Caserio visit and other end-of-week 3 thoughts

Yesterday my training group visited a nearby caserio (rural community) called El Pino to get a sense of what life can be like in more remote parts El Salvador. As I've mentioned in previous posts, my training community of Siete de Marzo is significantly more developed than the community I'll be working in after training (which as of now is yet to be determined), so the caserio visit was an important introduction to rural life. Upon arrival, we stopped in front of a house to speak with the Vice President of the local Asociacion de Desarrolla Comunal (ADESCO). ADESCOs are neighborhood councils consisting of volunteers that, ideally, advocate for the community before the alcaldia (the municipal government) and coordinate projects to improve life in the community (these can pertain to issues like access to potable water, illiteracy, after school activities for youth, etc.). As we have recently learned as part of our training (we had a dedicated session on ADESCOs, as we'll all be working with the local ADESCO in our work sites), ADESCOs throughout El Salvador vary greatly in organization, professionalism, and effectiveness. Many are hampered by partisan politics, adult illiteracy, lack of attention from the alcaldia, and many other deficiencies, while others quite effectively bring about change in their communities. The ADESCO leader we spoke to today indicated that the ADESCO in his community has a good relationship with the local government, but sometimes struggles to maximize its influence due to time constraints. He was a young university student, which is rare for an ADESCO leader, who tend to be fifty or older. That's all for now on ADESCOs, but I'll certainly blog about them more once I've reached my work site and acquainted myself with the ADESCO there.

After meeting with the young man, we followed a muddy path down to some natural springs (pictured) where people collect their water every day. The water is fairly clean, only needing to be boiled to be made safe to drink. None of the houses in the caserio have running water. Next, our group split in two and each half walked around the neighborhood visiting people in their homes and asking them questions about their lives. As intrusive as that sounds, there is something about the people here that made it feel perfectly natural to simply show up at a house, explain who you are, and ask a series of questions on issues like community participation, security, and employment. I'm fortunate that people can be so approachable here, as my first few months in my site will largely be spent going door-to-door, introducing myself to the local people, and gathering information about the community through interviews.

I also had an interesting conversation with the women's rights promoter of the alcaldia, who accompanied us on the caserio visit. Her main job is to meet with women throughout Nuevo Cuscatlan (of which Siete de Marzo and El Pino, among other neighborhoods, belong) and educate them about their rights regarding domestic violence, which is all too common here. She also organizes women's committees throughout the municipality, and helps women establish cooperatives and small businesses. I asked her how the men in town respond to the important work she does, and she responded that unfortunately almost all men are hostile to her activities (she estimated that about ten in a hundred men are sympathetic to the cause of female empowerment). I asked whether the younger generation of men are any more supportive than older men, but she bleakly replied, “Igual”. This is extremely sad, but represents any area where I could make a difference in my work community (such as by working to strengthen women's group and working with men to get them on board).

In other news, I'm becoming more and more cognizant of the toll partisanship takes on El Salvador. There are two main political parties here: the leftist FMLN, which emerged from the guerrillas in the civil war, and the right-wing ARENA party. Animosity between each party's faithful runs high and can result in crippling deadlock. When I asked my host mother about the state of the ADESCO in Siete de Marzo, she explained that it's currently inoperative because its leaders belong to the rival party of the mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlan. She also indicated that when the current mayor took office last year, a significant portion of city staff quit their jobs, refusing to work under a mayor of the opposing party. I don't know how common it happens that civil servants quit when the executive's office changes parties, but if it is widespread, it would represent a huge threat to the development of a professional and apolitical civil service in El Salvador. The more I learn about partisanship in the El Salvador context, the more I'll blog about. You'll notice I'm not yet making comparisons between partisanship in El Salvador and partisanship in the United States, as I don't know enough about the former, and am hesitant to hastily arrive at comparisons given the widely different contexts in which American and Salvadoran politics take place.

That's all for now on El Salvador. Conditions have deteriorated further in Egypt since my last post, and it's heartbreaking to read stories about the needless bloodshed taking place there. On a brighter note, I was pleased to read this week of some accountability for abuses on Wall Street, with the indictment of two JPMorgan Chase employees involved in the “London Whale” case. Also the news geek in me is very excited for Tuesday's launch of Al Jazeera America.

Gotta go -- today I'm visiting an anthropology museum in the capital, and tomorrow I'll be attending the Festival de Maiz here in Nuevo. Have a great weekend!