iRomero Vive!

This week is the 31st anniversary of the death (assassination) of Monsenor Romero -- this Thursday March 24 to be precise. So this past Saturday was the March and the Vigil in the capitol. It was my second year attending and, once again, it was beautiful.

In his honor, in Peace Club at school on Monday we talked about Monsenor Romero as a Peace Maker and his vision of Peace. I found, on the spot, that just telling the story with no visual aids was going to tough for my second graders (my first class), so with them and the rest of the day, I drew pictures on the white board as we talked:

Once there was a little boy. He came from a poor family in the campo.


Even when he was little, he dreamed of growing up and becoming a priest.


And so he grew and studied and did, in fact, become a priest. He was in charge of constructing a cathedral. So he asked for help getting materials, like concrete and bricks.


He became friends with very rich people and he was very respected.


He also had another friend, and mentor, who was a priest. His friend worked with the poor, teaching them and loving them. Because of his friend, he too got to know, and love the poor. Then he was named archbishop. And a war started. He began spending more and more time with the poor.


In his homilies he began calling for the violence to stop and for care for the poor. Because of this he became known as "the voice for the voiceless." He had a vision for peace in which the poor had food and houses. Children and youth could go to school and people got along and worked together, without violence


After our story, I handed out construction paper "Romero Glasses" and asked the students to write or draw their vision of peace. I invite you to make your own glasses, or comment here :)

This Little Light of Mine

So, today I write with some INCREDIBLY EXCITING NEWS ...

The Peace Train Class has started, and is off and running!

(This is a long one! Lots of beginning things. Talking about class structure, and philosophy --and just excited! -- so feel free to just look at the pictures and watch the videos if you would like :D )

So far, we have given a week of classes (2 2hr long sessions) of class at Centro Arte. The first class at the school I teach in across the lake and this past Sunday was the Grand Opening.

I am so beyond words, overflowing with this class. It is so amazing to see several years worth of work and preparation (both of the class material and of myself) put into action!

One of the things I am emphasizing is the Peace does not mean there is no conflict -- at times we all feel sad mad or frustrated and there are conflicts -- what peace is about is figuring out how to resolve conflict nonviolently in the midst of these tough feelings. And to do this, we first need to find the seed of peace within ourselves, and nourish it to share it with others. This, I suppose you could say, is the basic philosophy of the class. So through art projects, music, english, cooperative games, drama games, and circle time we are looking for and feeding our seeds of peace -- growing in self-esteem and self-confidence. Meanwhile, we are studying the Peace Train for tools to resolve conflicts. And studying peacemakers such as Romero, MLK, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela etc and inviting special guests to our class every week to lead an activity and show how the find peace to learn from examples how to live Peacefully.

Our first class at Centro Arte was about a week ago, Wednesday. We had 5 kids come (and one join half way through the class after observing the first half). We started in an opening circle, did check-ins (What made your peace this week? What broke it?), said a peace pledge.



Then we went to our stations! :

Learning from volunteer Alex about Monsenor Romero,


learning "This little light of Mine" and "Caminamos en la Paz de Dios" (originally "Marching in the light of God") from volunteer Ariel,


and tracing themselves with chalk and writing inside what brings them peace with Raquel -- one of our salvadoran helpers!




To rotate stations, we walk "in train" and sing "Marching in the Peace of God"


We ended in our circle, showing and telling what we did during the day and singing "This little light of mine" like we will every class. Amazing. See!!

Friday! We had 11 kids -- 5 boys and 6 girls. We again started in our circle and then went and saw volunteer Paul -- our special guest for the day. he brought his guitar and helped us write a song about the Peace Train. So cool.



We took a video which you can see here (The words to the song we wrote: "Vamos a subir el tren de paz / Alto alto cuando estoy enojado / Saber el problema / Buscar soluciones de paz / examina cada solucion/ Negociar una solusion" which means "Hop on board the Peace Train/ Know what the problem / look for peaceful solutions/ Examine each solution / Negotiate a solution").

Then we had one station to make situpons and another to paint using watercolors, a straw and their breath. We talked about the power of breath (and words). These pictures are going to be used as the "body" of little people we will put on the wall for each student -- they already all of glasses from Wednesday, which the decorated as "visions of peace" after learning about Romero. Oh yeah! And half way through each class we play a game -- to bring everyone together and to get out some of that always flowing fountain of energy every 7 8 and 9 year old has!

Oh my goodness, there is sooo much in the class that it's hard to convey it all. It's so life giving, I think both to me, the other volunteers and helpers, as well as the students. Two classes and there is already so much goodness!

At school on Monday, we also started with check ins and Peace Pledge and then we had a big peace of paper with a big circle in the middle -- Our World of Peace.

Around the World we traced our hands and drew what we like. In the middle, we each drew what gives us Peace. I was surprised at how well they all worked together -- I had classes of 12 and of 15, so a lot to all be doing the same thing on the same paper at once, but they did it! And were excited that it was going to be a regular thing.

