Day 13

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This painting hangs in the UCA campus church in remembrance of the massacre.

In our group presentations this morning, we had some deep reflection on what it means to help.  We spent time debriefing about our service sites.  One of the groups had the opportunity to serve at a local school that uses very holistic and progressive teaching methods for student learning and character formation.  As the group was telling their experience, one member shared his conflict and heart break over having to leave the children after only two days.  The kids did not understand why they could not return, and felt somewhat sad and confused.  We all wrestled with this idea of if helping at times can be harmful or unethical when one is working with populations that are vulnerable.  This discussion led to us pondering the responsibility we have to act or come along side Salvadorians now that we know some of their stories personally.  One of our professors stated that our experiences here are a gift, and they are.  But they also do not come without a responsibility to act.  Which leads me to my questions:  How can I help without oppressing others further?  How do I use the power inequalities between the nations--my US citizenship, monetary possessions and education--to fight injustices instead of contribute to them?  What daily, intentional choices will need to be made in my life to benefit the goods of all, not just our US interests or comforts?  I pray to be open to the ways in which I can act upon this experience. I pray to have courage to accept the responsibilities.

These are the clothes of the priests from the night of their murders.

Speaking of courage, we visited the University of Central America or UCA where the six Jesuit priests from Spain and two women were massacred towards the end of the Salvadorian civil war.  These priests were top scholars and theologians and were voices of liberation theology.  The Army viewed them as threats and as the "brains" of the guerrilla operation.  They were ordered to massacre the priests and leave no witnesses behind.  The military (that was given 1 million dollars a day of support from the US government) pulled these priests from their dorms, dragged them outside, threw them on the ground and literally blew their brains out.  It was symbolically showing that the Army would not tolerate this type of thinking that favored the people and not the military power.  We toured a museum where the clothes they were murdered in were kept in tact.  It also showed other martyrs of the war at that time--women and men.  There were books showcased that had bullet holes ripped through them.  In fact, one of the priests had a book called The Crucified God that was with him.  His blood actually soaked into the book, and it has been preserved with the blood stains in the museum.  Needless to say, this piece of history demonstrates the power of living for a cause so passionately that one would give her life for it.  It illustrates the power of hate, control and corruption and how inhumane it can be in its extreme forms.  Still to this day, not one higher official from the Army has been penalized for any of the war crimes.  Two soldiers that committed the massacre of the Jesuits were convicted and are in prison. Eighty five percent of the human rights violations during the Salvadorian Civil War were done by the Army who our US tax dollars supported.  Five percent of the human rights violations were committed by the guerrilla.  Ten percent of the human rights violations that were committed are not claimed or known to be done by either group. Two weeks after the Truth Commission, the general assembly in El Salvador under President Cristiani gave amnesty to all the war criminals.

A rose garden has been planted in honor of the priests and women who were murdered in the massacre at UCA.

There were also five US women citizens who were martyred during the civil war as well.  I am eager to watch the movie Bread and Roses which tells the stories and deaths of these women.

We visited the Fernado Llort gallery as well and met Fernado!  Many of his paintings were in the UCA church.

During the evening, we were able to visit a really trendy area of El Salvador called Santa Tecla.  We had the freedom to explore and choose our restaurant of choice.  We picked a cozy little restaurant off the cobble stone street and loved it.  Surprisingly, we were able to order a sandwich and savored a wonderful, warm chocolate cake.  The food seemed to remind us of home, and served as one of the first transitions that seemed to beckon us quietly home again.  After the yummy dinner, we spent time practicing our bachata dancing on the sidewalk as we waited for the rest of the group to return.  The most humorous piece of the night was that we had to do a "coffee drop."  Our group collectively ordered 200 pounds of coffee!  We ordered directly from a local, collective farm that organically grows and roasts coffee.  The coffee was so fresh that the bags did not even have labels on them!  Needless to say, our ride home was filled with hopeful fragrances of easy wake ups and warm conversations with hands cradling strong, steamy java.