SHARE's Programs

Carmelina Urquía, a Salvadoran working for the SHARE Foundation with our Local Development program in El Salvador, recently spent two weeks in Texas and Wisconsin, reconnecting with friends of SHARE and providing a personal update on the issues Salvadorans are confronting today.

Carmelina has a long history of working for social change in El Salvador. She and her family were forced into exile in Mexico during the civil war because of their political involvement in grassroots organizations. There she assisted Salvadoran refugees and began receiving training on the organization and administration of grassroots projects.

Since returning to El Salvador, Carmelina has continued focusing on projects involving marginalized groups, working with a farmers’ cooperative, at-risk youth and an organization promoting civil participation. Moved by the devastation caused to poor families by El Salvador’s 2001 earthquakes, she has also become involved in volunteering for the United Nations. In her current role with SHARE, Carmelina assists grassroots organizations in El Salvador’s rural communities in creating and financing local development projects.

Carmelina, accompanied by Kathleen Bolts, Foundations and Religious Orders Director of SHARE, visited many SHARE supporters and also had the opportunity to bring SHARE to new communities. Nicolas Avelar, a member of SHARE’s Board of Directors, coordinated the Houston portion of this tour and has shared a little about this experience.

Carmelina's tour in Houston began with an interview by Ernesto de León, of Proyecto Latinoamericano, a KPFT Pacifica Radio weekly program. Carmelina addressed the main issues currently facing El Salvador’s rural communities, especially women, and how SHARE's mission and programs are making a difference in their lives. She also explained the causes of Salvadoran migration to the United States, including the lack of work opportunities in the country as a result of the neoliberal economic model implemented by the current administration, as exemplified by CAFTA and the Plan Puebla Panama. This model results in increased migration, environmental degradation and loss of national sovereignty to the transnational corporations. SHARE continues to address root causes of migration and encourage sustainable development by advocating for and supporting alternative economic models, including micro-lending projects and local cooperatives.

Carmelina also had the opportunity to meet with a well-known and respected community leader, Teodoro Aguiluz, the Executive Director of CRECEN, member of the Salvadoran American National Network (SANN) and a founding member of the National Alliance of Latin American and Caribean Communities (NALACC). Also present were representatives of a 150 person TPS (Temporary Protected Status) Delegation that have traveled to El Salvador in the past year to deliver material and economic aid to rural communities that are beneficiaries of the CORDES Foundation programs. Teodoro and a youth group representative expressed interest in co-sponsoring humanitarian delegations to El Salvador under the leadership of SHARE in the near future.

On Sunday, May 30, Carmelina and Kathleen met with a peace and justice group of St. Mark's Episcopal Church. The audience was very interested in the programs implemented by the SHARE Foundation in El Salvador, especially the Cattlewomen's Cooperative (MUGAN). Among the participants was a Rice University professor whose son studies veterinary medicine at the University of California at Davis and who was familiar with the technical assistance provided by UC-Davis to MUGAN.

On May 5, Carmelina and Kathy presented The Role of Women, Politics, Violence and Economic Realities in El Salvador Today at the First Friday Forum, a monthly event sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Houston and the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. Two participants from SHARE’s December 2005 delegation to El Salvador to commemorate the 25 th anniversary of the martyrdom of the four US religious women, Sr. Ceil Roger, OP and Sr. Jane Abell, OP of the Justice and Peace Office of the Dominican Sisters of Houston, helped coordinate the event.

Sr. Ceil talked about her experience visiting several communities being accompanied by SHARE. She reflected, “What is apparent from this visit is that if the people are given a chance to make a living in their countries of origin, they are less likely to want to immigrate to the United States." Former US Representative and Texas Gubernatorial Candidate Frances "Sissy" Farenthold was in the audience and expressed interested in further communication with SHARE. Sissy was also the first woman considered as a vice-presidential running mate to George McGovern. She has been a long-time supporter of causes in El Salvador. Also present were members of St. Bernadette Catholic Church, who are currently discerning how they might become involved in the work of SHARE.

Carmelina and Kathy capped off their time in Houston by participating in the Day Without An Immigrant Rally in Houston, giving a message of support on behalf of the SHARE Foundation.

I was excited to host Carmelina and Kathy. These two dynamic women spoke clearly to the issues of human rights and social justice in El Salvador, as well as internationally. I am committed to the work of the SHARE Foundation and thank you for your faithful accompaniment. You really are making a difference!

In solidarity,

Nicolas Avelar