6/23/2015

Greetings, Hola, Bonjour, Grüße,

    Our second day visiting the villages took us to Cassa de Zinc.  Geographically speaking Cassa de Zinc isn't very far away from our Pastoral house by Iowa standards.  However, when standing in the back of a pickup truck while bounding down a gnarly dirt road ducking branches to avoid concussions, it felt pretty far.

We were greeted with a colorful sign, balloons, and decorated hearts with greetings written on them, which apparently is the first time to happen here, so that made us feel very appreciated.  We were all given one of those hearts to take with us.

After our initial greetings we had time to talk to
the people of Cassa De Zinc about their issues and fears which, expectedly, mirrored those of Casa de Zacate.  The Directiva elaborated on the same fears and frustrations the townspeople voiced which further demonstrated how deep the problem of the worms and drought are effecting the community.




The rest of the morning was spent visiting the houses of the people.  It is amazing the level of gratitude everyone had for us.  They were excited to invite us into their homes, be it wood and tarp or block and steel.  It was their home and they were proud of what they were able to make with what little they had available.  Even some of the houses that were only wood and black tarp were impressive which showed the level of care they have.

















After our morning visits we stopped at one of the houses to be served lunch. The vegetables were tender, the tortillas were fresh, and the succulent seasoned chicken was likely clucking just a few short hours earlier.

In one respect its hard not to feel guilty when given such a big meal as it is not something they often get for themselves.  However there is a great deal of self respect and pride a community has in being able to take such good care of their guests.  This pride and self worth is one of the main purposes of our mission.  Our actions are intended to help build strong self sustained communities through a relationship of mutual respect and cooperation.  If the meal they provided and the hospitality they showed us was any kind of indicator of this, then they have a great deal to be proud of.

The remainder of our day was spent visiting the rest of the houses in Zinc.  It was enjoyable to meet all the different families.  There were elderly living on their own; parents dealing with teenagers; new families just starting out; and everything else you would find if you took a slice of any neighborhood in America.  These are bright, driven and caring people who's most important desires are just as our own.  They are not a people who need pity but a people who need a partner.

On a special note: 

At the end of the day there was a special visit for three of our delegates.  For the past few years the Weinmans have been supporting a specific family through Trinity's efforts in Berlin.  Today they met that family in person for the first time and took a new family photo.

Here are a few more photos to end on

 

6/22/15

Ladies & Gentlemen:

START YOUR PRAYERS!

We came to my favorite part of the trip today - starting our community visits. We first met with the Directiva of Casa de Zacate. 

Here is the very sad thing that learned. For the 2nd year in a row, there has been very little rain during the rainy season, which happens to be right now. Normally, it would have rained at least once a day on us & we have yet to see one drop!  Here is what most of those crops look like...

Mid to late May was when this was planted. And one of the side affects of no rain is worms. They are eating up the plants. Gusanos are destroying what was an already sad looking crop. No crop?

They won't eat. They're scared. They said those words. They really are scared because last year was a bad year & now this is a disastrous year. 

Remember how we've talked about that they grow their bean crop by letting it grow up the corn stalk?  No corn stalk, no bean crop. So, so sad. We need your help.

Please start those prayers?  

Please pray for rain. 

Please pray for the rains to wash away the worms. 

Here are more Casa de Zacate pictures...

It was Denise's birthday today, so the Pastoral Team bought her a cake. 

We all reaped the benefits of her birthday!

Here's our rock star!

More fun times on Wednesday!

Betty

6/21/2015

 Hola a todos y todas,
Hello everyone, we are still alive and well in Berlín and today was a rather relaxed day. Our delegation started off the day with breakfast and a Misa católica (catholic mass) which was an awesome experience.  This particular mass was children's day where the children of the church were heavily involved.  It was a very fun experience and I am curious on ant differences between a Spanish version and mass in the United States.
After our trip to the church we were able to walk to the marketplace and see all of the vendors. The marketplace is a unique place where people will go to get every day items rather than a tourist attraction for fancy gifts. Walking through the marketplace was a fun experience however we were unable to see where the coffee beans are roasted. We enjoyed a lunch back at the pastoral house and got into the truck to go to the finca de café  (coffee farm).
The truck ride to the farm was a new experience but rather exhilarating.  Crowding as many as ten people into the bed of a truck is not an unusual sight in El Salvador. The farm tour was very informational as many of us had multiple questions about the crop, projected yield, and the process of planting. Unfortunately there is a plague going around eating the crop which the farmers are actively combating. After the farm we saw the crater lake which was very low, lower than many of our veterans have seen it.
Upon reurning back to the pastoral house we settled in for dinner, devotionals and putting together the sacks we will give our families. Overall it was a fun day and below I will include various pictures taken from my phone.
Sam Weinman

Day 3 - Understanding the El Salvadoran Civil War

     Today we spent the day connecting with and learning about the history of the El Salvadoran Civil War. This bloody conflict lasted from the early 70s until the peace accords in 1992. We visited the site of the bloodiest recorded massacre during the Civil War in El Mozote and followed that up with a visit to the Museum of the Revolution which explains the Civil War from the guerrilla side. At the museum, we were also given the opportunity to explore a recreation of a guerrilla encampment to better understand how these guerrilla soldiers lived and survived.

Monument to the 1,000 men, women and children who were massacred at El Mozote. The silhouette of the family is meant to represent all the families that perished that day.

The Garden of the Innocents. This garden has been planted on the site where over 400 children (ages 3 days to teenage) were summarily shot and burned. Most likely the children were shot in the church next door and then their bodies were thrown into the nunnery next door which was subsequently burned to the ground.

Picture from below the Monument to Peace and Love built outside of El Mozote. The monument is meant to symbolize the importance of communicating and listening with one another to avoid another war as bloody as the El Salvadoran Civil War.

At the Museum of the Revolution (guerrilla side) we learned more about the guerrilla plight and their fight for freedom from oppression. Our tour guide actually assisted the guerrillas during the war by guarding their injured soldiers.

View of the recreated guerrilla encampment outside the Museum of the Revolution. Our group toured the site and saw recreations of an underground radio station, a campground "kitchen," a medical tent and bomb shelter.

Our tour guide at the guerrilla encampment was a former guerrilla himself who started serving in the guerrilla forces at age 15, two years after he watched his parents murdered at the hands of government forces. Here he is telling us about some of the "artisan" grenades and bombs the rebels would make from discarded materials.

     Overall, the day was an eye-opening and sobering experience. These men and women endured and suffered so much, but they chose to fight to save themselves and their families. It's one thing to read about what they went through, but it's another thing entirely to actually see, and in some small way, experience what they went through. But through it all, many of these people kept their faith in God and the Church. We could learn a lot from their example and we can only hope to emulate that level of devotion.

-Robert Lyons, Soph. (now Jr.) @ Simpson College

Day 2

Today we visited the Davina Providentia to see where Oscar Romero is buried, his tomb in the Cathedral & the UCA to see and learn lots once again about so many people that were killed so senselessly. Even though I've seen all of those, it still hits so hard every time we visit. 

And then for the first time we saw Mayan ruins in Joya de Ceren & San Andres. How fascinating that was!

And as is always the case, I get emotional when we reach Berlin & the Pastoral House. The ladies were waiting to welcome us like always with open arms & great food. 

Our growing boys were excited to find out they could have seconds!  They'd worked up a large appetite today. 

What a great group we have & tomorrow promises more meaningful moments. 

Thanks for reading & supporting us!  And thanks especially for the prayers. 

Betty

Arrival in El Salvador

It was an early morning arriving at the airport at 4:15 AM. Dave Endriss and Dru  McLuen were there to see us off.  We got luggage and 6 foot lockers of supplies checked in. Our flights went well. Arriving in San Salvador the pilot announced there were 20 wheelchairs needed for our flight. Luckily none of us needed those. When we got off the plane there was a line up of people in wheelchairs waiting to get in the elevator. 

The electricity went out in the airport numerous times while we were using restrooms and getting luggage but we finally rounded up all our belongings and made it through customs. 

Katherine met us and got us to our bus where Alfredo our driver helped load luggage through the windows. Interesting method, but it worked!  Then we were off to San Salvador and Pupusas for lunch. yum!  We shopped the Artisan Market and everyone loaded up on treasures to take home.

Katherine took us to the memorial wall in the park where there is a mural and long lists of names of people killed in the civil war. Katherine told us a history of El Salvador and we walked and looked at names and names and more names. Such a tragedy!

Tonight we are in a lovely guest house and walked to supper of soups, chicken, fish, shrimp and even iguana.  Thanks Justin for "the night of the iguana". 😉

Karen

33 hours to go...

It's almost time for the 2015 Trinity Delegation to travel. 33 hours till 6 am on 6/18/15. We've anticipated this for months - even over a year for some of us. 

Now, it's time to do all we've talked about. It's time to see all the historical sites we've studied. It's time to visit all of our Cada de Zinc & Casa de Zacatecas families & take them the gifts that so many of you have so generously helped purchase. 

It's time for 5 veteran travels to share one of our favorite places in the world with 5 rookies. That's such a cool experience to be able to do that every time. 

We're asking for lots of prayers as we travel representing Trinity UPC, Earlham FPC, Dexter FPC, Greenfield FPC & Denison UPC. We have a lot to live up to as we venture forward.  Thanks for your faith in all of us. 

Denise Core, Betty Dyer, Maurice Dyer, Dave Kincaide, Robert Lyons, Sharon McCullough, Joe Weinman, Karen Weinman, Sam Weinman, & Justin Williams.