Finally! On Sunday we had our GRAND PEACE TRAIN OPENING. We invited all 22 constructions kids and their families as well as well as all of the kids in the class and their families. We figured we'd have anywhere between 10 and 50 people show up, sometimes it's hard to know.



About 25 people in all came to witness the giving of diplomas and lots of thanks to the constructors.





Walter read the book he had written about his experience. I talked about the philosophy of the class. Raquel -- one of our amazing helpers!! -- talked about her experience as a helper, what we do, why the class is important. Walter and Raquel were perhaps some of the highlights of the afternoon.



They were both so articulate. Raquel tends towards the quite side and she talked in front of this group for 4 minutes!! Then the kids in the class and Paul and Ariel sang the song we had written with Paul on Friday. We ended, as we always do, singing "This Little Light of Mine" ("Esta Lucita Mia") and taught it to the parents!



At the end of the day, one of my students came over to me with a huge smile and said "Did we do well, Christy? Did we do well?" "Absolutely," I smiled hugely back and hugged him. "You did amazing!"

The light here is shining strong! What a privilege to be here, to be teaching this class, to be working with these kids.

LET IT SHINE LET IT SHINE LET IT SHINE

The Peace Train is finished!

After a month and half of work the Peace Train (or Peace Trains I should say) are finished!

Over 30 people were involved building these trains -- from idea generation, material acquisition, to wood frame construction, decorating, braiding, to finally putting it all together! Over 20 kids worked on the train, along with the whole volunteer team, and Centro Arte staff. What staggering thing to have been a part of!

So, since the last Train post, we had several more decorating meetings with kids ...







...and one with the volunteers!!




Finally, with all of the sides decorated (and cloth braided!) it was time to start putting it all together. We had a lot of velcro in the art bodega, so Cassie suggested we use it! What a great idea! The removable sides may be useful for transportation purposes, or if we ever want new sides. So that's what we did!





Finally! tying on the braid shoulder straps (and trying the train on for size!) :





Big train, little train, PEACE TRAIN! Done!






Done, and at the same time -- as with all things perhaps -- just beginning. The ending of train construction means that that the class itself is about to start! The curriculum I developed as my undergraduate thesis begins March 8! We have 11 - 15 year olds who have been coming to orientation/training classes for the past two weeks and we are handing out quarter sheet invitations right and left.

Peace Train is coming :)

Opportunity for Grace

It's the first day of class. My students come in and I invite them to sit with me in a circle on one side of the room. The other side, with the table and materials for the project of the day, must wait until later. Before anything else, we must begin with each other.

After welcoming them, and introducing briefly the class, we really begin, with what is maybe the most important work we will do in the class for the cycle. Taking yarn, and wrapping it twice around my wrist I introduce myself: my name and some thing I like. I toss the yarn across the circle and invite this first student to do the same. Sometimes as the students throw the yarn, the throw it too hard, or not hard enough, and doesn't make it to the student on the other side. We all laugh as it is retrieved, and this too is good. Finally, we are all connected.

"On the count of three" I say "Everyone stand up and put your hands HIGH in the air!"
We do.

"On the count of three, everyone, touch the floor"

"Now... if your name starts with a vowel reach into the air way high. If not, keep yours hands on the floor."

"Switch!"

"Ok, everyone touch the floor. And one person reach way high up.
When you feel tension, stand up with your hands way high too."

And we all stand.

"Ok, one person touch the floor, and when you feel the pull touch the floor, too."

Sitting back down, still connected, I ask, "What did you notice?" "We made a star with the yarn!" I usually hear. "Yes, I saw that too, what else? ... when was there the most tension?" We identify that there was more tension when we did different things and less tension when we worked together.

"And what about when only one person stood up?" ... "We all hand to stand up!"

And so we discover that we are all connected. That it's good to work together. And that what one person does affects everyone else, for good or for bad.

This is my favorite way to start every class -- be it an English class, Cuentame, or Peace Train construction. It expresses a deep truth in a tangible way -- a way that stays with me as at the end of the activity, as I cut the students free, I invite them to ask a friend to help them tie a knot in the yarn around their wrist, to wear as a bracelet reminder. I am wearing three of these bracelets now, reminders of my students, reminders that we don't walk alone. It makes me think of one of my favorite quotes:

"if you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine then let us work together."

It is only when we allow ourselves to be bound to each other that we can be free.

It is a wise game I think, one that continues to remind me not to feel "irrevocable responsible for everything ..." (that's God's job, I've heard). To step back, see the bigger picture, and take the long view.

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church's mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation
in realizing that. This enables us to do something,
and to do it very well. It may be incomplete,
but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference
between the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

-Monseñor Romero

The Peace Train is coming to Centro Arte!

(I recommend listening to Cat Steven's Peace Train while reading this one :)

Not only is the Peace Train coming ... we are building it, here at Centro Arte. As Peace, though it must start within each individual, must be a community endeavor, we are building it as a community.

So, some shout outs to the team!
Berty and Yanira of our CAP office team thought of the plan of using plywood to build the "bones" of the trains and the use colored poster board for the sides.

