SHARE- Reflections

In August of 2000, I flew into San Salvador anxious to begin my new job as the Grassroots and Sistering Program Assistant. Two years later, SHARE has invited me to carry on walking and working with the people of El Salvador as the U.S. Director of the Grassroots Program. How could I say no? If you spend two days in El Salvador, much less two years, you will be changed. The spirit of the people, and their efforts to transform the present into a just future are awe-inspiring.

A vivid memory I carry from El Salvador is a visit I made in the spring of 2001 to Asuchillo, a small town tucked between the steep and jagged green hills of La Libertad. I traveled to Asuchillo just months after El Salvador’s second earthquake, to meet with benefactors of a housing project supported by SHARE donors. It was there that I met Roberto and his son Wilfredo.

Roberto lost both his wife and daughter when their home collapsed on January 13th, 2001. Roberto’s daughter left behind a three-month-old son. The families old home was built of adobe, well- built but not sturdy enough to stand up to an earthquake-a problem considering El Salvador has averaged an earthquake every 6.5 years during the last quarter century. The day I arrived, Roberto and his son had just finished painting their new steel frame and cinder block home. Roberto’s new home is modest but dignified, and most importantly, capable of standing up to an earthquake.

Roberto was devastated by the loss of his wife and daughter. Yet, I do not know that I have seen a man more aglow with pride and appreciation than Roberto. Proud that he and his neighbors had built a simple but stunning home and appreciative of the newfound security in which he would raise his grandson.

The earthquakes in El Salvador all too clearly demonstrate the vulnerability of the poor. For example, in March of 2001, a 7.1 earthquake hit Seattle causing just one death. In comparison, the result of El Salvador’s first earthquake in 2001, which measured 7.5 resulted in 1,000 dead and nearly a million homeless. In El Salvador, the earthquakes demonstrated the real disaster, that the Salvadoran government and the global economy have shunned the poor.

I now once again live thousands of miles from El Salvador and the question staring me in the face is, “What do I do?” How can I, someone living in the U.S., make a measurable difference in El Salvador? How can I support those in El Salvador who are fighting to create a country where Roberto’s son and grandson can work in the countryside and one-day independently afford a safe, dignified home?

The Grassroots Program, the work I help to coordinate out of SHARE’s Washington DC Office, is designed so that SHARE and a network of thousands of people doing cross-border solidarity work, can continue to tackle these questions and respond effectively.

While the challenges that lie ahead are daunting, I like our odds. I have faith in the Salvadoran people; I am given great hope by the past success of the Salvadoran social movement, and by the proven effectiveness of SHARE’s model of accompaniment. Thank you for the critical role you play in this struggle. May we continue to collectively ask the question, “So, what can I do?” And may we continue to respond, in dramatic fashion. I will be in touch. Adelante y Animo!

David Johnson