"Que lo que hay que salvar ante todo, es el proceso de liberación de nuestro pueblo"
"What you have to save first and foremost, is the liberation of our people."
~Monseñor Óscar Romero
Day three of our Salvadoran adventure began bright and early. Actually, all of our days began early with either 7 or 7:30 am wake calls. Tuesday morning we had the honor of going into San Salvador to visit the National Assembly, which is comparable to like the capital, where the senate and house of representatives meet, only they have the Salon Azul. We got a full tour of the National Assembly and got to see a committee meeting about national security and we even got to see the chambers and sit in the chairs of the Senators. The future leaders of El Salvador: The SLU spring break mission trip 2013. I bet I would be the first blonde Senator El Salvador has ever seen! But unfortunately that will never happen. After a few minutes of playing Government, we were led to a small room in the FMLN's (the current party that holds power) office. There we were greeted by Damian Alegría, a representative of the FMLN. The conference was small, and cozy, and Damian was welcoming, open and truthful. THe FMLN was founded during the war by the guerillas and is the people's party, much more leftist than the opposing Arena Party. The FMLN came into power in 2009, after Arena had been in power for more than 20 years after the war, and according to Damien, "now is the time to make real the dreams from before." They were honest and truthful about the history of El Salvador saying that the worst violations of human rights occurred in El Salvador. They aspire to have a zone free of war and firmly believe that every human has the right to be recognized as a human being. One thing that I saw with the Salvadoran people that also came up while talking with the FMLN representative was the distinction between the US government and the US people. The understand that it was the government aiding the army, not the people. And they were truly grateful that we came to their country with open ear and hearts, willing to learn. After meeting with the FMLN, we were lead up to the top floor of the building into an elaborate and very posh conference room. Upon sitting down, we were asked if we wanted coffee or water and it was brought to us. (Side note: all salvadoran coffee is sweet, you can't get it without sugar). To say the least, this room was vastly different that the one before it. Meeting with the Arena representative was a great learning experience and I understand that their believes are just that, their beliefs. However, I don't know if i've felt so uncomfortable in a long time, it seems that almost everything he said was so different that my personal views. He prefaces the talk with basically saying that we can't vote, so it doesn't matter what he says and what we think of it. He kept talking about how much the FMLN hates the US. When the subject of gangs arose he basically said that the truce between the two gangs has stopped killing between them but not killing of innocent people. He said, "If gangs kill each other I don't care. They are doing the rest of the population a favor." No one should be killing anyone! The tension in the room only grew strong when the subject of Monsenor Romero was brought up. To Arena, Romero was by no means a saint, but used by the left as a symbol. He said concerning the subject that they (Arena) "do not create martyrs, we let the dead rest in peace." 1. Martyrs aren't created, it isn't something that they aspire to be. Martyrs are amazing people who live a live that is an inspiration for others and gives other people hope. 2. Monsenor Romero said before his death "if they kill me, I will rise again in the salvadoran people." But according to Arena, "he was a good man but doesn't deserve the honor that he has received, he wouldn't have like it." To say the least, there was a lot of tension in the Arena conference room that morning. (Also, side note: there was a picture in the Arena conference room of the whole party, and all of the senators that have left the party have a huge black X over their face because they are "traitors.")
After having some time to cool down from that meeting, we packed our bags and set out on the 5 hour journey to Perquin. The hot, long bus ride was spent bonding and getting to know each other more by talking and playing hot seat. We stopped and bought jocote to eat, which are like little fruits that kinda taste a little like mango. They were delicious and refreshing, almost as refreshing as the ice cream that we got in San Miguel when we stopped. 5 hours later, we arrived at our hostel in Perquin, which was simple but beautiful with a big patio area and hammocks. We had dinner at a small Comedor, which is like a small cafeteria kinda... After dinner we had the amazing opportunity to meet and talk with Claudia who was 14 years old when she joined the guerilla movement as a combatant. She fought as a combatant for 4 years and watched many of her friends die at her side. She has three children during the war. Right after her second child was born she was captured along with her uncle who was killed two days later. She said that while she was being held captive she put her faith in God, for her daughter, and that the lieutenant saw the grace of god and released her. After the war was over she had 3 more children. She says she is very moved that her children are extremely proud of her and tell their friends her story. She was so grateful that we were able to listen to her story and asked for us to share it, which is what I had to do. Talk about an amazing women! Her courage and strength continues to leave me in awe to this day. As I sat under the stars that night reflecting, a shooting star flew across the sky. How cool is that?
