Blogs from El Salvador, Central America Caribbean

As Vietnam, El Salvador had a civil war which lasted 12 years (1980-1992). Peace Accords were signed in Mexico on January 16, 1992. Since 1981 the U.S. President Reagan pumped about $500 Million a year to help the Salvadoran army to spare El Salvador from socialist as in Nicaragua. It has used the US dollar as its main currency since 2001. It has a total of 21 Volcanoes and it frequently hit by earthquakes, the last big one being on January 13, 2001. Earthquake was marked at 7.6 on the Richter Scale. Is it safe to go to El Salvador? I think so. Many El Salvadorans advised me not to go in the capital of Tegucigalpa because of a high crime area. However, I did and felt secure and warm. The world has become unsafe in ... read more

Today Patty, Helen, Carol and Ashley started by going to a preschool. There was 13 students and 1 teacher. They had a snack time. The teacher drew pictures in each students workbooks of a house, mountain, path and trees. Then they colored them. They also had a story time and the story was Jack and the beanstalk. After that they went back to the tables and worked on writing letters. Helen, Ashley and Carol did puzzles with the students and Patty did English/Spanish flashcards with the students. Everybody else went to the site to begin work. Today was a busy day. We painted, helped the electrician wire the house, mixed concrete, hauled water, soaked bricks,started bricking the septic tank and sifted sand. We got a lot done today!!! Finally we we're able to help with a ... read more

Hello to all at home. We arrived safely. This hotel is beautiful and very peaceful. We started out our day by attending Cristo Rey Lutheran church. It was a unique experience to be able to worship with the El Salvadorian people. The pastor was very welcoming and very appreciative of us coming. He incorporated his sermon of transfiguration in relating it to how God changes us and gives our hearts the ability to make a difference. It was very moving. I was not the only one with tears in my eyes. It was great to see the youth helping Harold follow along in the service. We were able to take communion also. At the end of the service the youth of the congregation presented each of us with a cross to remember them by. Following the ... read more

We had quite a bit of downtime today, so we all enjoyed lots of laughing and fellowship. Dinner tonight was at Tipicos Margoth. The drink that was served was called salad. It tasted like punch. It included apples, peaches, pineapple and lettuce. For dinner we had cheese papoosa, bean papoosa, turkey sandwiches, tamales, yuca fries and plantains (a tiny bananna). Dessert was empanadas and some kind of fried egg-dough ball. Dessert drink was chocolate rice milk. Tomorrow morning we look forward to packing all our belongings and heading up the mountain for church service and moving into our new digs.... read more