Aug. 9

Breakfast: platanos (fried bananas), frijoles (mashed red beans), coffee. We took a 1 1/2 hour trip to the Finca San Jorge Coffee Cooperative and passed through a small town called San Julian where we picked up Guillermo, an administrator of the Finca. He was waiting for us at the San Julian Catholic Church. From there we took a back road up a hill to the cooperative, which was very rocky and rough for our little microbus, but our driver Mario Andretti managed to make the trek in 15 minutes or so. This coffee cooperative belongs to an association of cooperatives called Nuevo Amanacer (New Dawn). During the civil war, the idea for the cooperative began due to a terrible number of orphans left behind by murdered parents. Since Monsenor Romero tried to find refuge for the kids and used the church for this, the cooperative got the idea to follow in his shoes. Then, after the war was over, the cooperative realized that there was even a greater need to help the orphaned children. The poverty was so great and they wanted to figure out how to help them. So, they started to organize into a group/partnerwhip to find a way to become an NGO. In 1993, they became that NGO after the Peace Accords. They got some aid from Sweden to fund the project. In 2000, they expanded to also provide education and food and job training for the children. They had a lluvia de ideas (or a brainstorm session) to figure out how to finance their ideas. They thought about starting construction companies, airlines, etc. But these ideas were not aligned with their goals, so they got the idea to buy land. They had some saving to put into the project and some help from the Swedes. One of their first objectives was to help the children and their second was to preserve the environment. 60% of the income of the cooperative goes to pay expenses to run the finca and the other 40% is profits that they use to maintain the five centers for children that they have set up around El Salvador. The cooperative has about 80 acres and is located about 900 meters above sea level. It is located in the mountain chain of balsam trees (balsamo). So, they grow coffee and vegetables and work the balsam trees. They also have bee hives of different varieties and produce some sorghum. They have also rescued some grazing land and planted trees for further development and profit making. Balsam is used for medicines, make-up, perfumes, soaps, shampoos, etc. They sell it pure to the companies who make these products. Another benefit they gain from their finca is tourism. They help people to learn about the preservation of the environment since everything they do there is certified organic. The five families who work on the finca live for free and the finca then provides them with formation to learn to better themselves economically and through education. The families who live and work on the finca have to commit themselves to the organic way of food production. The five centers the finca supports are located throughout the country such as in Morozan - where it is very, very poor and many people suffer from disabilities due to the war. They have a clinic there also to help those with HIV. University students often work in the centers for volunteer hours for their graduation requirements. Others come to help from other countries such as Spain. Of the 80 acres, about 40 of it is dedicated to coffee cultivation. Some of the arbustos, or little trees/bushes are old and some are very young. About 7 tons of coffee is produced a year at the finca, ready and packaged to ship and drink. They produce about 12,000 pounds of processed coffee. Part of it goes to the United States and another part goes to Sweden and still another part to El Salvador. The coffee is the main income of the finca. They have about 8,000 coffee trees/bushes that they just planted and they should be in production in about 3 years. They hope to increase the tons of coffee they produce annually. November is the harvest month. There is only one harvest per year. They have to hire about 70 people to harvest the coffee. Balsam is the other source of income. Balsam production goes back to pre-Colombian times, and the finca seems to follow in this tradition with its very primitive form of harvesting and processing it. They call it the black gold of El Salvador because it is culturally enriched by the primitive practices. Since harvesting balsam is a dangerous job due to the height of the trees and the use of fire to extract the balsam, those who harvest the balsam get to keep half of what they harvest. They have to oftentimes climb to the highest point in the tree with wood and a fire starter to burn the wood on the tree to draw out the balsam. Fifteen days after burning the tree, the worker has to climb again to retrieve the sap. They take cotton cloths to stick on the tree to soak up the balsam that comes out. They bring down both the cloth and some of the bark to process both the balsam and a by-product. The machine the workers use on the finca to squeeze out the balsam also appears to be very primitive. It takes four men to operate it. There is no technologically advanced machine in existence to this labor intensive work. The ropes the workers use to climb the tree are made out of maguey (cactus) because it is fire retardant. There are often many accidents - paralysis, death, etc. that happen as a result of balsam harvesting. Much of the balsam is sold to local markets and to Germany where it is made into products. The lunch served at the finca was our first real taste of meat in a long time. Because so many people are so poor, rarely is there an opportunity to put meat on the table for a meal. We then went to Izalco to the Adesconuz Proyecto Escuela de Arte at the base of the Izalco volcano. This is where we met lay missioner MaryAnn and learned a little about her work with young people to preserve the traditions of the Nahuat indigenous culture. We were greeted by a teacher, Carmen, and another student blowing on caracoles (shells) and a man playing the marimba. We were passed a drink called chicha (about the equivalent of hooch) which is a Nahuat drink of fermented fruit. MaryAnn helps the students there preserve the Nahuat culture by having the students make artwork and perform ceremonies of Nahuat tradition. There is a man in Izalco who is one of the last people to be able to make the marimba - an instrument made out of wood that looks a bit like a xylophone. The teachers and the students performed a traditional Nahuat service for us involving prayer to the Great Creator and incense. The government has since recognized the school and has contracted 5 teachers to teach Nahuat, flute, marimba, drums, and the vision of creation. There are 32 students at the school, both young and old. 85% of the indigenous groups from El Salvador are Nahuat. We took around the building which was originally owned by a Spanish family and then walked around the Izalco community, which was celebrating International Day of Indigenous Peoples. We saw some of the murals that students from the art school created. There were a few by each of the two Catholic Churches. Again, the division of Catholics is quite apparent here with them having two churches - one for the indigenous, and one for the others. The non-indigenous church looked much more like a colonial style Spanish church. In both churches we saw some of the floats or installations that the people carry on their shoulders through the streets of Izalco during such religious celebrations such as Semana Santa (Holy Week). Their statues of Christ, Mary, and others look like heavily made up dolls in very gaudy clothing. Most of their garments are very bright and some have agonizing expressions on their faces. One representation of Christ was quite alarming to me, as he looked terribly frightened. He had on a gaudy, ornate purple and gold robe, a crown of some sort, and he sported dreadlocks. I feel as though He was zombified, quite frankly. He was somewhat stooped forward with his arm cocked out in front of him as if to grab hold of something or stop a fall. It made me ponder the reason for this somewhat terrifying image of Christ. I could not even bring myself to take a picture of it. Also, in both churches, other images or doll-like statues of Christ are in glass coffins draped in white silky cloth. In the indigenous church, Mary is also in a glass coffin. These coffins are also in the Semana Santa processions. So, it seems about everywhere we go, we are reminded of the division of the Catholic people. It really challenges your faith. Dinner tonight: Egg/potato (quiche?) dish, green beans, bread, chicken and rice soup, oranges, and water.