Friday 22 January 2010

The New Left and Jesuit Martyres

Since I promised updates, let's start from the beginning of the months of silence and work from there.

In November I got to take my first trip to Latin America with my organization, the CDA.  We took a small delegation to El Salvador to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Jesuit Massacres there.  It was my first trip to El Salvador and I traveled with people who had been involved there during the civil war 20 years ago.  Their stories and familiarity with the country brought a whole new life to our trip.  Many of them had close encounters with death and were reunited with old friends for the first time since they left during the worst years of the war.

Our delegation participated in the official vigil at the University where the Jesuit priests were massacred,  attended official government ceremonies and met with numerous governmental and community leaders to discuss the future of the country after the recent FMLN victory in the presidential election.  We also traveled to the countryside to take aid to those who were affected by the floods which happened shortly before our arrival.  It has been interesting to watch how the Funes government has responded to the needs of El Salvador - keeping an eye toward the poor and the helpless.

To see all the photos from our trip, click here.  For the grouping of photos I whittled down for facebook, this is your link.

Just a couple:


LOVE this girl.


In front of the presidential palace.



The Alfombras commemorating the massacre.  They are made of meticulously placed sand.  This is on the campus of the university where the Jesuits were killed.

No comments: