The Lower Lempa is experiencing a record period of drought.  Daily conditions are more like high dry season than what should be 1- 2 months into the rainy season.  The situation has become desperate for most families throughout the zone as they watch their milpas (corn fields) dry up, some even letting the cows finish them off.  There was an initial rush to plant with the first storms of the season, but those storms were then followed by more than 30 days of intensely hot drought.  Last season’s corn is dwindling in supply and buying a sack of corn is reaching prices of $46 to $50 dollars, double that of last year.  Some families have turned to rice flour as a cheaper alternative, even though it is nutritionally inferior.  United Communities has surveyed the communities and sent out proposals to international aid organizations such as the World Food Program in hopes of obtaining fertilizer for the next plantings and off-setting some of the massive losses in the zone. 

 

            Part of the strategic plan in C.O.O. was to strengthen the various sectors of the community.  This has been put into action, and each sector has reserved a Saturday (every two weeks) to host a fundraising activity.  The women’s committee took the lead with an event including Los Rancheritos (everybody’s favorite local band), the girls dance team, and food stands, and was able to come away with a modest profit.  The health committee followed suit, learning a few lessons from the first event.  They showed wartime videos (with Voices’ new projector), more music, a type of bingo game with prizes, and pupusas.  These activities have proven to be viable fundraisers and the community is coming to anticipate them with more and more enthusiasm.

            The carpentry shop has also continued working, and I proposed a staggered plan for purchasing several of the more important tools, including a 20% counterpart on each item.  As soon as they are ready to put forward their first counterpart, of about $90, we will begin shopping, and their work in the shop will flow a bit easier.  As of now, the younger men are working on the crafts in the afternoons with Albino, and the war-wounded are working on furniture in the morning.

            Javier (the president of the directiva) has also headed up a new youth initiative with several high school students in the community, driving them to San Hilario every Sunday to participate in a youth leadership workshop.  It is being sponsored by a Spanish foundation and hopes to get the group legally recognized so they could write grants and establish their own projects.  Javier is critical of what he sees as the factions between the youth organized around other groups like the Coordinadora, the FMLN, or United Communities.  I am wary of looking to unite the youth by creating yet another group that works in a relatively distant community. 

 

             After a full five months of talking about the corn mill in Salinas, we have yet to achieve a satisfying resolution.  It has become a politically symbolic hot potato which is content to stay frying in the hands of a several few who partially represent the community.  Henri is still in charge of its daily operations, and a group of four women form a supervisory committee.  They have opened a bank account for incoming funds, and are more or less capable of sustaining the mill without outside contributions.  Administering the mill as VOTB had preferred, with women from the health committee, is a battle no one is willing to fight in the community. The mill is operating under nominally stable conditions, which fulfils its minimal goal as a small economic enterprise.

            The other big news in Salinas is the recent realization of a potable water project. The Coordinadora is financing it, with family members who want to receive the service contributing labor.  Sadly, of all the families in the entire area of Salinas who were offered access to the project, only 80 accepted.  Those who don’t participate in the digging of the trenches and the laying of the pipes (being connected to Nueva Esperanza) will have to pay $700 if they wish to be connected in the future. 

And as an exciting side note, while one of the work teams was digging the trench on the edge of Nueva Esperanza, they encountered pre-colombian pottery and several bones.  The six intact pots are thought to be 2,500 years old (as printed in El Diario de Hoy, as informed by Gilberto Berríos…), but are honestly incredible artifacts.  The Ministry of Health took away the bones to date and classify them, and the Ministry of Culture was called in, but only visited a couple of times. 

Salinas’ claim to fame will remain that they immediately sold two of the pots on the first day, each for $8 dollars, which were later recovered and brought back to the site.  Members of Nueva Esperanza also proceeded to dig out the remaining pots without archaeological expertise or assistance, under the context that the government would only rob them of their community’s patrimony. 

 

            Last month Romero lost its ASPS health promoter, Pedro, who was awarded a medical scholarship in Venezuela.  This month he has been replaced by Marina, a well-respected woman from the community itself.  She is starting from scratch, but is determined to learn as much as possible.  She, along with all of the other ASPS health promoters have been attending continuous marches in San Salvador, wearing white shirts, demanding an audience with the Health Ministry, and speaking out against the collapse of the public health system.  Marina has also begun the Red Cross first aid trainings along with several women from her health committee, including Julia, the president of the youth group in Ciudad Romero.  The first workshop with the Red Cross worked on a regional diagnostic of the communities and their health infrastructure, evaluating their human resources, institutional strengths and value (or lack of), and health issues facing each population in the zone.

            Work on the Swiss Red Cross community shelter also pushes ahead.  There are 13 labor teams, each putting in about two days a work a month.  Despite the project’s original plan to incorporate members from all of the communities, only members from Ciudad Romero have accepted the Red Cross’s terms and are participating in the construction.  Community assemblies across the zone unanimously decided they rather not get involved, but Ciudad Romero feels confident to go it alone.  The project itself is a good example of a top down initiative, and has been very rigid in its guidelines, decision process, and design.  Either way, Ciudad Romero will have an impressive structure when all is said and done. 

            The youth center is also moving along under the direction of the directiva and the youth group of Romero.  With their president Julia Alvaredo, they now have their own set of keys and are able to access the space at their own discretion.  They have also been in communication with other community youth groups to discuss sharing the space on a more regional level.  Representatives from the youth groups, the directiva, and myself met to discuss logistics and goals of this collaboration.  Some minor repairs are still needed, such as a new door, a couple of locks, and connecting electricity, but other than that it is up and running for future youth activities.  

On June 2nd Ciudad Romero also accepted an invitation sent by St. Paul’s Cathedral to participate in the centennial bell ringing ceremony at the same moment as St. Paul and other invited communities around the world.  Ciudad Romero was also celebrating the 15th anniversary of Radio Mangle and chose to share the symbolic act with communities throughout the zone and across the country.