Some of our projects include:
ASPS Health Clinics – The Salvadoran Association for the Promotion of Health is a nationwide organization, which works to bring high quality, low cost health care services to the entire population of El Salvador. They operate clinics in five of the fourteen departments of the country, specializing in sexual and reproductive health and education. Their health promoters are much more than doctors: they are educators, working with women and youth on issues of gender, self-esteem, sexuality, and much more, as well as conducting participatory hygiene campaigns in the community. ASPS mobilizes communities to participate in their own right to health care, not only by taking part in the operations of the clinics and the campaigns, but also by organizing on the political level for public policies that will bring health care to all.
Voices funds health promoters in:
Salinas El Potrero
Comunidad Octavio Ortiz
Nuevo Renacer Women's Chicken Cooperative in Las Mesitas – In 2004, Voices helped a women’s committee in the community of Las Mesitas to establish a women’s chicken hatchery. It was led by a twenty-year-old woman, who was already a community leader. Our funding bought the materials to build the hatcheries, chicken feed, etc.
Women's Cattle Cooperative (Marta Gonzalez) – Voices has helped with vital funds to support this vibrant income-generating project for women in the Lower Lempa.
Amando Lopez Women's Sewing Cooperative – Voices has provided funding and sewing machines for this cooperative, which provides low-cost clothing on commission to the community.
ALGES (War-Wounded Association of El Salvador) – Voices’ support of this organization, which advocates on behalf of veterans from all sides of the armed conflict who have still not received the benefits owed them, has included funding, material support, and physical therapy trainings for chronic pain.
ALGES Sewing Cooperative in Comunidad Segundo Montes – Voices has also supported ALGES’s sewing cooperative and other income-generative productive projects for the war-wounded.
United Communities of the Lower Lempa - Our primary partner organization, the United Communities of the Lower Lempa, has grown in the last two years from a staff of one to a staff of nine, with fifteen people in the office. Ever more communities are joining, and the General Assemblies are always overflowing. United Communities’ four main work areas are: 1) agriculture, promoting sustainable methods and seeking to employ appropriate technologies in the face of difficulties; 2) infrastructure, including the current construction of some 25 houses and maintenance of the drains and levee on the Lempa River; 3) 15 women’s committees; and 4) seven youth committees. Recently approved project proposals will also allow for the creation of a cybercafe, an organic agricultural project, and the possibility of irrigation systems for some of the women’s committees. United Communities has also been at the forefront of disaster preparedness for this flood-prone region, organizing the community emergency response networks and protocols.
Levee Construction – Since 2001, United Communities has been on the forefront of the struggle to force the government to finish the protective levee along the Lempa River that would provide a barrier in times of flooding. Part of the levee was built with money donated by the Japanese government, but almost ten kilometers are still unbuilt, despite the fact that the funds are there for it.
Disaster Response –Voices has supported their work of making sure the communities are organized, have a plan, and have the necessary resources to carry out that plan. Community representatives have been trained in preparedness, and a rescue squad has been organized. Considerable attention has been paid to the communications infrastructure, with radios and cell phones provided by Voices. Meanwhile, continued public and diplomatic relations and mobilizations continue to keep the pressure on the government to finish the levee and other disaster mitigation infrastructure.
Land Rights Defense – In the fall of 2004, a new Natural Protection Law threatened to take away land titles from the people in the Lower Lempa, despite the fact that they had earned the right to this land through the Peace Accords of 1992. The communities made it clear that they were in favor of environmental protection, but this law was intended to displace people and build tourism facilities – not protect the area. United Communities led the successful fight to keep the environmental protections while protecting people’s right to their land.
Road Construction and Repair – Voices has funded numerous infrastructure projects, including improvements to internal roads in various communities.
Stoves – Voices has facilitated the purchase and construction of fuel-efficient stoves which burn less wood. Less burning means fewer trees cut down, and the reduction of smoke from the stoves reduces respiratory problems.
Sanitation and Latrines (Salinas El Potrero)
School Improvements and Information Technology (Ciudad Romero) – Voices funded improvements to the school in Ciudad Romero, including to their impressive computer center, which is a resource for the entire community.
Housing Reconstruction (earthquake damage) – After the 2001 earthquakes, Voices funded the reconstruction of houses and schools, including in communities where we don’t normally work, but where need was severe.
Community gatherings and celebrations
Comunidad Octavio Ortiz – From the community anniversary to the annual Corn Festival, this community knows how to throw a party! We support these annual celebratory gatherings.
Comunidad Segundo Montes – For many years, we have supported the Christmas party of the Pastoral Team.
Music School – A fundraiser by a high school student in Charlotte, North Carolina provided much-needed funds to repair the roof on the music school in Comunidad Segundo Montes and paint a beautiful, inspiring mural on the building where countless young people are taught how to make music, and where the famous Grupo Morazán practices.
Youth Organizing – Voices has helped shepherd forth and financially support this exciting youth unity project in the Lower Lempa. It helps youth in their on-going efforts at consolidating their individual groups, establishing youth groups in communities that do not currently have one (but have the identified capability and interest in forming one) and in uniting with young people from other communities. Their projects include a mobile cinema, productive workshops, youth festivals, and local field trips. The work focuses on forming political and cultural identity and the development of productive, skill-building and income-generating enterprises for youth. Productive activities for youth create real alternatives to emigration, alcoholism, and gang activity.
CSM Organizing Project – After years of political division, Comunidad Segundo Montes has formed a new community organizing body to bring people together to work on projects, improve quality of living, and unite around threats to their region, like large development projects and mineral mining. Voices has been a close ally in the formation of this body.
Youth Center – In Ciudad Romero, an abandoned youth center has been brought back to life, thanks to Voices and our St. Paul partner community. Repairs and furnishings have made the youth center a vibrant community space for gatherings, meetings, parties, and even office space for the community directive board.
Historical Memory - A group of university students from the Lower Lempa is working on a historical memory project, funded by Voices and the AJ Muste Memorial Institute, that collects video testimonials of community members’ experiences during the war years. Fifteen years after the end of the brutal twelve-year civil war, in which the United States funded and armed the death squad government against the guerrilla forces, a generation is growing up with almost no knowledge about that recent history. Without intentional projects like this to re-capture those important memories, there is a real danger that within another generation, the understanding of the real costs of war, and the testimonies of those who struggled for justice inside and outside the armed apparatus, will be lost.
Women’s Committees – Connected with United Communities, a women’s committee structure has developed to organize women for agricultural production. The purpose is twofold: 1) providing income and family food security, and 2) organizing and training women to become empowered leaders at home and in their communities.
Woodshop – A new woodshop in the Lower Lempa, funded by Voices and the South Bay Sanctuary Covenant, brings youth and war-wounded together to improve their woodworking skills and create sellable pieces.
