By Eileen Purcell
First SHARE Executive Director

Querida Barbara –  Happy happy birthday, my friend.  What a gift you are to this world of ours, to all of us who know and love you. There are so many fond memories.  Here are just a few from our years together at the SHARE Foundation when I was Executive Director. (1986-1991)

I’ll never forget our first meeting as you crossed the room with Gus, who was anxious to introduce us.  My first impression of you:  beauty, grace, generosity.  Such a warm spirit. And that’s when Gus said you might be interested in volunteering with SHARE!  You came! And you became an integral part of the team that went on to move mountains.

Going Home – the Theology of Accompaniment

In late 1986, SHARE was approached by the refugees in Mesa Grande, Honduras with an extraordinary request.  After years in the UN-sponsored refugee camps, they had determined to return to their homes of origins in El Salvador which happened to be in zones of conflict.  The request:  would SHARE accompany them on the journey, even though the idea of repatriating was opposed by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, (UNHCR), the Honduran military, the Salvadoran military and government, as well as the US military advisors in Honduras and the US government and some of the faith-based NGOs in El Salvador who feared retribution.

SHARE had accompanied the refugees in Honduras since its inception in 1981.  I had visited Mesa Grande refugees in the early 80s and worked with the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant (EBSC) to organize religious delegations to visit the refugees in Mesa Grande shortly after the declaration of public sanctuary in 1982.

I went to Mesa Grande to meet face to face with the refugees and their leaders to assess.  All were fully aware of the risks. And there were many. But their conviction and faith were greater than their fear.  They wanted to return home.  They wanted their children to know their roots.  They wanted to contribute to ending the war by inserting themselves – civilians, young and old – into the zone of conflict and declaring, “Enough!”   They viewed the journey as the “parting of the Red Sea.” We consulted with our counterparts in El Salvador, including Monsignor Urioste and Lutheran Bishop Medardo Gomez. Their question: “What would Jesus do.”  We concluded we would walk with these beautiful communities in faith and hope.

And thus began accompaniment for 10,000 refugees from Mesa Grande Honduras. SHARE and Jose’s Interfaith Office on Human Rights created the GOING HOME Campaign. We built a national blue-ribbon committee, a steering committee and dozens of support committees across the US. We organized interfaith delegations that accompanied each repatriation, stunning those who sought to block the repatriation. In hindsight, we were privileged to participate in one of the most effective non-violent direct actions of the war pressing for a negotiated peace settlement.

We worked with Dimas Vanegas, Executive Director of DIACONIA, the national service organization of mainline protestant churches in El Salvador, that included representatives from the Archdiocese of San Salvador, to develop a multi-year capital campaign to fund the reconstruction of villages that had been bombed and razed. We launched a “Seeds of Hope” campaign.  YOU, dear Barbara, were part of the monumental undertaking – every step of the way!

The 4th Repatriation:  Jose’s Arrest 1989

In October, 1989, the 4th Repatriation from Mesa Grande, Honduras took place.  It was the first time the US faith delegation won the right to cross the Honduran/Salvadoran border to accompany the families to their villages.  It was a momentous, celebratory occasion. 
 
But for one glitch.

On their way out of Chalatenango, 3 of our delegates were arrested by members of the 4th Brigade.  Ron Morgan, Bob Perillo, and Jose Artiga.

