Our gospel reading of the day (Luke 19:11-28) was the parable of the wealthy man who left ten gold coins with ten servants as he went off to rule over another land. On his return he demanded the account from each of his servants, castigating the one who had not done anything with it. Today we struggled with this, seeing many gifts in our Salvadoran acquaintances and how they have succeeded or not in finding return on investment.
This morning we visited a small remote village called Marillo II. As with many of the other settlements we visited, the community is largely made up of guerillas relocated here after the war. The community was named after the wealthy landowner that sold the land to the government. Marillo II is in the region of "Bajo Lempa", which can be translated as "region of the lower Lempa river".
We again split into 3 teams, this time visiting only one home. Matthew, Sandy, & Lynda visited a home where the patriarch had stomach cancer, which had been diagnosed by endoscopy. He had elected not to undergo treatment, saying he was "too old" at 85.They were raising a fighting rooster and kept a special bird, a "quirquir", which was used to train the fighting chicken and bring out its aggression. Christine, Mitch, and I visited a home where the matriarch, had lost 4 sons and one husband in the war.
Our guide, Nora, is also employed as a "promotora de salud" (health promotor). She explained that her role is to work with individuals and groups from 8 villages in preventive health, as well as family planning, and mild illness. She had a small pharmacy where villagers could buy over-the-counter medications inexpensively. Patients sick enough to require more urgent care are brought to the clinic (unidad de salud) in Canoa. Women in labor or people who are more ill are brought to the hospital in Jiquilisco (see previous entry).
We ate lunch with a group of three women who are part of an order of eight sisters known as the "Pequña Comunidad". They have been an order for almost 40 years, taking vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the christian community, although they have no hierarchical link to Rome. One of their number, Sylvia Arriola, who had joined them after working as a secretary for Oscar Romero, was murdered in 1979 with 5 others. They are an amazing example of service to the community, earning their way through hospitality at their center and selling hand made goods.
One of the community projects is the Cooperativa, which is a group of 63 men and women who collectively operate about 1400 acres of land in Bajo Lempa, growing sugar cane, coconuts, cashews (mariñones), mangoes, almonds, dairy products, and beef.
They showed us their coconut grove, where we saw some 700 trees growing after hacking some limbs down so the bus could pass down the road. The previous ARENA party administration blocked the co-op to export their products, and were told that their products were "contaminated".
It is suspected by that former president Alfredo Cristiani, who happens to control nearly all of the sugar production in the country, had something to do with this. As a result, the cooperative has been struggling to survive, having difficulty obtaining loans for machinery and access to markets. They are hopeful the new FMLN administration will help with access to credit and markets.
When we arrived home late in the day, Sister Elena treated us all to traditional Salvadoran dances performed by some women and children from Tierra Blanca. The women performed dances called "Comaleras", where they danced holding very large wok shaped clay bowls on their heads, and "Traviesas", translated as "female trouble makers".
Overall the day left us pondering the questions of how to invest the ten gold coins we are given.
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