April 2008
Dear Friends,
 It is 4 a.m. in the morning and Maria Santos is getting ready to do all of her chores before going to San Salvador for the March 8 th International Women's Day celebration. She needs to water the vegetable seedlings, dress, and walk to the entrance of her community to wait for the bus that will pick her, and many others, up at 6 a.m.
Spirits are high on the bus; everybody is talking and sharing about the big day. Maria’s bus is not able to reach the gathering point because there are hundreds of buses, trucks, cars, and thousands of people are walking towards the sea of women celebrating International Women’s Day.
SHARE funded transportation for over two hundred women to participate in this important event to call attention to the rights of women in El Salvador and all over the world. SHARE is committed to advance the initiatives of women to organize and to develop themselves as community leaders.
SHARE is supporting Maria and the women of El Salto, San Vicente who have formed a women's committee to talk about their concerns as women and community members and to make their voices heard in a male-dominated environment. In the past, they would stay home and take care of their children and husbands, but little by little, they are becoming more involved in community and municipal decision-making bodies.
Through a SHARE sponsored vegetable garden initiative funded through CRIPDES San Vicente, the women of El Salto are growing tomatoes, green peppers and cucumbers—vegetables that they would normally have to buy at the local market.
Maria and the other committee members worked every afternoon to prepare the land, plant, care for and water the crops and then harvest them. Maria Santos says:
During a time when tomatoes were very expensive, we didn’t have to buy even one; the harvest lasted us from November to February.” To many this might seem like a small achievement, but for families that have limited cash income it is an important contribution to the family economy.
Aside from the economic benefit, the project served as an organizing tool. Maria explains: We learned to have patience and work together. We had to keep one another motivated because it was a lot of work, we had to care for the plants daily and haul water to the garden when it didn’t rain. We learned that with a little sacrifice, any thing can be accomplished.
Together the women received training and shared their knowledge to make the garden a reality; they have also used their organizing skills for the benefit of the entire community.
The women’s promoter from CRIPDES San Vicente, Edith Portillo, who accompanies the women of El Salto to strengthen their organization, has noted that the women in the community have taken on leadership roles in their community council and have been key players in promoting and organizing the installation of a water system that will provide running water for every house in the community. Edith notes: A few years ago women of El Salto would say nothing at a meeting. Today these women have been negotiating with the Mayor’s office and with the company they have hired to install the water system in every house. These women know what they want and will mobilize to achieve it. The water project was a dream and with their leadership is now becoming a reality. These are beautiful women; they are organized and committed to improve their lives.
Their success with the vegetable garden and other areas of community leadership have motivated other women to get involved in the garden initiative. Maria commented that many women that didn’t get involved with the vegetable garden last time will participate after seeing the successful results.
SHARE invites you to support Maria and the women of El Salvador to plant for another harvest. This is a harvest not only in vegetables to feed the family, but a sustainable harvest of human development, where the women of El Salto are leading the way for a more just and equitable future for their families and their community. Your contribution to SHARE today will help ensure that the dreams of these women become a reality.
En Solidaridad,
Jose Artiga
Executive Director
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Campaign for Peace