MCC SALT 2011 - 2012

As some of you already know, in August I will be leaving for an 11 month volunteer assignment with MCC’s (Mennonite Central Committee) Serving and Learning Together program, also known as SALT. A few Sundays ago I had a Commissioning Service and soup lunch fundraiser at my church, where I talked about what I would be doing with MCC. For my first blog post, I thought I would share some of what I said.  

My volunteer placement will be in San Ramón, El Salvador, a city just outside the capital, San Salvador. El Salvador is a Spanish speaking country located in Central America, on the Pacific Ocean, bordering Guatemala and Honduras. It’s the smallest but most densely populated country in Central America, with a population of about 7 million people. Approximately 35% of the population lives below the poverty rate, and there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor. This small country gained international attention during its brutal civil war in the 1980s, fought between the Salvadoran military government (backed by the United States), and guerrilla groups. During the 12 year war, over 75,000 people were killed, and thousands more fled the country. After the signing of Peace Accords in 1992, El Salvador began the difficult task of building peace and restoring their country. This has been difficult due to the inequalities between the rich and the poor, the huge traumas that virtually every Salvadoran citizen experienced during the civil war, and the violence and gangs that are still prevalent today.

I will be volunteering with MCC’s partner organization in El Salvador, called Asociación Nuevo Amanecer de El Salvador, or New Dawn Association. It goes by the acronym of ANADES. Here is the link to their website: it's in Spanish, but there are some pictures you could look at. http://www.anades.org/

ANADES is a Christian-based community organization in El Salvador that promotes the comprehensive development of poor, marginalized families and communities in both rural and urban areas, helping them to become able to change their own reality by working together to achieve a life of dignity. ANADES was created during the civil war, by Salvadoran women who had lost their sons in the war, and wanted to convert their pain and sadness into strength and hope, and to stand up for the rights of women and children. They were inspired by the Christian liberation theology movement in Latin America, to follow Jesus’ call to action against poverty, oppression and violence.  

Today, the mission of ANADES is to create the necessary conditions to improve the quality of life for the poor and marginalized, by providing education and health care, and to strengthen the people’s skills, abilities, hopes and critical consciousness, and change their present reality. The organization runs projects all over the country, including pre-schools, education for women & youth, health clinics, sustainable agriculture and organic farming, and community development projects such as organizing and empowering the poor, and caring for the environment.

My main job will be working every day at a pre-school, or early childhood education centre, in San Ramón, which responds to the needs of education and nutrition for young children from poor families in the city. I will be developing educational activities and programs that teach peace and social justice and foster values of respect, solidarity, cooperation and love. I will also be helping the children with healthy nutrition and personal hygiene. Once my Spanish is a little bit better, I will be conducting meetings with the parents of the children, and doing home visits with the families. I am also hoping I will get to be involved in other aspects of ANADES as well, because they seem like they are doing a lot of great work!

Lastly, I just wanted to talk a little bit about why I decided to volunteer with MCC and SALT. In April, I graduated from University with a major in Social Development Studies, where I took courses in social work, psychology and community development, and I also completed a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies. I loved learning in classes and group discussions, and felt that my beliefs were really challenged and my worldview was widened.  Although I had a great time in school, my life was mostly focused on myself, and my own life, and my family and friends around me, so I really wanted to take a year off after graduating to intentionally focus my energies and passions on acting out what I had learned in university, and living out God’s love. I am hoping that a whole year of spending every day intentionally living out God’s love and learning from the people around me, will help me when I come back home again next July to continue serving others, and not get so caught up in my own individual life. When we are wrapped up in our own individuals lives, it is so easy to forget Jesus’ call to be his hands and feet in the world, and to just sit back and wait for God’s Kingdom to come, instead of actively working to bring it about today.

One of the things I really like about MCC is that they take the time to get to know the people they are helping and working with, and that way they can know what they are doing is actually helping, whereas sometimes organizations working overseas just provide band-aid solutions, or even solutions that cause more harm than good. The SALT program seemed like a perfect fit for me, because I think 11 months will be enough time for me to really feel a part of the community that I will be living in, and to be able to develop my skills and make a contribution at my work placement at the pre-school. Also, I like that SALT is not just a service trip, but also a learning program. I am blessed to be matched up with a placement that shares my interests and passions, and I have skills that I feel will be able to benefit the children, staff and families that I will be working with. But I know that I also have a lot to learn, and I am not going with all the answers, if any! As rich and individualistic North Americans, we have so much that we could (and should!) learn from people of El Salvador, and all over the world, and I am hoping to be a sponge and soak up as much knowledge and experiences as possible, and bring them back to Canada to share with others. Which is partly why I have set up this blog!

On August 10th, (only a month away!!), my parents will be driving me to Akron, Pennsylvania, where MCC will hold a week-long orientation for all the SALT participants. After orientation, I head straight to El Salvador, where I will start my SALT adventure! SALT participants volunteer in numerous countries all over the world, and I will be the only SALTer headed to El Salvador, which is a little bit scary for me. But at the same time it is exciting because it will force me to build strong relationships with the Salvadoran people and be fully immersed into the culture and Salvadoran way of life. 

Phew! I think that is all I have to say for today - if you actually read this whole post to the end, then good job, I'm impressed! I promise my next blog posts won't be so lengthy...but I do have one more thing to shamelessly add to today's post...in order to participate in this volunteer assignment, I need to fundraise money for MCC, so if anyone feels so inclined to donate some money (any little bit will help and would be MUCH appreciated), talk with me to get details of how to go about donating!

But way more important then money, I would REALLY appreciate your emails (my email is mariasteinman@hotmail.com ), letters, thoughts, prayers, blog comments, etc. (and even visits, if you're feeling adventurous and want to escape the cold!), while I am in El Salvador, and in this next month, as I do my last-minute preparations before I leave. 

Hasta luego, amigos!

Maria :)