Attending the CCR General Assembly-
By Dana Hammer
November 5, 2003
The General Assembly of the CCR was Saturday, October 25th. This is the annual event to celebrate and share with all 86 communities the work that the current Directiva has accomplished in the last year. People in the office have been talking about nothing else for about the last 3 weeks.
To begin preparing, most of the members of the Directiva met one day in the Ana Manganaro clinic in Guarjila (Felipe likes to go there to do real work where people can’t interrupt so easily.) Jan, another American volunteer with U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities, and I were the secretaries while the team went area by area thinking of Successes, Difficulties, and Plans for the coming year. (The joke of the day was that “Volunteers” was going to be listed under “Difficulties” since both of us had problems spelling and writing as fast as the ideas were coming.)
In the following days, the secretaries began sending invitations to more than 200 delegates (2 from each community), special guests (representatives from foundations who support the CCR), and the 33 Founding Members. We also worked out the agenda in one of the Monday morning meetings. Juanita, who works with the Health Commission, said she was writing songs to sing in the middle with a music group from Guarjila. Santiago , secretary of the organization and also responsible for the area of Sistering, was busy recopying the minutes from last year. Juvelina, the Women’s coordinator, was in charge of decorating and food since she lives in San José Las Flores where the event was going to take place. Juventina, Nelson, and Felipe were chosen to read the reports.
I helped Felipe figure out the budget. At every meeting big or small, CCR pays for breakfast (10 colones, $1.14), lunch (15 colones, $1.71), sometimes a snack (5 colones, $.57), and transportation (17 colones, $1.94) for all who are invited. This time transportation was arranged from each region in trucks so that people didn’t have to take the buses. Breakfast, lunch, and bus transportation to and from the event for 200 people came to about $600. Add in the sound equipment, coffee to have available during the event, decorations, 200 copies of the report and agenda, and the final total was 8200 colones or $ 937.14.
The morning of October 25 th, Juventina and I got up at 5 am , threw water over our heads from the big sink to bathe (something happened to the water source, and there hasn’t been enough water to take a regular shower for almost a week.) We took the 5:30 bus that passed in front of our house to Las Vueltas where we waited for about 2 hours for the others from our region to arrive. When everyone finally got there, we piled into a big cattle truck. Only three were able to sit in the cab with the driver, so several elderly men and women (in skirts) were in the back with the rest of us too. I held on for dear life, while others relaxed and told jokes (apparently a person can get used to this way of traveling!) The ride to Las Flores took about 45 minutes, and we stopped to pick up people from other communities on the way.
We were all absolutely frozen from the cool breeze the whole way, so when we arrived, the hot chocolate and coffee with breakfast was wonderful. I ate fast and went to sit at the registration table. Everyone who came presented their national ID card (DUI) and signature or thumb print, and also listed their community and what position they held with their Directiva. It was fun to see a lot of people I have met from the different communities, like Elena and others from the women’s meeting in Teosinte.
With the notes of the National Anthem (Saludemos la patria orgullosos…We salute and greet our country with pride), the E ighthGeneral Assembly of the Association for the Development of the Communities of Chalatenango began. I ran up the stairs just in time to see the members of the Directiva at the front stand to face 138 campesinos who also stood to sing their national anthem. At the back and toward the outside of the gazebo style classroom, I watched with pride and humility. I was more moved by this than I ever am at hearing my own national anthem, maybe because I relate that song mostly with our government. It occurred to me that these Salvadorans do not agree at all with their country`s official politics, but the people in this room were certainly worth singing about and being proud of.
The official anthem was followed by the Hymn of Unity, which was written during the war for the FMLN (El Pueblo, Unido, Jamás será vencido! The People, United, Will never be defeated!) As 138 raised fists moved in time with the music, my eyes moved slowly over the faces at the Table of Honor: Osmín and Tita from the national Directiva of CRIPDES, Neto from the partner organization CORDES, and next to them the CCR Directiva: Juvelina, Nelson, Juventina, Rosita, Felipe, Juanita, and Santiago . Each one of them has a story that has amazed and inspired me, and this room was full of strong people just like them who set up this organization to support each other in community. It was another beautiful moment with the CCR that was over too soon.
As the singing died away, it was back to business. Approving a quorum, reading the minutes from last year´s assembly (when the current Directiva was elected), and reading the reports on each Commission. Deputy Marco Tulio, who represents Chalatenango in the Salvadoran Assembly and is a former member of the CCR Directiva, also gave an update on national politics. Many of the laws that the Assembly has passed (increasing the budget that goes to mayors for local projects, regulating voting through the national ID card, increasing the minimum wage…) have been vetoed by President Flores (of the ARENA party). Juanita sang with the music group from Guarjila, delegates had the chance to respond to things they heard in the reports of each Commission, and Rosita gave the financial report.
I was interested to see that support from the CCR comes from many sources such as the SHARE Foundation , U.S. - El Salvador Sister Cities, and the Swedish Technical Cooperative. The majority of the money is from the Salvadoran associations CRIPDES and CORDES, although I believe their budgets are also dependent on international foundations and private donors. During the reading of the reports, the main Difficulty listed in each area was the lack of resources to cover the need that exists in the communities. From the list of Successes, however, I never would have guessed that this is an organization with a tight budget. They do so much with the little that they have. Any investment from international sources is utilized to the maximum.
There was more singing from the Guarjila music group, and the Assembly was over. Delegates began to drift toward the comedor for lunch before heading back to their communities. The rest of us began taking down the streamers and banners, and moving desks back to the center of the room. The Directiva members were plainly relieved to be finished with this test of their leadership. This team will continue working one more year before another Directiva is elected next October.
¡Qué vivan las repoblaciones!
¡Qué vivan las comunidades organizadas de Chalatenango!
¡Qué viva la CCR!
Long live the Repopulations!
Long live the Organized Communities of Chalatenango!
Long live the CCR!
¡Qué viva!
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