Well, I’m back in the states after a very enjoyable trip to El Salvador to talk with sponsored students, visit completed projects, and talk with those who need the help of TLAU. My plan is to use the next week or so to recount the events of our trip, but for now, take a look at the newly uploaded photos.
To the left, students at Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria in Santa Ana present me with a plaque commemorating the generosity of TLAU donors.
If I wasn’t traveling to El Salvador in three weeks, I could say with confidence that I’d seen everything.
I don’t care what your soft spot is, whether it’s the mannerists or the pre-Raphaelites, gothic or baroque, Michaelangelo or Raphael, you must admit: that’s one well-adorned block of concrete. Click here or the photo to the left to see more, including a few of the artist at work.
Especially moving is the banner that sits atop the TLAU logo which reads “Nuestros Angelos tienen Nombre” which translates as “Our Angels have names.” I’d like to join Nuestra Senora del Refugio in thanking Father Keane for all he does, not only as the most active TLAU officer, but also as a pastor of souls.
Santa Maria, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros, pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte!
Walter sent a few shots of the first day of construction of the “cancha” or covered play area at Nuestra Senora del Refugio in Ahuachapan. TLAU donated the three classrooms on the second floor in the photo to the left, and the large expanse of scorched earth in front of them (extending beyond the right margin of the photo) will soon be covered by a simple but sturdy metal roof. This is a common arrangement for schools in El Salvador. Since it is a tropical climate, it’s always warm enough to play outside, so walls aren’t necessary. However, because the equatorial sun is so strong, it is standard practice to provide a covered area for student activities and school functions. If you’ve ever experienced the sun in Central America, you’ll understand how valuable the shade is.
For more photos, click.
Oh, the ramifications of the virtue of charity! It’s like dropping a stone in standing water and standing back to watch the concentric ripples expand. Just as that tiny falling pebble affects the stillness of a large mass of water, even remote and anonymous acts of selfless good-will will cause the hardest of hearts to yield to God’s call.
That’s not to say that Manuel Roberto Molina Martinez and Ana Victoria Castillo de Molina have “corazones de piedro.” In fact, all it took was an article in El Salvador’s national newspaper, La Prensa Grafica, about TLAU’s work at the Centro Escolar Nuestra Senora de los Pobres (see the original post; this story is recounted in a subsequent article pictured to the left). The successful business-owning couple saw a need that, if addressed, would give hope to 170 very poor children that would otherwise find it more than easy to live a life of delinquency. So they did what each and every TLAU donor has done and, I pray, will continue to do: something. They paid for two more classrooms to complete a facilities plan that most of the school’s organizers probably thought was never going to be executed for lack of funds. That was one year ago, and by Salvadoran standards, that’s called light speed.
Folks, I hope you grasp how truly awesome this is. Keep it up.
Oh, and the last part of the article can be found here. One day if I have time I’ll do a little rag-tag translating.
Thanks to my parents, Leonard and Sharon Nelson, I will be spending my spring break driving around El Salvador with Walter. It’s been almost two years (or more) since I’ve visited, a fact that is only contributing to the excitement. How funny it is that I have grown so fond of a country and culture that at one time appeared so strange that it frightened me.
First on the agenda will be visiting many of TLAU’s completed projects that I have yet to see. Many of the projects have been inaugurated already, but Salvadorans are so hospitable that I’m bound to receive a welcome I definitely don’t deserve.
I will also meet many others who have benefitted from your generosity in other ways, such as the becados and their families. And adding to the excitement, Walter informed me that I’ll be meeting Msgr. José Luis Escobar Alas, the archbishop of El Salvador. (I hope I can muster enough courage to kiss his ring).
With the help of my youngest brother Jeffrey, who is visiting for the first time, I’m hoping to take many pictures and a few videos while I’m there. Keep us in your prayers, and as always, stay tuned through the newsfeed–I’ve made a resolution to be more diligent with the postings.
How does this:
become this:
in less than a year?
Why, with a little help from Jim and Monica Rolquin and family, whose generous donation provided land, two classrooms, bathrooms with flush toilets, desks, chairs, and blackboards for the students. Browse through the photos and take a look at the inauguration, which took place in August, and the end-of-year graduation ceremony. Also included are photos of the bathrooms and the students unpacking the tables and chairs.
The Rolquin family has been to El Salvador twice with Father Keane and hope to travel there again to see firsthand how their gift is being used to brighten the future of so many children.
Walter sent a few photos of the packets of school supplies handed out to the needy children of Centro Escolar Nuestra Señora de los Pobres in Zacatecoluca (see map). The photo to the left is Walter’s truck full of the supplies just before handing them out.
Just in time for the new school year, which in El Salvador st
arts in January, 100 of the school’s smallest students received a small bookbag or “mochila” containing a notebook, crayons, pens, and pencils.
The cost? $10 per child.
Click here for more photos…
If I was a troublemaker walking the streets of Refugio in Ahuachapan looking for an easy grab from the local parochial school (don’t worry, I’m not), this is the last thing I’d want to see. Notice the metal spikes on top. Salvadorans have learned that a wall means “stay out,” but glass or razor wire on top means “I’m serious.” Just to remind you, TLAU built some classrooms at this school a while back, and during the inauguration Father Keane learned that there is a lot of gang activity and theft in the area hurting the school.
Thanks to all our generous donors for helping to make the Centro Escolar Nuestra Señora del Refugio, with its brand new classrooms, a safe and stable learning environment!
Click on the photo or here for more photos.
Take a few moments to read this reflection by Sabina, a high school junior in North Carolina and friend of Father Keane. Taken alone, it’s very well written, but if you ever get the chance to visit El Salvador and meet those TLAU serves, you’ll be amazed at how well she has captured the phenomenon of “culture shock.” It’s that almost sickly feeling an American inevitably experiences when he or she encounters the poverty in El Salvador and realizes that the small things we love to complain and worry about are absolutely trivial.
Well done Sabina, and thank you for your story!
“I heard the world” through the children of El Salvador. Being the selfish and self-centered teenager I was, the thought of leaving my comfort zone seemed ridiculous. However, my life was changed after I had the opportunity to visit El Salvador through the non-profit organization, “The Least Among Us.” Not only has this organization changed my life in countless ways, it impacts and brightens the future for thousands of kids across El Salvador everyday.
“The Least Among Us” is an organization that raises money here in the states to build schools and send kids to college in El Salvador and other surrounding impoverished countries. In the summer of 2007, I was invited to teach English in one of the schools built by “The Least Among Us”. It was then that my world changed forever. My eyes were opened to the poverty of the world. The conditions these children live in brought tears to my eyes. Many children have one pair of clothes, a mud hut for a house, and the dust on the ground as a bed. However, I have never met more generous and loving people. These people took me in as one of their own and shared what little they had with me. Besides changing my entire outlook on life, these kids taught me to appreciate my education. Many kids have to work in the fields because they have no school to go to. They know that to break the perpetual cycle of poverty, they must get an education. Unfortunately, many of these children cannot go to school because there is not one available or they cannot afford to go to a university. “The Least Among Us” is trying to change that. One of the students I taught was an eleven year old girl named Maritza. Every morning before school, she would get up at four o’clock and travel forty-five minutes into town to sell bread for her family. After selling for a few hours she would return to the village to attend school. Most of Maritza’s classmates had to work before and after school to help their families survive. The needs of these children’s families could not be put aside in order for the children to go to school, but the determined students would work ten times harder in order to accomplish both. They were so grateful for the opportunity to attend school, something I take for granted and complain about on a regular basis! Every student has only one uniform, but never once did I see it dirty or wrinkled because they took so much pride in themselves as students. This really made me stop and think about how often I wear a wrinkly t-shirt to school. Furthermore, they not only took pride in themselves, but their new schools as well. I attended a dedication for a new school built by “The Least Among Us” while I was in El Salvador. I had barely 
stepped foot off the truck when handfuls of children ran up to me wanting to hold my hand and take me to see every inch of their school and point out every detail, beaming from ear to ear all the while because they were so proud. I witnessed the dramatic changes in these children’s lives due to the education and scholarships provided by “The Least Among Us”. One of my new friends, Yami, was from a family who did not have enough to eat. She was able to go to college on a scholarship from “The Least Among Us” and in November 2008 she passed her final nursing tests. Not only will she be able to support herself for the rest of her life, she will now be able to help feed her family. Yami is just one of the many examples of the lives forever changed by the efforts of “The Least Among Us.” However, this non-profit organization cannot do it without our support! These needy people fight everyday to simply live; let’s not give them the message that “nobody could care how you’re caught up in the fight of your life.” The children of El Salvador forever changed my life by teaching me what it truly means to be generous, thankful, appreciative, and accepting. I am a new person and will always tell their story to whomever I meet. Please consider helping these kids. They deserve a chance to be educated and to create better lives for themselves. They are willing to do their part if we can just give them the tools to do so. I would do anything to give them just a little of what I think everyone deserves; but I feel like I can only do so much as a sixteen year old in high school. Please consider helping “The Least Among Us” as it continues to bring hope to these deserving children.
Walter scanned this and sent it via email a few days ago. The publication, La Prensa Grafica, is the Salvadoran equivalent to, let’s say, the New York Times. Click on the photo for an expanded view.
You should be proud.
Walter sent some great photos of the inauguration of the three classrooms and small office constructed in Santa Ana. The place looks truly packed. The photos do a great job at conveying the sincere gratitude of the people that TLAU helps every day. You can tell that amongst the people in that town, the classrooms aren’t being taken for granted: the crowds are large and spirits are high precisely because the people understand how blessed they are.
Check out the rest of the photos here. The classrooms turned out nicely, didn’t they? And I’ve never seen them painted green before. I rather like that color.
Okay boys and girls! It’s time for a quiz…
The picture to the left shows us
A) How much help the people of El Salvador need in building suitable educational infrastructure.
B) How much fun learning really is.
