the early morning to lights out we had a swarm of kids, watching our every movement, hoping for someone who wanted to play.  And play we did!  It didn’t take long to realize that my gifts were in areas I hadn’t yet explored.  Although I wasn’t much help on the road repair crew or digging ditches, it turns out I am very good at bubblegum blowing!  And checkers!  And puzzles!  And making tortillas! And before long, I found I was also good at connecting with the people of the village, learning to love them over the course of just a few days! 

My husband heard my stories and saw my pictures and was convinced to join me on trips #2 and 3.  He is equally in love with the villagers and they love him.  He is the musical pied piper, connecting with the musicians (and children) of the village and anxious to return.  We can’t wait to see the new well that has just been dug to provide much-needed irrigation water and to see the steps toward sustainability – the new chicken coop, gardens and livestock.  We can’t wait to see how the village women are doing with the new craft project they’ve taken on.  We’ll hug the new babies, play with the kids, and converse in our limited Spanish with patient elders.  And we will add new names and needs to our ongoing prayer list!

And that long list of fears?  I now know that I can put aside the fears for the joys of the experience.   The villagers gave more to us than we could ever repay and I hope that I will never be “too old” to give back in the struggle to end poverty in the world in some small way.

Trickle down poverty

Posted by Terry McNichols

On my recent trip to El Salvador, I was struck by the trickle-down effect that the economic crisis in the United States is having on poorer countries. Our consumption-driven lives over the past years of a bullish economy have given the poorer countries a false sense of security. Our willingness to spend money, rather than save and be prudent, has given work to the poorer economies. They have built factories to supply our extravagant desires. I remember seeing a shirt at REI that I considered purchasing for my first trip to El Salvador. It was just what I wanted for keeping cool in the very hot climate and for protecting myself from the blazing sun. However, when I looked at the $45 price tag and noticed that it was "hecho en El Salvador," I couldn't bring myself to buy it. Don't get me wrong. I still bought a similar shirt for the trip, I just made sure it was made in China! Certainly this was misplaced angst, but somehow it bothered me to wear my expensive locally-made shirt to visit the poor.

I was aware that several family members of our villagers were working in the United States and sending remesas (remittances) back to El Salvador to support their families. These families have been using this money to pay off their land loan. On this visit, however, we were struck by the worries that those families now have, as their loved ones can no longer find work and can no longer send the money. In addition, those loved ones cannot afford the pricey plane ticket to return to the village. They are stuck in limbo, here in the U.S. Last week's Seattle Times has an article discussing the impact of this problem on Mexico, as well as throughout the world. Remesas comprise 14% of the Gross Domestic Product of El Salvador and this is considered a very large percentage. Mexico's percentage is below 4%, yet still there is a huge impact. However, the same article cites Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, as having 40% of their GDP based on remittances. There is a mass exodus of guest workers throughout Europe, as well as the United States, finding their way back home, where there are even fewer jobs.

Once again, I quote Margaret Mead, from last week's post, and hope that I have indeed grown wiser and more able to scrutinize my own culture.

As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own. --Margaret Mead, anthropologist (1901-1978)

Rerun Wednesday - El Salvador revisited

Posted by Terry McNichols

I have chosen to repost this summary of my last trip to El Salvador, in July of 2008. My husband and I are currently visiting the same village with a group of people, all of whom have visited this village at least once. We are excited to see our friends and further the relationships we have already started. Please pray for us as we minister and are ministered to!

Where do I start to write about my recent trip to El Salvador to visit the village of San Diego de Tenango? So many memories. I find it difficult to process at this point in my journey. I felt the same after a visit to the same village last year. My brain and heart fills to capacity, and I need some time to let the joys and sorrows sink in. Our main purpose in visiting is to build relationships with the people. We do some physical labor, working with the people, but mostly we are challenged to work on relationships. Our village has had an ongoing relationship with Agros and UPC for 6 years now. But it has been the last 3 teams (July 07, January 08, and July 08) that have seen an opening up of the villagers to us. Many of our team members were now on their second visit to the village. We have one member who has visited this same village 5 times now. The villagers are beginning to trust us and seek us out during our visit. And we find commonality in the hopes, dreams, worries that we all share as humans.

I have always noticed that returning missionaries show slide after slide of people. I confess I have often found myself slightly bored, waiting for the pictures of scenery, houses, animals, flowers. But anyone with a heart for missions soon realizes that the faces of the people are the pull on the heartstrings of the caring. I give you faces from San Diego de Tenango .

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Travel

Posted by Terry McNichols

As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own. --Margaret Mead, anthropologist (1901-1978)

I am writing this in advance of my attempt to follow the above words of wisdom and travel once again to El Salvador. This will be my third trip in two years to a small village that I have grown to love. Our rerun post this week will give more information on that village. But I am looking forward to sharpening my ability to "scrutinize more steadily and appreciate more lovingly, my own country. " Visiting a third-world country immediately puts our wealth, our materialism, our many freedoms and our responsibilities into new perspective, and I welcome the opportunity. There are times when I question the wisdom of spending a lot of money to visit poor people, but the rewards are great and the lessons seem worth the expense. We go as friends and come back with renewed love and understanding of the role we must play in combating poverty in the world.
Hasta mi regreso!
(Photo by nep, shared via Flickr)

El Salvador revisited - Terry

Where do I start to write about my recent trip to El Salvador to visit the village of San Diego de Tenango? So many memories. I find it difficult to process at this point in my journey. I felt the same after a visit to the same village last year. My brain and heart fills to capacity, and I need some time to let the joys and sorrows sink in. Our main purpose in visiting is to build relationships with the people. We do some physical labor, working with the people, but mostly we are challenged to work on relationships. Our village has had an ongoing relationship with Agros and UPC for 6 years now. But it has been the last 3 teams (July 07, January 08, and July 08) that have seen an opening up of the villagers to us. Many of our team members were now on their second visit to the village. We have one member who has visited this same village 5 times now. The villagers are beginning to trust us and seek us out during our visit. And we find commonality in the hopes, dreams, worries that we all share as humans.

I have always noticed that returning missionaries show slide after slide of people. I confess I have often found myself slightly bored, waiting for the pictures of scenery, houses, animals, flowers. But anyone with a heart for missions soon realizes that the faces of the people are the pull on the heartstrings of the caring. I give you faces from San Diego de Tenango .

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

An insight from El Salvador - Terry

This post was scheduled by me prior to my trip as I will have no internet access during this week (how will I survive?) As the leader of this year's trip, I have been immersed in information about our village, Agros, and El Salvador. On my first trip to the village, I noticed the quality of the houses. There is another Agros village nearby and that village has houses that were built by Habitat for Humanity. I wondered why our village hadn't gotten new houses and was hopeful that they would someday have that opportunity. Recently I heard that our village leaders chose to build their houses themselves out of bamboo and adobe for the following reasons:

1. Payback on Habitat homes begins immediately and they wanted to pay off their land first.
2. Wooden houses are hotter than mud and bamboo.
3. Wooden houses don't stop bullets. In an adobe house, the bullets gets lodged in the walls.

This is a huge lesson regarding our inability to totally comprehend what is needed and helpful when we come in as outsiders for a short "mission" trip. We who have never had to worry about war within our own boundaries have no idea what that would be like. I am humbled by my own naivity and open to learning more.

Missions and Poverty - Terry

Lest you begin to think that we will only be writing about our aging bodies and the woes thereof, I wanted to start a new thread. This is about our shared interest in the area of poverty and what we as Christians can do in the world -- something we can do that will only be a small bandaid, but will at least be a step in the right direction.

If you watched Leona & Dick's film, you would have noticed that one of the doors that their seniors open is the door of missions. Both Leona and I have become deeply involved in a couple of mission endeavors. You will be hearing about them from us along the way. But I am about to leave for 8 days to visit a village in El Salvador. This is a village brought into being by Agros International. If you are interested in the work of Agros, please check out their website. I have been involved with Agros for several years now, first as a volunteer in the office and now as a person who cares deeply about a group of people in a small village in El Salvador called San Diego de Tenango. I visited this village last July and am co-leading a group that will return to the village this July. I am posting this on the day after my departure and can't wait to give updates of what we learned in the village on this trip.

What I learned last summer, however, is that there are people in many parts of the world who have so much less than we have, yet have more contentment than many of us ever achieve. Agros tells the story of a woman who suffered through many of the ravages of Civil War and lives a very simple life with no amenities as we define them. Yet, she stated that she had need of nothing and was happy and contented with what she had. That is the lesson for me.

I took this picture as we walked behind Rosalio, returning from planting cashew trees, in the hopes of getting the villagers beyond subsistence crops so that they could begin to pay back the loan from Agros for their land. In the end, they will own their land. I love this picture, mostly for what it brings to my mind. Please pray for our team of 14 members and for our experience in El Salvador.