August 14, 2017
Our belief in the inherent dignity of every person calls us to protect the rights of everyone in our human family. We ask people from some of the organisations we work with why protecting rights is essential if everyone is to reach their God-given potential.
Speak out about human rights – become a campaigner with CAFOD
December 20, 2016
Fidel and Julia live in Puentecitos, where they work improve life for their community with the support and solidarity of parishes in England and Wales through out Connect2:El Salvador programme. They asked us to share this advent message.
Dear Connect2 Puentecitos and CAFOD
We send warm greetings to all our friends working with CAFOD.
We were very happy that Clare and Bishop John came to our country, and especially that they came to visit us in our home, for Bishop John’s blessing on our family, with his hands that have been anointed by the Holy Spirit. This will help us to grow in our faith.
Read Bishop John’s blog on his trip
We admire Bishop John’s vocation as a representative of Christ, and his sacrifice in travelling from a land so far away to visit our country and our home. We feel blessed to have spent this time with a man who has given himself to God.
Continue reading “Fidel and Julia from our C2 El Salvador community reflect on Bishop John’s visit”
December 7, 2016
In November 2016, the Chair of CAFOD, Bishop John Arnold, visited El Salvador and Nicaragua. The last stop of his 10-day programme was to visit our friends in Puentecitos. These are some of his reflections.
We set off for a day in the rural area of Guaymango in the Department of Ahuachapan. It was about a two-hour journey to the West, almost to Guatemala. The good roads lasted until just a few miles from Guaymango and the last couple of miles were really nothing more than a single track of unmade road.
The scenery, however, was magnificent with mountains and volcanoes dominating the plain which stretched across to the ocean, which was clearly visible. Everything here is green and manages to remain so for most of the year. Agriculture is the basis of all livelihoods here though factories and assembly plants are increasingly present, together with small hotels which are hoping to see an increase in the tourist trade, particularly for what is apparently excellent surfing. This part of El Salvador was not so much directly affected by the war (1980-92) but many young men here were “pressed” into the army. The area has suffered in recent years by the increasing control of gangs.
Find out more about Connect2 El Salvador.
Continue reading “Bishop John Arnold visits our friends in Puentecitos.”
July 26, 2016
Tania Dalton works in CAFOD’s Latin America Team. As we celebrate the success of our two year water project in Kitui, Tania reflects on the long-term development projects she’s been part of in her time with CAFOD, and their ongoing impact today.
I am blessed to work in CAFOD’s Latin America team: my life is constantly enriched by the people I encounter. Seeing change over time is especially wonderful. The Ana Manganaro Clinic in Guarjila, El Salvador, is a great example of taking the long view. I visited it first in 2004, and again earlier this year. In those twelve years, it transformed from a small building where community health workers received training in the yard, to a comprehensive rural health centre, with a maternity care unit, dentist, nutritionist, physiotherapist and other key health services. In 2010, the clinic integrated with the Ministry of Health. Now it serves 16,500 people across eight municipalities and is recognised as a model for rural health services.
Find out about our latest Hands On project in Bolivia
Marlene, my guide when I visited this year, helped me to appreciate fully the transformation of the clinic.
Continue reading “12 Years of progress – CAFOD’s development work”
May 4, 2016
Katie Thilthorpe works in the CAFOD Schools Team. She recently received a batch of letters and work from children in XII Apostles Primary School in Lancashire who have been exploring life in El Salvador.
“After I saw your beautiful landscape I wished I could live in El Salvador but the only thing that makes me sad is the water pollution. That’s why we are raising money for your country and right now we have £500. When we raise enough we will send it to CAFOD and they will send it to you. I hope that you will have nice clean water and I hope to see you and the Sierra Madre mountains one day.” Olivia, Year 4.
Since its release in 2015 primary schools across England and Wales have been using CAFOD’s El Salvador geography photo pack, including XII Apostles Primary School in Lancashire. All the children in the school aged 7-11 have been using the resources, and in March the pupils wrote letters to the four children featured in the pack. The school kindly sent some of the letters to us and I was lucky enough to read them.
