A Short Introduction to a Month in El Salvador

The following is one of multiple blogs written by former SIPPIE Chris Welch during his time in El Salvador this summer.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

A Short Introduction to a Month in El Salvador

In March of 2011, I made my first-ever visit to El Salvador as a member of a Crispaz delegation from the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.  In fact, it was my first trip to Latin America at all.  We visited significant sites and met with people and organizations doing the kind of work that interests Crispaz – Christians for Peace in El Salvador.

Crispaz emphasizes the concept of “reverse mission.”  A delegation trip is less about doing some kind of social service or missionary work than it is about meeting people and being moved by their realities.  The hope, then, is that delegation trip members, on their return home, will look for ways to teach others about the Salvadoran reality and engage in activities that allow them to accompany the Salvadoran people.

After my delegation trip, I, like the rest of my group, spent some time thinking and praying about what a next step for me would be.  How could I take this experience and let it affect my daily life as a schoolteacher, student, and person?  In fact, I was at the Easter Vigil Mass about six weeks later when I experienced a strong urge to ask Crispaz about returning to El Salvador for a longer trip.  (I think Ignatius probably would have called it an experience of “consolation without previous cause.”)  Having had such a positive experience with Crispaz for a one-week delegation trip, I decided to ask them about their Summer Immersion Program.

When I got in touch with Dennis, the executive director of Crispaz at their office in Cincinnati, I laid out some of my practical obstacles to doing this: my Spanish is poor for one, and I was going to have to take a summer class that would only leave me 4 weeks for the visit.  The Summer Immersion Program is generally designed more for a seven or eight week stay.  Dennis reassured me on both counts – I had enough Spanish to get by, and four weeks was long enough to have a meaningful experience accompanying the Salvadoran people.

Crispaz set to work organizing people for me to accompany, and I prepared by starting to watch soccer (futbol) on the Spanish channel.  It did not help.  I only learned how to say “foul,” “corner kick,” and “Gooooooooooooool!”  In any case, I did arrive in San Salvador in late July and stayed for four weeks.  Herein I’d like, somewhat belatedly, to reflect on some of that experience.

-Chris Welch SIPPIE '11