Reflections on Serving and Learning in El Salvador: Summary of my job in San Salvador

Although there are lots of things I could write about my work here in San Salvador, I thought I would just write a few thoughts of what I have been experiencing so far, as well as a brief summary as to what I do every day (which I'm sure many of you have been wondering!).

January began the new school year in El Salvador, and since I am helping out in the youngest class in Centro Hogar (the pre-school/day care at ANADES), it meant that I was with the class of about 20-25 new "students" (2 and 3 year olds, as well as a few who are as young as 18 months), crying, screaming for their moms, and trying (sometimes successfully!) to escape the classrooms, since for most of them, it was the first time being away from their families. The kids are now finally getting accustomed to this new routine, and are crying much less. But as crazy as the first weeks were in January, it was also very rewarding and a lot of fun! For me at least, it's so interesting to see the kids starting to get accustomed to a new routine, and warming up to all the teachers as well as the other kids, and even starting to build friendships! There are a few kids who I can tell do not receive much love and affection at home, including one little girl especially, who seems like she has some kind of attachment disorder (according to my limited psychology knowledge). She barely interacts with others, neither the kids nor the teachers, and mostly just stands there, always looking like she's on the verge of tears, except for when I urge her to play with me (but unfortunately there are 20+ other kids that need attention, so I can't give her individual attention all day). But I am really hopeful that given a couple more weeks or months time, she will begin to open up more.

In my blog post in January, I talked about all the sadness and pain I have seen and experienced here in Central America. Some days can be more overwhelming than others. But I was very glad when the kids came back to school, because they are something that gives me joy every day. Even though these little kids have been born into a context of severe poverty and violence, when I see them running and playing and laughing and smiling with their friends or another one of the teachers, it gives me hope. The cards (and statistics) are stacked up against them, but when I see their beautiful smiles and the spark in their eyes, I see hope: they are still innocent, loving babies, and it could be their generation that changes the culture of violence and machismo, that has plagued El Salvador for far too long. Or at least I choose to hope and believe this, because if I didn't, there would be no point of me being here, volunteering with MCC and ANADES, 2 NGO's (non-governmental organizations) that are working for peace and justice and a better future here in El Salvador.
By coming to the day care/pre-school, and receiving nutritious breakfast and lunches daily, as well as lots of love and affection and a good education, the children are getting a better start to their life. I am constantly so impressed by the work my co-workers do, despite the limited staff and resources we have here. We just have to hope that, although we can't be with these kids as they grow up into teenagers and then adults, that we are doing the best that we can with them now. And the parents as well, although some of them associated with the gangs, are also doing the best they can for their kids, despite the very difficult context they grew up in, and continue to live in.

I think the most important part of Centro Hogar is not what we are “giving” the families, but what the families and kids are experiencing here: a sense of community. This is often hard to find in a big city, especially when it’s filled with gangs and violence, it’s often hard (rightly or wrongly so) to trust your neighbours and the people around you. So I think having a safe space where kids grow up in, and families come to know each other and the teachers, is really important. Kids as young as 12 or 14 years old, join the gangs because they lack a sense of family or community or belonging, but this is something they can find in the gangs. So I think building community is an important part of bringing peace to El Salvador (although of course it is only one part of the solution needed to end this complex problem).

This is a normal day for me at ANADES:
I arrive at around 7 in the morning, and the kids begin arriving anytime between 7 and 8ish. Once most of the kids have arrived, they start serving breakfast in the classroom. Then they play a bit, and when everyone is done eating (sometimes that’s a bit of a task!) we gather around in a circle, take attendance (it’s really cute how some of the kids have learned to say “present” or “presente” in Spanish, when their names are called) and then sing some songs, which they absolutely love doing. A few times a week, the teacher also reads stories to them. After that, they usually get split up into 2 groups, to do 2 different activities – one is more directed learning, and the other is more free time, where they are encouraged to use their creativity. The next day, the kids switch and do the activity they didn’t do the previous day. After the activities, the kids eat their morning snack, which their parents have sent for them from home. Some kids don’t always have a snack (likely because their parents couldn’t afford to send one) and so the teachers either share their own snacks, or they give the kids the leftovers from breakfast. After snack, we go for “recreo” – recreation time outside, where there are swings, slides and a mini jungle gym for them to play in and run around. Then they come inside to wash their hands (also a huge task, trying to get 20 kids clean, when all they want to do is run around) and then we head to the dining room for lunch, which is also provided by Centro Hogar. After lunch, a few kids head home for the day, but the majority stay for the afternoon. They have a nap, anywhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours. Once they wake up again, they eat an afternoon snack, provided by the Centro Hogar, play a little bit more, and then we start the task of changing all the diapers, and changing all the kids into their clean clothes, to send them home. I usually only work until 2, but the kids and the rest of my co-workers stay until around 4 or 5.

So, that in a nutshell, is a day in the life of my “Maternal” class at Centro Hogar, the pre-school/day care. I am kind of like an “assistant” to the 2 teachers in my class, which involves doing anything from leading songs, changing diapers, comforting crying kids, and pushing kids on the swings. Although sometimes I feel a bit discouraged because I have a university degree, but am doing the work a high school student could do, I wouldn’t change my job for the world. It wasn’t exactly the job I had expected, but I know I have been put where I am most needed. It is impossible for 2 teachers alone, to look after 20+ babies (often times 3 of us isn’t enough either!). On top of this, I have come to appreciate the community of ANADES so much, and have grown close with many of my co-workers, and am learning so much from them about El Salvador, and specifically about what it’s like to live and work in a marginalized community in San Salvador. Also, in the coming months, I am hoping to take more leadership in regards to the workshops that are led once a month for the parents, as well as doing home visits to get to know some of the families better. But most of all, I am looking forward to continue learning from my co-workers, and the kids and their families.

Lastly, I want to share 2 poems/quotes that have really helped me to appreciate the “serving and learning” I have been doing here since I arrived in El Salvador in October.

The first is a poem/prayer, written by Bishop Ken Untener, of the United States, who wrote it to be read at a funeral to commemorate Catholic priests who had passed away. For some reason, it has become known as the "Romero Prayer" and is often (wrongly) thought to be written by Oscar Romero, the Archbishop of El Salvador, who was killed in 1980 at the start of the civil war.
I put this poem on my blog back in August, but I would like to put up part of it again, because it has meant a lot to me, while living in this context which is often not very hopeful.

A Future Not Our Own
It helps now and then to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of
saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us…

We plant the seeds that one
day will grow. We water the seeds already planted
knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects
far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of
liberation in realizing this.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

Over the Christmas holidays, an MCC worker emailed us SALTers a quote from Vaclav Havel, former president of Czechoslovakia. I have read these words he wrote about hope, over and over again, as I find they very much relate to my life and work here in San Salvador.

Either we have hope within us or we don’t.
Hope is a dimension of the soul,
And it is not particularly dependent on some observation of the world.
Hope is an orientation of the spirit,
An orientation of the heart.
It transcends the world that is immediately experienced
And is anchored somewhere beyond the horizons.
Hope
In this deep and powerful sense
Is not the same as joy that things are going well
Or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success,
But rather
An ability to work for something
Because it is good,
Not just because it stands a chance to succeed.
Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism.
It is not the conviction that something will turn out well,
But the certainty that something makes sense
Regardless of how it turns out.
It is hope above all, which gives us the strength to love and continually try new things.