Order your free copy of the El Salvador Education Pack
The El Salvador pack, which can be ordered or downloaded online, includes a country map, information sheets, photo cards and links to brilliant online films, which bring the stories and themes from the pack to life. Continue reading “Learning about climate in class”
March 17, 2016
In 2014 Fidel and Julia shared how the Connect2: El Salvador community were starting to renovate their chapel. Since then, lots of work has taken place, and the chapel in Puentecitos looks very different now. It is built of brick, rather than clay, which means it should be more resistant to earthquake damage, and it is also a lot bigger. Fidel says: “We got the walls and roof on in about five months. We had some help to buy some of the materials, and the rest we raised ourselves by holding raffles and other fundraising activities.”
There is still some work to be done: the floor is unfinished, and there is a bit of electrical wiring to finish too, but Fidel says, these are “finishing touches”. They also plan to put a tabernacle on a shelf behind the altar and display the mementoes that Connect2 parishes have sent them.
The community are now working to keep it clean and to cover the cost of water and electricity bills. On the wall of the chapel there is a rota for the year, sharing out these responsibilities amongst all the different families. Continue reading “Connect2: El Salvador: Renovating the Chapel in Puentecitos”
September 22, 2015
Kathleen O’Brien is our secondary resources coordinator, leading on the material for young people this Harvest Fast Day.
Watch our Brighten Up Harvest film, and then read Kathleen’s blog about the making of it:
Bright peace building projects in El Salvador
If you visit the education webpages this Harvest you will be greeted by Isabel and Diego, two young people who explain what life is like in a gang-dominated area of El Salvador, and talk about how CAFOD partners are helping their community to create safe, bright spaces where children and young people can play, learn and meet with their friends.
We really wanted to convey the brightness of this project in El Salvador, the brightness of the community, and the brightness of a hopeful future. So this Harvest we are asking children and young people to Brighten Up to help build a brighter world. To do this, we set about making a short, bright, fun clip to introduce the fundraising theme.
Continue reading “Harvest Fast Day: Behind the scenes of the Brighten Up film”
September 10, 2015
Katharine O’Brien is a parish youth worker at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Wanstead. This Harvest we are asking children and young people to Brighten Up to help build a brighter world, and in this blog Katharine explains how she will introduce the theme and explore the material with the children and young people she works with.
Harvest Fast Day is approaching. On Friday 2 October, schools and communities around the country will be raising money to support communities affected by violence, like Isabel’s. I watched Isabel’s film and saw the reality of life in San Salvador, El Salvador. The video offers insight into her community, into the heart of the youth project seeking to brighten up the prospects of young people, to tackle the reality of gang culture and the danger they face simply by stepping out of doors. Isabel tells us how sad it is to see the children she grew up with turning to guns and violence.
Continue reading “Harvest Fast Day: Getting ready to Brighten Up!”
September 2, 2015
Gemma Salter is on our schools team and produces resources for primary schools.
When I read the papers or the news online, I often find myself looking out for stories from places I’ve visited, or countries that CAFOD partners work in. This happened to me recently, when I came across an article from El Salvador. This one was a striking one – it spoke of the high rates of murder and gang conflict in the country, describing it as the ‘homicide capital of the world’.
Whilst I know gangs and violence are a significant challenge in the country, and I saw this for myself when I visited El Salvador, the article still shocked me. It made me think back to my own trip to El Salvador, where I met eight-year-old Diego and spent time getting to know him and his family.
Continue reading “Harvest Fast Day: Building a brighter future in El Salvador”
June 30, 2015
Tania Dalton works in CAFOD’s Latin America Team. Inspired by Laudato Si’ she and a few colleagues are starting a small garden at the CAFOD Romero House office in London.
Mary and I have spent 3 lunchtimes shovelling compost in the CAFOD carpark, Janet has brought in tomato plants, Lucy has promised us a courgette, Tory donated some basil seeds and Al and Jamie have done some heavy lifting.
Why? In CAFOD we have been getting very excited about the One Climate, One World campaign. Our campaigns team have worked tirelessly on the mass lobby of parliament with many CAFOD supporters among the 9,000 crowd on 17 June, and now we have the new encyclical from Pope Francis – Laudato Si’, calling us to care for our common home.
There’s a lot of important big picture thinking, mobilising people and influencing policy makers (have you signed our petition?), but I just fancied getting my hands dirty, the smell in my nostrils of a freshly plucked tomato, and somewhere green and shady to sit and eat my sandwich. So we are making a garden on our office balcony in London. Continue reading “Tomatoes: a practical response to Laudato Si’”