The next morning after breakfast, we headed to the Museum of the Revolution, where we learned all about the revolution and the civil war as a whole. Our tour guide was hilarious and so informative. You could tell how excited he was to share this part of history with us as he described just about everything we saw in the museum. The whole tour he emphasized the importance of telling the truth and not changing the story of what happened in the past, and once again he also made the distinction between the American People and the American Government. Probably my favorite moment of the whole tour was he was showing us a car that was given to the guerillas from France and was describing everything that it could do. This little blue car was bullet proof, could spill oil out the back to make the road slick, it had smoke bombs and had built it fire extinguishers. He then called it "Puro carro James Bond, Puro James Bond" meaning "straight up James Bond car, straight up James Bond." From the museum we hiked up El Cerro de Perquin, which is the highest point in Perquin. On the short hike up we got to crawl through a trench, see a hospital from the war (which was a bamboo hut), climbing a rope ladder up a tree that was used by snipers and saw craters from 500 lb bombs. When we finally reached the top, it was one of the most beautiful views. there was a 360 degree view of the mountains and if you looked of to one side you were looking into the mountains of Honduras!! Despite all of the fighting that has happened on that hill and the bombs that had been dropped there, it was so peaceful standing on top of that mountain with the wind blowing. From here we headed to a guerilla encampment and walked around, which was really interesting. Before heading back to San Salvador, we made one more stop, which was probably my favorite but also the most difficult part of the trip for me.
After lunch, we picked up Marta and made our way to El Mozote. Marta is the daughter of Rufina who was the sole survivor of the Massacre of El Mozote that happen on December 11, 1981. Upon reaching the center of town, we stepped of the bus into the plaza. The plaza was cobblestone and sat right outside a beautiful white church. To the right of the church as a garden and next to that was rolling hills. A large tree shaded half of the plaza and the monument in memory of what happened over 30 years ago. The plaza was cover in sun and the sound of children laughing filled the air. It was hard to believe that this was the same place that 30 years before the Salvadoran Army attacked. When the army took over the town, they split up the men, women and children and basically just started killing each and every person in the town (I will spare you some of the details, but trust me, it was horrendous). Somehow, by the grace of God, Rufina was able to escape when someone was not looking and hide in a bush, as she heard the rest of her town being killed, even her own children. Her husband and 3 of her children died that day along with every other member of her town, over 1,000 people ranging from 2 days old to elderly. She hid for a few days before being found by a friend from another town who helped reunited her with her son and daughter who where not living in El Mozote at the time. Her pregnant daughter was her inspiration to eat and live. She decided that she needed to tell her story and tell the truth about what happened that day. She had Marta in a refugee camp in Honduras a few year later. She told the story until the day that she died. Listening and then reflecting on that story hit me on such a deep level. I felt sorrow, pain, unsettled and nauseated. It caused my heart to ache more than ever before. So many questions began to run through my mind. The feelings were overwhelming and suffocating. It was such a powerful experience. The thing that got me was that this town had experienced such horrible things, yet people started a new life there are are so full of joy and happiness and gratetude. They don't forget their story but continue to tell it. Their past isn't a weakness, but a strength.
It was in El Mozote, after hearing Marta's story that we received the called telling us that the new pope had been chosen. Pope Francis. Who is from Argentina and a Jesuit. HOw cool is that? We were in Latin America, when the first ever Latin American Pope was chosen. And with a jesuit! To say the very least, we were all very excited, especially our campus minister and the jesuit who were on the trip with us. It was a moment that I will never forget.
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