This week I've had the awesome opportunity to help out with the Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) mission trip/pilgrimage.  To find out what we have been up to and what we've learned, check out the YLA blog (http://www.diomassyouth.org/apps/blog/) as the youth say it the best!

Charlas

Public Health “Charlas” (workshops)

The last two months of my life have been filled with giving health education workshops (or in Spanish- charlas) to kids within the public school system in El Pital, Lourdes Colon, spanning from 5^th grade to 9^th grade.

As I mentioned in a past blog, one of the NGO’s that I have been helping out with is Glasswing, an NGO that implements a lot of social programs within public schools in El Salvador.  One of their programs in an alcohol prevention program, aimed at delaying the age in which adolescents start drinking.

In El Pital, there is a public school, that receives little to no social assistance, and in talking to the principal about Glasswing’s alcohol prevention program, I found myself committing to implementing a series of health education charlas.  In discussing the social and health issues that affect the adolescents that attend the school in El Pital, along with teen drinking, the other major issue that became obvious was teen pregnancy, as there is a pregnant teen in both 6^th and 7^th grade.

So, we decided that the number one priority was education on sexual health and reproduction so May became “sex ed” month, while June became “alcohol prevention” month.

In hopes of putting a sustainable twist to the “sex ed” charlas, I asked the licensed nurse (Lic. Flamenco) who works at the ECOS-F clinic in El Pital to join me so that she can continue giving the charlas once I return to the states.  It was great having her help, but I have to say one of the toughest parts of implementing the charlas was working around her clinic schedule, which was constantly changing, and I would never know if she would actually be present to do her part of the charlas with me. 

Using a combination of different sexual health and reproduction curriculums, I planed a series of four sessions, with the first session being focused on gender and sexual health anatomy, the second, fertilization and the reality of teen pregnancy, the third, making a life plan and family planning, and the fourth, sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and AIDS.

We held the “sex ed” charlas in the church (which was a bit quieter than the classrooms), where each grade (5^th-9^th) would pass through for a 75minute session.  I have to say it was quite an experience teaching “sex ed” in Spanish within the public school system of El Salvador.  The kids did pay attention and I think they got a lot out of it but we were constantly reminding them to pay attention and save the note passing for recess time.  We had an anonymous questions box, and I have to say I was pretty impressed by the thoughtfulness of some of the questions.

Now about the alcohol prevention program; it is a program that is split into four sessions that is designed to teach teens about the consequences of drinking and strategies to help teens make the decision not to drink.  I was very lucky to have a volunteer (Matt Baron- second year medical student) to help me both plan and implement the charlas.  Because, we needed access to a white board we decided to do the sessions within the classroom, which logistically was easier than doing the charlas in the church, but noise wise, it was a nightmare.  The way the classrooms are set up in El Pital there is just a constant high level of noise and I have to say, I have a huge amount of respect for the teachers that teach within this environment, five days a week from 7:30-5:00pm every day.  I would definitely have to think more than twice before becoming a teacher in El Salvador.

The coolest part of the alcohol prevention program, is that after the four sessions, we chose two kids from each grade to work together and design a drama about the consequences of drinking alcohol and the various strategies that teens can use to say “no” to under age drinking.  It was just so amazing watching them work together and come up with a drama that was very well thought out and put together. The drama was performed for the younger grades and the parents.

So now as we enter the month of July, I am raping up my epoch of charlas and I now enter a there week span of delegations that I will be helping out with.  I’m very excited as the first delegation, is a group from the Episcopal church St. Pauls in Newburyport, MA, a church that was very supportive as I made my plans to come to El Salvador with YASC.  My parents will also be coming with the St. Pauls group, which is even more exciting for me.  The second delegation that I will be helping out with is the Youth Leadership Academy (YLA), a diocesan youth group from Boston, MA, that has been coming to El Salvador for pilgrimage/mission every summer since 2005 and for each trip that they have made in the past I have accompanied them in the role of a mentor; so it will be great to be able to fill this role again for the 8^th consecutive summer.

Although I may not have much time to personally blog over the next three weeks, the St. Paul’s group may be using my blog to post about their experiences in El Salvador, so keep any eye out.

Anglican Women's Retreat

About a month ago now, I had the opportunity to join a group of energetic, lively, and spiritual women on a women’s retreat with the Anglican church to “Cielo Mar”, the Anglican retreat center on the ocean.  Although a simple and rustic retreat center, in which no one could sleep on the top beds because of fear of falling through the wooden slabs on to the person sleeping bellow, it was the perfect place for a group of women to relax, let loose a little, and get some work done (elect a new Anglican women’s committee).  For me it was an amazing opportunity to become more connected with the El Salvadoran Anglican church on more of a diocesan level, as I got to connect with various women from all of the different Anglican churches around El Salvador.  It also gave me an opportunity to build stronger friendships with the women from San Francisco de Asis (the church in El Pital, which is the congregation which I would call my home congregation here in El Salvador).  It was very sweet how the women from San Francisco de Asis looked after me, making sure that I felt comfortable and included. 

Some of my favorite memories from the retreat were the evening talent show, the evening prayer service, everybody sleeping on cots covering all of the floor space, and the bus ride back to the city from the beach.  For the talent show, me, Luisa, and Mary Lou (the two women representatives from San Francisco de Asis), picked a song about the silly things that couples can fight over, and lip synched and acted out a skit.  I was the man, so I dressed up by drawing a distinguished mustache with Mary Lou’s eyeliner.  The evening prayer service was just very beautiful and tranquil, as we started out in the courtyard around a fire and then slowly lit candles, one at a time using the fire as the starting flame.  I have to say, the bus ride home was probably my favorite memory, as the women decided that they wanted to finish the retreat off with a dance party, so they asked the bus driver to crank up the music and then everybody stood up in the aisle and twisted, turned, and shook.  Overall it was an awesome weekend!

More on Photo Albums

So since I’ve been back from Nicaragua, I’ve been very intentional on taking advantage of my weekends and exploring El Salvador and I have the pictures to prove it.  There is one album that was taken prior to my trip to Nicaragua as they are pictures from David Copley and crew’s (Elizabeth and Jason) visit, which I didn’t receive until I arrived back, so I’ll start with that one and then otherwise go in order as they appear in picasa.

David Copley and Crew in El Salvador-  I was very lucky and had a big part of the YASC personnel team come and visit me at the end of April.  Specifically I got to spend three days with David, Elizabeth, and Jason and it was quite a pleasure getting to show them what I’m doing and where I’m working.  They also had the opportunity to spend a whole day traveling around with Bishop Barahona, learning about the work of the Anglican church here in El Salvador and various volunteer opportunities for the future.  I know for me it was quite a treat having them visit and I think overall it was a productive trip.

“Art and FMLN in Suchitoto” & “Despedida in Suchitoto”-  Suchitoto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suchitoto) is a very pleasant old colonial city in El Salvador and I have had the pleasure of visiting it on several occasions.  In the album “Art and FMLN in Suchitoto” you will see images from my friends photography exhibit of various murals throughout El Salvador (she is here as a Fulbright, studying murals in El Salvador) and images from the town wide celebration of the FMLN (the leftist party) victory in Suchitoto.  Check out this link for more information on the FMLN party- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farabundo_Mart%C3%AD_National_Liberation_Front.  Although a bit out order, “Despedida in Suchitoto” also displays some beautiful images in and around Suchitoto, taken as I wishing one of my good friends good bye (despedida means good bye party in Spanish).

Dia Internacional de Trabajador (Labor Day)-  In El Salvador Labor Day is celebrated on May 1, and as the linked article explains (http://www.demotix.com/news/678549/labour-day-celebrations-el-salvador) “in El Salvador, May Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers and has its origins in the labor union movement.”  It was quite an experience, walking with thousands of people, peacefully marching for fair rights for the Salvadoran worker.

Parque Imposible- So when you hear this description “Hasta La luna : An unforgettable journey into the heart of Imposible, truly untouristed and off-the-beaten-track, and swim in a river and its many cascades (6h)”; what do you think of?  Well, I think of adventure and that is indeed what these images display.  We hiked down to the beginning of a set of 8 waterfalls, where we proceeded to jump off cliff edges into the deep waters bellow, continuing are hike in between each waterfall and then at the end hiking all the way back up and out of Parque Imposible.  It was amazing!  To learn more about Parque Imposible and the various adventures that await there, check out this website- http://www.imposibletours.com/en/index.html.

Boquerón-  El Boquerón is the name of the crater in the center of the San Salvador Volcano, smack dab in the middle of the city of San Salvador.  I have to stay it’s quite a treat living in a city and having a volcano that you can hike around and be surrounded by nature and beautiful views (you can pretty much see all of El Salvador) just a few minutes drive away.  See this Wikipedia article for more details about the volcano and the mystery of El Boquerón (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Salvador_(volcano)).

The story for the photos

New Photo Albums

I feel like pictures often say more than words, so I want to direct your attention to a bunch of new albums that I have posted over the last few months.  To see the pictures, all you have to do is click on the photo link to the right.

