Hi everyone –
On Thursday I got back from my first trip to the U.S. since
starting Peace Corps eight months ago. It was great to spend eleven days with
people I care about and miss, and to enjoy amenities that I do without in El Salvador.
A particular thanks to Hope for making my visit perfect.
I am convinced that when I finally return to the U.S. after
Peace Corps, I am going to be profoundly grateful for all the wonderful
conveniences and pleasures my life will offer: abundant connectivity, bountiful
opportunity, diversity of all sorts, and brilliant, inspiring peers, to name a
few. I still recognize that it is completely unfair that I was born into such
favorable circumstances and have enjoyed such a privileged life, but Peace Corps
is unexpectedly helping me come to peace (no pun intended) with my luck.
Now that I'm back in Toreras, I'm once again focused on
helping the new women's group to find its footing and coalesce. So far the
group has had two general meetings, learned how to make pineapple cake, and
carried out a successful fundraiser selling pupusas. I'm still more in
charge of the group than I should be, but I intend to begin gradually passing
leadership responsibilities to the women over the next few months.
I am also going to begin teaming up with a community member
to explore the possibility of starting an agriculture cooperative in Toreras.
Agricultural cooperatives are groups of farmers who share a piece of land to
grow crops for sale, dividing labor responsibilities and profits equitably. The
community member I'll be working with has experience working in a cooperative
in Honduras (he is Honduran, like many people in my site) and thinks that
Toreras could sustain a successful operation. Soon we're going to visit houses
to gauge the interest level of the community. If we encounter substantial
enthusiasm, we will invite the Ministry of Agriculture (MAG) to come to Toreras
to provide training and help legalize the cooperative, a service MAG provides
free of charge.
I have some other small projects in the works, which I'll
discuss in future posts when they've taken greater shape.
That's all for now. Feel free to email me if you have any
questions.
