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My shoes are in El Mozote...
Aug. 14th, 2005 | 06:11 pm
The task to describe the past few days in light of the last 2 1/2 months leaves me at a loss of words and an abundance of emotions. We, the SIPPIES and our fearless jefes, headed to Morazan on Friday morning bright and early – hora salvadoreña. It was a beautiful trip, Gina and I slept peacefully in the back of the pick-up. At one time I sat up and there was a Salvadoran man standing right beside the pick-up, I was so out of it, I just went back to sleep. But we made it to Morazan, thank you Nelson and Javier for driving!!
The first thing we did, after we ate (of course), is go to the museum in Pequin. This struck me in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Once again, I realized that I have no clue what war is like, and the family and friends I have made here lived through a horrible and traumatic war, a civil war. The thing that hit home was that the war isn’t just a story or history, it is part of each person’s life and it affects their everyday. And once again, seeing the monetary and intellectual involvement of the United States and how it contributed to the repression, oppression, and deaths of so many made me sick to my stomach. So after spending time in the museum, I was not sure I wanted to visit El Mozote the next day...
So after a night of reflection over this summer and discussing how we as a team and individuals are continue to grow and learn from this experience, we stood outside and looked at the stars – God, I am going to miss the night sky here. There are more stars than I thought possible. And it was great to just mess around with the team in the cold – yes, it was actually cold!!
The next morning we went to the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. This cascade in the middle of Morazan. Wow, the natural beauty of this place was gorgeous. We spent a few hours climbing the rocks, swimming, and exploring. It is hard to imagine that this place was a hotbed of conflict during the war, but we were quickly reminded of that as we drove to El Mozote.
El Mozote is a tiny campo where the worst massacre of the war happened in 1981. El Mozote was meant to be a lesson from the governmental troops to the guerrillas; it was part of the ‘scorched earth’ military plan. It was here that around 1,600 people were killed in one day. Men, women, and children shot, bombed, burned, killed. They still find new cadavers today. All this I learned from three children who showed us around the campo. It was them who told us the stories, who took us to the houses where the newest cadavers have been found, and who told us about life today. The people there do not want to remember their family members that were killed, and they do not want to remember the war. They want to move on with their lives. This is understandable in so many ways. This is a people of such strength.
One way that I have witnessed the strength of this people is through their faith. It is a faith of giving without receiving, of loving without holding back. That is what taught me that when Paul mentioned that the boy he was talking to was saving money for new shoes, I immediately took off my shoes and handed them to him. It didn’t matter that I was barefoot for the rest of the day; I have more shoes in the states. To know that my shoes are in El Mozote is to know that my heart will always be here because my heart has been formed by the love and faith of this people. Tomorrow I will step on a plane and when I step off I will be in the United States. I don't know if I am really ready for this or if I really want to go, but asi es la vida (such is life). But tomorrow, I return a changed person, I return with a new heart, a deeper faith, and a greater will to change the world.
The first thing we did, after we ate (of course), is go to the museum in Pequin. This struck me in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Once again, I realized that I have no clue what war is like, and the family and friends I have made here lived through a horrible and traumatic war, a civil war. The thing that hit home was that the war isn’t just a story or history, it is part of each person’s life and it affects their everyday. And once again, seeing the monetary and intellectual involvement of the United States and how it contributed to the repression, oppression, and deaths of so many made me sick to my stomach. So after spending time in the museum, I was not sure I wanted to visit El Mozote the next day...
So after a night of reflection over this summer and discussing how we as a team and individuals are continue to grow and learn from this experience, we stood outside and looked at the stars – God, I am going to miss the night sky here. There are more stars than I thought possible. And it was great to just mess around with the team in the cold – yes, it was actually cold!!
The next morning we went to the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life. This cascade in the middle of Morazan. Wow, the natural beauty of this place was gorgeous. We spent a few hours climbing the rocks, swimming, and exploring. It is hard to imagine that this place was a hotbed of conflict during the war, but we were quickly reminded of that as we drove to El Mozote.
El Mozote is a tiny campo where the worst massacre of the war happened in 1981. El Mozote was meant to be a lesson from the governmental troops to the guerrillas; it was part of the ‘scorched earth’ military plan. It was here that around 1,600 people were killed in one day. Men, women, and children shot, bombed, burned, killed. They still find new cadavers today. All this I learned from three children who showed us around the campo. It was them who told us the stories, who took us to the houses where the newest cadavers have been found, and who told us about life today. The people there do not want to remember their family members that were killed, and they do not want to remember the war. They want to move on with their lives. This is understandable in so many ways. This is a people of such strength.
One way that I have witnessed the strength of this people is through their faith. It is a faith of giving without receiving, of loving without holding back. That is what taught me that when Paul mentioned that the boy he was talking to was saving money for new shoes, I immediately took off my shoes and handed them to him. It didn’t matter that I was barefoot for the rest of the day; I have more shoes in the states. To know that my shoes are in El Mozote is to know that my heart will always be here because my heart has been formed by the love and faith of this people. Tomorrow I will step on a plane and when I step off I will be in the United States. I don't know if I am really ready for this or if I really want to go, but asi es la vida (such is life). But tomorrow, I return a changed person, I return with a new heart, a deeper faith, and a greater will to change the world.