Lito, vigilante extrodinaire got us the nails.

And Manuel, a twenty something youth in the community, and Jose Walter, the 11 year old magician from my Cuentame class, did the actually construction (Korla and I got to help as well).

Our construction team started by creating a contract. Walter said paying attention and following directions would be important. Manuel agreed. I added wearing safety goggles was important. And Korla later added putting cotton in our ears to protect from the sound of the table saw. We all signed and set about collecting our materials and setting up our space.



Manuel did all the math for us and was our expert in residence. He got the table saw set up and directed Walter, Korla and I where to be and how to help. Manuel is a very focused, get the job done kind of guy. Though his signature "this is fun" / "i'm so cool" kind of face was to smile and stick out his tongue -- a face I never saw so much as when we were constructing. Walter on the other hand is a bounce off the wall I have so much energy I can't be in one place for more than 5 minutes kind of 11 year old. The two of them working together was priceless. And Walter, when he had a job and something to do with his hands was as focused as ever!





In three days we built 12 train cars! One train of 6 big cars (50 cm x 50 cm x 75 cm) will live at Centro Arte and a second train of small cars (40 cm x 40 cm x 60 cm) will travel to the school in El Sitio and any other site that asks us to come! (We've already been requested to visit another group!!)





Next, Korla and I went to the libreria or the book store and picked up the poster board for the sides. Raquel and Ligia joined me one afternoon cutting them into the right sizes:



Finally, this past Saturday afternoon we had a train decorating workshop! Walter, Geremy, and Victor joined Korla, Ariel and me to 1. braid cloth from the Women's Center down the street (who also want to see the train when it's done!) to make the shoulder straps. 2. Use the left over poster board to make the engine of the 1st car and 3. Decorate the sides. What a wonderful life - giving morning.











We had started the day making a web of yarn between our wrists and talking about how we are all connected and to make peace (and the train!) we needed to work together. Then we learned a song: "Caminamos en la paz de dios" ("Walking in the peace of God" ... originally "Walking in the light of God". We ended the day with presentations of what we had done so far and how it had brought us peace and singing and marching en train around the room!



Today Walter came to talk with me about the next Cuentame class I'm giving -- he took it last time but he wants to write another chapter -- a manual of magic tricks. So we had a brief meeting and then we worked on braiding the shoulder straps. At first I sat next to him, each of us with our 200 cm pieces of fabric and we would do each step together but he got lost. So then we did it together -- I held it on the floor and he braided. He did so well! And got very into it!



The Peace Train, even in the making (yay process!) has been so life giving to me. There is so much do to here, so many ways I want to give of myself, that sometimes it is overwhelming. In the making of the train and all of the people who are already part of it, I am reminded I don't have to walk alone, I don't have to carry all that is weighty alone. We do it together. We built peace together. And we give life to one another.

PS ... my address

So I realized I've not put my address here yet. So here it is!

And if you would like a letter or post card from here, comment or email me your address :)

CAP
2a Calle Poniente #5, Barrio San Jose Suchitoto
El Salvador, C.A.

Coming Home

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers this past month. It has meant so much, made such a difference. I was so glad of your support, so glad to be with family during a time of such sadness amidst a season of such celebration.

And now I am back. I've been blessed to have friends and family who have taught me that one can have many homes. As I've returned, I've recognized once again that Suchitoto is one of my homes.

As with all homes, there are things that are easy and others that are difficult, there is joy and sadness, but we help each other along. The other volunteers here are amazing beyond words, and in this first week back I have already been inspired by them, and humbled, to see the work they are doing with such love, with such self-gift, amidst circumstances that can be shaking and challenging. There actions, there presence is calling me forth from myself, to give and be present and love and not preoccupy myself with the self-guilt or pressure which I can tend to. They make this place home.

The Salvadorans here, too, make this place my home. Walking through the plaza this morning, a young boy called my name and come over and said hello. On a walk this morning, a man on a horse walked is horse at my speed for several minutes and talked as we journeyed toward el centro. Minutes before, a pick up whizzing by had stopped to offer my a ride up the hill. One of my students -- one of those students who has stolen my heart -- came by yesterday asking when our classes would be starting again, and then hung out with me while I watched the skate park. One of my friends who runs a tienda near by kept hugging and hugging me when she I visited to let her know I was back, as glad to see me I was her. Eva, the woman I live with, too. They make this place home.

This country makes itself my home -- the smell of the air, the heat of the day (sometimes scorching), the coolness of the night, the beans with every meal, the green and now brown country side, the breezes.

And I make this my home. Alex, one of my fellow volunteers, sent out an email over Christmas with the phrase "as we plan for the new year in Suchitot, we all know now what we need to feed us..." what we need to make this place home. So I've been going for walks in the morning, taking in the beauty of the countryside, the lake, my neighbors. Mother Theresa says "The fruit of silence is prayer. The fruit of prayer is faith. The fruit of faith is love. The fruit of love is service. The fruit of service is peace." So I am grounding each day in the silence which is the breath of life.