Update from Aguacayo

First of all, we want to apologize for the delay in communication. When we arrived in San Salvador, our CoCoDa leader, Ivan, asked everyone to enter the addresses of all recipients of the update emails, and some of the delegation either did not hear him or forgot to do it when the email was open. Consequently, not every family received our initial emails.  Our apologies. Rest assured, no news has been good news, and, except for a few minor issues, everyone is fine. The minor issues include: sleeplessness due to constant cock crowing and dogs barking, all through the night, sunburn, prickly heat and a fungal infection (treated and healing), sore muscles and the like.

On a hike at the nearby Guazapa volcano

 
To bring you up to date: We spent the first weekend in San Salvador, visited all the important sites associated with the war, including the church where Oscar Romero was assassinated,  the site on the

2011 RRUC Delegation Arrives

July 1, 2011

Dear Friends & Family,

Yesterday afternoon, the 2011 CoCoDA-RRUCH delegation to El Salvador arrived safe and sound inSan Salvador.

We have 2 fun and exciting weeks in front of us and we want to make the most out of them. Today and tomorrow we will spend here in San Salvador before we travel to the country side on Sunday morning. Today we will visit the US Embassy, we would have a presentation by Equipo Maiz, a local Organization that teaches about the history of the country, visit the Divina Providencia, the University of Central America (UCA), and meet with Damian Alegria, a congressman from San Salvador who will tell us about his personal experience during the civil war in the 80's.

As you can see, we have a pretty full agenda for today and tomorrow will be as exciting. We will send you updates every few days with photos.

With regards,

Ivan Villasboa
CoCoDA

CoCoDA's Ivan Villasboa and Suchitoto Mayor Javier Martinez Invited to Oregon for Renewable Energy Delegation

This week CoCoDA Executive Director Ivan Villasboa is in Eugene, Oregon, with Suchitoto mayor Javier Martinez.  The two were invited by Eugene's mayor Kitty Piercy to participate in a delegation of elected officials and corporate leaders from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

The objective of this delegation is to visit Oregon-based companies offering a variety of renewable energy technologies.  The delegates will also be meeting U.S. and Oregon elected officials involved in the advocacy of renewable energy practices.

The Good Company and Swift Workgroup of El Salvador have partnered together to make this delegation a reality.  Thank you to both companies for showcasing CoCoDA's solar-powered water systems on this trip!

Good luck to Ivan and Javier as they represent CoCoDA and El Salvador in Eugene, Oregon, this week!

Javier Martinez and Ivan Villasboa with solar panels in Eugene, Oregon

Whitman HS Update!

The group had another great day working in the community. We will post a full update tomorrow as we make our way back to the US!  Remember to meet us at the airport! 

Hasta Mañana!

More Photos from Whitman HS Delegation

Enjoy!

An Update from the Whitman HS Delegation

We hope you enjoy this message from Julia, Brittany, Alex, Keri, Kayla, and Madison:

Greetings from El Salvador!

Wednesday morning started off with a wake up call from the roosters, the dogs, and a couple of cows. The group then divided in two. The first group enjoyed a tour of a working farm – eating mangoes, sugar cane, coconuts and passion fruit on the way. The other group dug a hole. The groups then switched and our group pounded dirt in the scorching hot sun to create a strong foundation for the floor of the new building for the water committee in the community. The other group toured the farm. We ate a healthy lunch of “chow mein” and arroz and then played the community’s women’s soccer team. We lost. Then we tie-dyed with children, moved lots of rocks, stomped dirt, ate watermelon, showered in the dark, and it rained.

P.S. We MAY have a surprise for you when we get home

Whitman HS gets to work

The Walt Whitman HS students are settling in to our homes in Aguacayo and becoming very involved in community life. We are getting to know our families and are actually enjoying the bucket showers! Each meal, we are helping out cooking in the kitchen and really enjoying all of the delicious food.

Keri and Kayla with their host family

Yesterday, we distributed shoes, cleats, shin guards, soccer supplies, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss to our family and the rest of the community. Everyone was especially grateful for the cleats, and now there’s probably no way we will win the soccer game this afternoon…

Distributing shoes to the community

The group with all of the toothpaste/toothbrush donations

Tuesday morning we taught tooth brushing at the elementary school, then finger-painted with the kids and made homemade play-dough. Even though this is their spring break, many kids arrived to share the morning with us and we all had a great time.

Play dough gets sticky in the heat...

Brushing teeth

In the afternoon we began our construction project – we are helping to finish building the water committee office/bodega. The Tufts University group that was here in January started the project, and we are hoping to make a lot of progress during our time here.

Working hard at our construction site

Taking a well-deserved break

We're starting another full day of work projects, and are looking forward to playing soccer and making tie-dye shirts with the youth group this afternoon. 

Hasta mañana!