Going in chronological order (so oldest to newest) I’m going to say a little bit about each album:

El Salvador Elections 2012- On Sunday March 11, I had the unique opportunity to serve as an international observer of the El Salvadoran elections, in which mayors and members of the legislator were elected.  We had to be at the poles at 5AM and stayed until 11pm at night.  Are major function was to observe and note any thing that seemed out of order (for instance two people within the voting booth, the poll gates opening late and closing early, voters trying to use false identification or table members turning away voters with proper identification, ect.) and then as a team, we as Cristosal compiled a report.  Overall it was a very long but interesting day.

Glasswing Alcohol Prevention Youth Day- As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve become involved with some volunteer activities with the NGO Glasswing International.  In return they have also been helping me plan the alcohol prevention program that I am going to facilitate in El Pital.  Part of the alcohol prevention program is a celebration activity for all of the leaders that participate and finish the program, so I helped out with the celebration for the leaders that just finished the most recent course.  The celebration activity was held at an adventure center in Lourdes Colon.  As you can see from the pictures, there were a lot of fun activities for the kids to do, rock climbing, zip line, mask making, dancing, ect. and as a helper, I also got to go flying through the sky on the zip line.

Romero Vigilia- After a morning packed with youth activities I caught the bus to Salvador del Mundo (a large monument in San Salvador) to participate in the Vigil for Monsenor Romero; which is held every year on March 24, the day that Romero was assassinated.  In memory of the amazing work that Romero did through out his short life, thousands of people come out every year to march from Salvador del Mundo to the cathedral in the center.  It was pretty amazing to be a part of this growing tradition.  Check out Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Óscar_Romero) for more information about Romero and why he is so loved in El Salvador.

Semana Santa with the Almquist hermanas- In El Salvador, everybody gets Semana Santa (Holy Week) off from work; basically every thing closes down.  I was very lucky, and my one and only sister (Celanie), who I love very much came and visited me for Semana Santa.  We had a jammed packed week:  We started with a weekend in the city and Celanie got to experience salsa dancing at La Luna and Café Late (two fun restaurants/bars that have dancing) and a concert at the UCA (the University of Central America).  From there we headed out to the beach (El Tunco), fresh water springs/water falls (Juayua), a cute older town (Ataco), and we hit up some hot springs (Agua Termales de Santa Teresa) on our way back to the city.  Next on the list was Chalatenango, where we joined my housemate Ani in a small town (Arcatao) in the countryside for a night in the campo and a hike to the river/water fall.  Then we went onto Las Palmas where we got to see some beautiful “Alfombras” , rugs that the community make in the streets for holy week, and next to El Pital (not the El Pital in Lourdes Colon where I work but a different one), the highest area in El Salvador, where we saw some amazing views and enjoyed the fresh, chilly air.  For Easter vigil (5 hours) and Easter day, Celanie had the opportunity to join me in El Pital (the community I work in) for services at San Francisco de Asis and meet the lovely people I work with day to day.  As, I said it was a jammed pack week but it was really an amazing week!

Circulo Solidario Actividades- As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I have also started volunteering a little of my time with Circulo Solidario and this album has some pictures from some the health education activities that I have helped out with.

Nicaragua-   So at the end of April, I got an amazing opportunity to spend a week traveling with one of my good friends from the Boston area (Andrea) in Nicaragua.  All I’m going to tell you on this one is the name of the cities that we visited; otherwise I think the pictures really say it all.  1.Managua, 2.Leon, 3.Granada, 4.Isla Ometepe, 5.San Juan del Sur.

Enjoy the pictures!

El Pital Yoga Inititive

El Pital Yoga Initiative

Objective:  To form a self-sustaining yoga program in El Pital.

Step 1:  Meet with JUL on Wed. 1/3 before or after JUL election to propose idea.

Questions-

1.     Is there interest for a yoga program?

2.     When would be a good day/time for yoga sessions? Pick a date for the first yoga session (sometime in mid-January).

3.     Who will be invited to participate? (JUL, La Via Anglicana, todo de El Pital)

4.     Who would be interested in co-instructing with Erika?

Step 2:  Plan Yoga sessions with Marion’s help (starting in January once Marion is back from France).

1.      Start with 2 yoga sessions (slowly increase until we have 10 planed yoga session that can be reproduced by the community of El Pital- 5 short sessions- 20-30min & 5 long sessions- 45min).

2.     Make power points/slides of each session that can be kept in the Biblioteca Café in El Pital.

3.     Marion will review sessions with Erika several times until she feels ready to instruct on her own.

Step 3: 2-3 mo of Yoga sessions lead by Erika with the help of a co-instructor from the community (before each session, Erika and co-instructor will review moves and a copy of the power point/slides will be given to the co-instructor for future reference).

Step 4:  Community co-instructor becomes main instructor with Erika changing to co-instructor.  The community co-instructor can continue to expand her/his knowledge of Yoga through reviewing yoga books and videos and adding on to the sessions originally planned by Marion and Erika.