Initially, the military only detained Ron and Bob, since Jose blended in with the native Salvadorans packed in the back of the truck. But Jose came forward, declaring that he was with them. Thus began an ordeal:  detention, transfer to the notorious Treasury Police, death threats.  I was at the SHARE office in Washington DC when the call came – around 3pm.  Sister Cathy Arata, SSND, a volunteer missionary in Chalatenango, was on the other line. She reported that Jose, Ron and Bob had been taken into custody.  A person from the repatriated community had followed them to make sure they had safe passage.  When they saw the military detain them, they alerted their friends in San Jose de las Flores, the provincial capitol where they were held. A young boy had approached the three who were sitting on a bench in the plaza at San Jose de las Flores where the 4th brigade detained them while the soldiers were awaiting orders. Jose scribbled a phone # and their names on a piece of newspaper.  The boy gave the number and names to Sister Cathy.  And thus began a major international mobilization to secure their safety and their release.  Our staff, our sister parishes, the sanctuary network, our GOING HOME committees, the Salvadoran community, bishops, women religious, congresspeople, governors, mayors, ambassadors interceded.  Thousands of calls poured into the US Embassy, State Department and into the Treasury Police Headquarters.  Initially, the US Embassy said they only had jurisdiction to help Ron and Bob.  They could not help Jose. We worked around the clock. Finally, we got word they would be released – all 3 of them.

I had 3 little ones at home. Camilo (5), Tilo (2) and Alejandro (6 months).  Once we were told that they would be released, I could breathe. You and Max came to our home in Silver Spring that night, just to give me a hug, and to hold our babies.  I have a mental picture of Max sitting in the rocking chair and holding Camilo. Laughing! As protective as I was of the kids, Camilo was old enough to know something was up.  You and Max reassured him that all would be well! Accompaniment. Such a gift.

Accompanying Bishop Medardo Gomez

In addition to killing the Jesuits, the Salvadoran Armed Forces attacked other faith leaders and missionaries. Medardo, of course, was at the top of their hit list.  A military detail had already barged into the sanctuary of Medardo’s congregation, Resurrection Lutheran Church, and detained foreign nationals/missionaries. (They also confiscated the large, white cross that had stood on the altar that had words written on it:  the sins of the times:  poverty, hunger, violence against women, war … it was dubbed “the Subversive Cross” by the military) The Spanish Embassy, among others, implored Medardo to leave the country for his safety, and he reluctantly did so.   He came to Chicago at the invitation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America which is headquartered there, and prepared a press conference.

Morning arrived early at the beach town of el Cuco, and by 6 am, some of us were savoring a wonderful cup of coffee under palm trees in the hotel patio. Women from several distant communities were arriving, and we had the chance to chat over breakfast. I had the privilege of sitting with Elsie Oriana and heading her extraordinary history of serving as a front-line nurse with the Frente from the very young age of 13 until 18, after her entire community was forced into hiding. She never looked back on this commitment to community health, even after the war, and went to the university, get a degree in social work, and then continue health work with PROVIDA.


After breakfast, we gathered with some 40 women from 6 different communities for the workshop titled Women Constructing Health with a Social Focus on Self-care. We started with a round of introductions followed by a moving testimony by Ruth, who had battled cancer with the support of women from PROVIDA, who accompanied her from diagnosis to treatment and provided emotional, practical, and economic support through her total recovery. Later we divided into pairs - one from the community and one from the delegation- to share messages and conversations, leading to a lovely sense of connection and comfort.

After taking leave of this wonderful group of women we traveled 4 hours through green mountains. cattle and corn fields, and winding rivers to Guajirla, Chalatenango where we were welcomed by the team from CCR. We had a delicious meal of pupusas. We had a rich interchange at my table with Miriam Alas and Francisco Mejia of the Community. They shared the amazing efforts to create a center for Memory and Reflection at the House of the Massacre - a place which holds the ruins of a massacre that took place in 1990, only months after they were relocated from the Mesa Grande refugee camp in Honduras. The Western University of Toronto is sponsoring this.

Francisco and Miriam also shared about the very disconcerting situation of repression under the current regime. Nine young people were randomly selected to be taken to jail a year and a half ago, with no basis of any connections to the maras. Also, on March 24 of this year, some 500 soldiers suddenly appeared in their community, demanding to use community spaces to sleep and private homes to bathe and eat. They stayed for a week, interrogating and intimidating community members. They outnumbered this small community of only some 200 people. After another week they returned with the same intimidation and demands. The overall feeling in the community was that they were being warned and that their every move was being monitored by the regime to attempt to keep them in fear and conformity and not speak out.Paragraph. Haz clic aquí para editar.