Day Five

Well today definitely had a different vibe than all of the other days. It was extremely informational, but very emotional as well.

We started off the day by going to the compound and place where Monseñor Romero died. As I talked about a little before, Monseñor Romero was an Archbishop in El Salvador who stood up for the poor, refused to live in wealth, and did whatever he could to help, even though it may be unpopular. He was assassinated on March 24, 1980 while giving a sermon at his church. We were able to visit this church and see exactly where he was standing when he was shot, the house he lived in, and the clothes he was wearing. Before I came on this trip I knew very little about Monseñor Romero, and had only heard about him because of my preparation for this trip, but I was completely unaware of the significance he holds in El Salvador. Romero’s pictures are literally everywhere. Before his death, he was aware of the dangers of speaking out against injustice, and was preparing for violence, and he announced that if he were to be killed that he would one day be resurrected in the people of El Salvador; and that is definitely true. Even though he is not a canonized saint, the people of El Salvador recognize him as a saint, pray to him, and he is the face hope and change for the people here. It made me feel sad, that in the United States we didn’t know anything about this man who was SO influential in El Salvador, that almost every house and every organization has at least one picture of him hung up. It was very sad and emotional to be able to stand in the exact same spot that he was standingin when he was killed, but it was also important to learn about what he stood for so that we can better understand the spirit of the people here.

Church where Monsenor Romero was assassinated 

Romero's view when he was killed

Beautiful mural that shows the struggles of the El Salvadorian people, their hope with Romero, and their fight against the oppressors (government, rich and the church who pretend that their problems do not exist)

Monsenor Romero

These are plaques that people have made in gratefulness to Monsenor Romero because they believe he is a saint, even though he hasn't been canonized by the pope, and they pray to him for miracles, so each one of these tablets is an answered miracle.

Next, we got in the bus and headed over to a beautiful park to see the memorial that is called the Wall of Memory and Truth. This is a memorial that has all of the names of the people who disappeared, died or were murdered during the civil war era in El Salvador. The memorial was huge; which  made me realize just how many people were affected by the violence, and how many more peoples' names aren't even on the wall because they were never discovered. It was very sobering to read the names and think of the families who had to deal with their losses. 

After this, we headed over to Cristina’s house to discuss our economic exercise in the market from Monday, and address some other El Salvadorian issues that are extremely important right now. When we talked about our exercise at the market, Dr. G told us that the average minimum wage here (it depends what type of job you have) is $1, whereas ours is $7.40, so you can basically multiple the prices of everything here by 7.4 to see how expensive things are here for the people of El Salvador.  For instance, gas here is $4.80/gallon, which I thought was expensive for us, but when you realize that they make 7 times less than Americans who make minimum wage, it is like if we had to pay $35.5/gallon! Another example; eggs here cost $1 for a dozen, but since they only make $1 an hour, that is as if eggs cost us $7.40 for a dozen! It was extremely eye-opening to think about how little they make in contrast to how surprisingly expensive things are down here.

After we discussed the economic exercise, we had to sit down and talk with Cristina about the radio station she runs called Radio Victoria. Cristina has been our guide for this trip, but she also does a lot of work with different organizations, mostly organizations (like the radio) that focus on change and getting the message out. Recently, the radio station has been speaking out against the gold mining controversy in Santa Marta (where we are traveling to this weekend); where a Canadian gold mining company is trying to exploit the land for gold, which would ultimately ruin their water systems and all of their land. Because the radio is speaking out against this, multiple employees have received death threats, and someone even made a threat against the three year old daughter of one of the women. At first we were a little worried about traveling there this weekend, but our professors told us that it is good for us to go because we are showing that there is support behind the radio, and if Americans go and visit the radio then it is less likely anyone will be hurt. Tomorrow we will be driving a few hours to the Radio, then hiking over a mountain to the town of Santa Marta where we will stay with our host families! I am excited!

Talking at Cristina's house

Next, we got to go just down the street from Cristina and eat lunch at her friend Beatrice’s house. Beatrice is a very poor woman, who is trying to put her daughter through school, and makes money by selling embroidered bags and shirts. She made us an amazing bean soup (with lots of vegetables I didn’t know), and we were able to buy a few things from her to support her. It was good for us to be able to see an average home in El Salvador, and see what people live like every day. 

Bean Soup

 Our final stop for the day was at UCA—the University of Central America. When we arrived, we were aware that we would be speaking with a Jesuit priest/Theology professor at the University, but we were unaware of the intense experience we were about to have.  He sat down and talked to our group for about an hour about El Salvador's current condition, the United State's relationship with El Sal., and he also talked about a few very significant events in El Salvador's history that pertain to the church. One very specific event was when six Jesuit Priests were murdered in 1989 because of their work, service to the poor and acts of social change. Clearly the government did not like their focus on liberation theology; so on November 16, 1989, a group from the El Salvador army was ordered to come to the UCA campus and kill these men, and kill any witnesses. In all, they killed the six Jesuit priests, along with Elba and Celia Ramos (a mother and daughter who were staying on the campus because they thought it would be safer than the city). They were taken out to a grassy area behind the main building, and shot in the head with explosive bullets that literally blew their brains out. They then continued to go inside the building and destroy what they could to make it look like the guerillas did it. After Father Dean told us about this event, we were able to walk around the museum of artifacts, including very gruesome pictures that the university has, and it was extremely hard to take in. These men, like Monsenor Romero, were doing good works, fighting on behalf of the poor and the forgotten, and working towards change; but they were killed for it. It took awhile for the story to really sink in until we finished our tour and I was able to go sit in the chapel alone. I realized that this is only ONE story of MANY people who were tortured and killed throughout the horrors of the civil war in El Salvador, and many people are still living with the sadness. It also made me think how sheltered I am from this type of pain and how easy my life has been up until this point. It also made me really think about what Father Dean said in his presentation to us. When talking about the stories and the people of El Salvador he said, "Let them break your heart, love them, and return home ruined." Even though the word 'ruined' has such a bad connotation, in this context it really means that I SHOULD be heartbroken, I SHOULD be sad, because there were and are terrible things happening in El Salvador that no one seems to recognize or ever talk about. Even though it was terribly depressing today, it made me realize just how important this trip is for me, my future work, and for those who I can share my story with. I now know that I needed to go on this trip in order to learn about things like this, for those who are at home and were not able to have this experience. 

Classroom at the UCA (note: pictures of Monsenor Romero all over)

This is a rose planted in the rose garden in the exact spot where the six Jesuit priests were murdered

Day 5: Humbling, disgusting, awakening. Success.