Archive for September, 2008

Say no to US intervention in the Salvadoran elections – Sign the petition!

September 30, 2008

The Salvadoran Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marisol Arqueta, is already lobbying the US to intervene in the upcoming Salvadoran elections.

In her speech at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), last September 18th, she stated that “Losing El Salvador (if the opposition wins) will be a lose-lose situation for the national security of both El Salvador and the United States”. She exhorted the US to “do more” and to “pay close attention”.

Please sign the petition asking President Saca:

  • To ensure that public employees do not use their positions to influence public opinion on who should win the elections;
  • To ask the Foreign Affairs Minister to explain her statements;
  • To respect the sovereignty of the Salvadoran people to choose their leaders freely.

To read or listen to the Minister’s speech, please visit the AEIs website and click on “Events”, then “Event Materials”, “Past Events”, and “The perils of populism: Hot spots in Latin America”.
SHARE Foundation is collecting signatures that we will send to President Saca. If you want to sign SHARE Foundation’s petition, please contact the SHARE Foundation and list your name, city, and state at sharedc@share-elsalvador.org or call us at 202-319-5542 by Friday, October 10, 2008.

Para la carta en Español, visitenos en nuestro sitio de web (www.share-elsalvador.org)


Lead contamination hurts the poor


In the small community of Sitio del Niño, the inhabitants are living in a contaminated environment. The source of this contamination stems from the battery production of the company, Baterías de El Salvador (Record). Lead from the battery production has polluted the water, the air, and the surrounding environment of the community. Thus, the health security in the community is highly threatened.

Water is a vital necessity for daily life, and is crucial for health and sanitation. Tests of the water carried out by the department of environment indicate that the level of lead in the water was three times above the permitted level by international standards. Unfortunately, the lead from the fabric has spread out through the whole ecosystem. This means that soil, vegetation, and houses are infected by lead. Researchers from the University of El Salvador measured that soils and houses located in a 700 perimeter from the fabric contained levels of lead from ten to fiftheen times higher than the permitted level. Read More »


12 year old Theresa Reflects on her SHARE Delegation

September 24, 2008

Looking out at the dim city lights announcing that we were close to landing in San Salvador, I felt a surge of excitement. This would be my first trip out of the country: my first time in a nation where the language was different from my own, where I was told we would encounter shocking poverty, the kindest of people, and extreme weather, where the population had been scarred by the brutality of war and violence. Was I afraid? Uncertain? Some of each, truthfully, but primarily thrilled to have the chance to immerse myself in a different lifestyle; so much looking forward to meeting the people, practicing my Spanish, and just having an adventure. And what a wonderful adventure it was!

Our time in Nueva Trinidad was, in my opinion, the best half of the trip by far. From the moment the stuffy van pulled into the village center, greeted by a crowd of smiling people, I could feel that these people were special. The second day in the village we took a hike up to see an area that was threatened by mining. Read More »


Proyectos de Seguridad y Soberanía Alimentaría

September 16, 2008

La Fundación SHARE está promoviendo y apoyando a sus contrapartes un proyecto piloto en la línea agrícola, con el objetivo de impulsar la seguridad y soberanía alimentaría.

El apoyo a las contrapartes en la actividad agrícola, considera la realización de una serie de capacitaciones y de intercambios a nivel, local, regional y nacional con campesinos. Una de las contrapartes CONFRAS, ha practicado una metodología desde hace mas de cuatro años denominado de Campesino a Campesino, ellos están tratando de rescatar la semilla criolla que esta a punto de extinguirse e impulsando la elaboración y el uso de abonos e insecticidas orgánicos.

Sabemos de antemano que no será nada fácil por la cultura arraigada de nuestros campesinos, por lo que será un proceso de ir creando conciencia para que reduzcan o eliminen la dependencia de los productos químicos y utilicen los productos orgánicos como medidas alternativas no solo por el alto costo de los insumos agrícolas, sino por la contaminación que estos producen.