If you answered A, you are correct. However, TLAU will also accept B as correct, in light of the width of the grin on that lad’s face.
The Centro Escolar Nuestra Señora de los Pobres is located in Zacatecoluca. In February, Walter suggested that we hand out packets of school supplies in this very poor area, which was done (pictures). But while he was there, he noticed a large group of children attending class within an environment that can be called anything but a classroom, and from what I can tell is conducive to everything except learning. Eighty-five students attend this school, pre-K through second, and many haven’t even a desk to write on.
So with your generosity, (and thanks especially to Jim and Monica Rolquin for their sizeable donation) we have bought a plot of land upon which we will build two classrooms and bathrooms with flush toilets.
And notice that our project doesn’t include purchasing the badly-needed desks…for that we need you to step in and help. All it takes is $35, less than the price of a tank of gas, and one of these kids has a clean, smooth, expansive surface upon which to write. Please help!
More photos may be found here.
If the mention of a project in progress at Centro Escolar Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria catches any reader unawares, I won’t be surprised. It appears I never posted any information about the project when we started it in February, and it is currently well over halfway done.
Anyways, the school may be found in the departament of Santa Ana, in the northeast region of El Salvador. The school educates 300 students pre-K through 9, but formerly had to pack several classes of children into woefully inadequate classrooms.
The final product? Three classrooms and a small office, all constructed to leave a platform available for future expansion–a high school perhaps?
You will find photos here.
Walter sent me a few photos of the progress in San Vicente. If you’re like me and constantly forget the names of the schools and can never place the projects with the right town, this is Centro Escolar San Jose la Labor in San Vicente. As you can make out in the photo to the left, we are well on our way to two new classrooms, a small office, and a sturdy security door to keep out troublemakers. I’ve uploaded the photos to the picasa site. You may find them here.
On September 17, 2007 2 year old Madeline Beatriz Sánchez had her second open heart surgery, this time at Mott’s Children Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Using special donations, TLAU paid for her first surgery which was on December 8, 2006. At the time of her first surgery she was 17 months old and the doctors patched a hole in her heart and removed a couple of obstructions. Madeline was in the hospital for over six weeks and nearly died due to severe complications.
Soon after, it was discovered that she needed life saving surgery on her tricuspid valve within a year or she would die, a surgery not performed anywhere in El Salvador or Central America. Fortunately, Madeline’s cardiologist Dr. Alfonso Escobar Amaya had a contact with a chief surgeon at Ann Arbor who handles desperate cases at a hospital that performs about six pro bono surgeries a year on children from developing countries. We were at first told that the waiting list was so long that there was no hope of Madeline getting a slot anytime soon. Lo and behold there was a cancellation and they said that they could give her that slot. Fr. Keane happened to be going down to El Salvador in July for two months and he was able to help the family obtain visas for Madeline and her mother. Fr. Keane brought them up to North Carolina and then to Michigan for the surgery. In this second surgery Madeline’s tricuspid valve was successfully repaired and not replaced, and she was also given a pacemaker as a backup because of her irregular heart rhythm. 
Madeline did extremely well and was only in the hospital for a week and she was able to go home on October 17th. While her and her Mom were in the U.S., several donors sent money to build them a new home because the family of seven had previously slept in a single room with two children to a bed. Dr. Escobar and his wife bought furniture for Madeline’s family as they previously had none and now she lives in a healthy environment free from dirt floors and cramped unventilated sleeping conditions. Madeline is now a completely different child and is growing like a weed and has no complications or health issues. Please read the following letter from Madeline’s 16 year old sister Lydia expressing her gratitude to the TLAU donors:
Dear Padre Patricio,
Receive warm greetings filled with hugs and affection, hoping that you are enjoying good health and that our all powerful God is showering you with abundant blessings and that our Mother, the Virgin Mary, is guarding you in your ways.
I am writing you to give thanks with all my heart to you and to all the brothers and sisters who have given their homes, food, clothes, toys and many other things to my mother and to Madeline because thanks to these good people my mother was able to spend the time there in peace. These brothers and sisters, without knowing her, received her and gave her great affection and this is something that we are never going to forget. We are very grateful to you all and we are going to pray everyday for you that God will bless you abundantly.Padre Patricio we thank you very much for all your help that you have brought to our family because without this help we would never have been able to have this surgery for Madeline but thanks to your generous heart it has been possible for God to put an angel in our path to protect Madeline. Thanks also for your concern in the well being of Madeline and her home, because this help has been extremely valuable.
You have brought us many blessings and we are not able to repay you except with many prayers to our all powerful God and our Mother the Virgin Mary that you might be cared for in your journey and in your daily labors and everything that you do. We will prayer greatly for all the brothers and sisters who have been so good to my Mom and Madeline, that God will bless them and the Virgin Mary will protect them in all their ways.
I say goodbye to you all, sending you hugs and many prayers, hoping that our all powerful God and our Mother the Virgin Mary will protect you all and fill you with abundant blessings and guard you always. Sincerely, Lidia Maribel Sánchez and the Sánchez García family