Son cuatro contrapartes con las que se esta trabajando este tipo de proyectos: CONFRAS, ACOPACAMZ, CRIPDES y ACAMG, cada una de ellas tiene su propia metodología y prácticas de trabajo, la primera con mas experiencia en le área agroecológica, se puede decir que sus practicas son del 90%, la segunda con el 50% y las dos ultimas contrapartes, se esta iniciando con ellas con procesos de capacitaciones y concientización de la importancia del uso de de productos orgánicos. En estas capacitaciones se involucran, hombres, mujeres y jóvenes.

Hasta la fecha el apoyo ha sido únicamente para el cultivo de maíz y frijol, en algunas zona se ha apoyado a grupos de mujeres para cultivos de hortalizas en pequeñas áreas con practicas agroecológicas. Mencionar que este grupo de mujeres no cuentan con tierra para los cultivos, ellas alquilan pequeños lotes cerca de sus viviendas para poder cultivar.

Sin embargo, a pesar de esta limitante, ellas están en la disposición de continuar con está practica porque ven los beneficios que tienen para sus familias y para las demás mujeres de su comunidad.

Debemos de destacar que la metodología “Campesino a Campesino”, trae muchos beneficios para las y los campesinos, porque en la medida que hace uso de los recursos propios y eleva las potencialidades de los productores para el desarrollo de la agricultura, implica la inversión de recursos económicos menores y a bajo precio.

Por otra parte se logra apoyar un número significativo de pequeños productores y productoras, que están mejorando sus parcelas en términos de aplicación de técnicas amigables con el medio ambiente y producen alimentos sanos para el consumo familiar. Depende menos de los insumos externos contaminantes, perjudiciales a la salud y al ecosistema.

Finalmente, con esta metodología se pretende favorece el rescate, el mejoramiento y la utilización de semillas criollas, ante la creciente proliferación y práctica mercantilista de semillas híbridas (de un solo ciclo productivo) y ahora ante la invasión de semillas transgénicas que amenaza la soberanía de los pueblos sobre la tierra y la alimentación generando conciencia en los productores sobre la conservación del medio ambiente, induciendo a la práctica de las técnicas conservacionistas en sus parcelas promoviendo la práctica de la solidaridad entre los productores(as) en una sociedad que fomenta mucho el individualismo, la competencia y el egoísmo.


US presidential candidates on immigration issues

September 15, 2008

With an estimated 2 to 3 million Salvadorans currently in the US (both documented and undocumented combined), US policy on immigration is an issue of great interest and concern to those of us with connections to communities in El Salvador and Salvadorans living in the US. The US Salvadoran community constitutes among one third of the overall El Salvadoran population.

In an ad from the McCain campaign, Obama is accused for not staying on the side of the immigrants. The new ad is launched in battleground states with a significant number of hispanic voters. Obama and the Senate Democrats are also blamed for the immigration reform failure because of their “flawed” immigration policy. Read More »


Las Caras de El Salvador

September 11, 2008

Haga ‘click’ aqui para ver las fotos de fotografo Patrick Nau de su viaje a El Salvador en Julio 2008

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byx5eexi0GA]


SHARE Photographer´s “Faces of El Salvador” Photocollage

September 10, 2008

Click below to see photographer Patrick Nau´s photocollage. The photos are taken from his summer 2008 SHARE delegation experience in San Salvador and the community of Ellacuría. Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byx5eexi0GA]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Byx5eexi0GA
(Or search “Faces of El Salvador” at youtube.com)


Josh from Shawnee, KS on Learning in El Salvador

September 8, 2008

As many Good Shepherd parishioners know, our parish has had a sistering relationship with a Salvadoran community, El Buen Pastor for over 20 years. Through this we send support, both financial and spiritual, to the people of the community as well as delegations of local parishioners to El Salvador to experience what it is like living in a small, impoverished, rural community in the Salvadoran countryside and grow in brotherhood with a community so far away. Just recently I was one of the delegates who traveled to El Salvador and got to experience the country — everything from the heart-warming welcome of the Salvadoran people, to the grim reality of the mass poverty and violence that plagues the country. Looking back on this, I realize that this experience has changed my life, and the only thing left for me to do is speak to those who have not gone to El Salvador about the experience I had with our brothers and sisters in El Buen Pastor. Read More »