April 18 - Meeting The Directiva of Muñoces

 Tuesday April 18, 2017  9:00 a.m.

The meeting with the Directiva of El Caserio los Muñoces.

We met at the Church/Community Center.  We moved our chairs into a semi-circle and sat down and then just sat for a while, looking and smiling at each other, wondering who was going to speak first.  Seemed like a long wait.  I decided that I ought to go first.  If I lead I might be able to control the meeting a little.

I thanked them for welcoming me and said I was happy to have this meeting. 

I thanked Manual and Juan Carlos        

for setting up the meeting with the

directiva this morning.

I said we had received their letter informing us that they had decided to terminate the relationship and that we were sad so we had written a letter explaining the problem from our perspective. 


I said we had a letter for each family and asked them if they wanted me to read it.  After some discussion Fredy, President of the Directiva, said yes. 


I gave each a copy and proceeded to read it.  I told them we hadn’t wanted to end the relationship but that, sadly, we would respect their decision to end the relationship.

I explained that our issue centered on a document we had received from Compañeros and the Equipo Pastoral which described some of our friends, neighbors and members of participating churches in Newton as bad people.  We knew them to be kind, good-hearted, and loving people.  Because we knew the people weren’t as described, we objected to the document and wouldn’t agree to its statements.  






Then they quietly, in voices which I couldn’t hear, discussed the content of our letter and what I had said.

Then Fredy talked about the rules which the community had adopted.  He said that there were about 6 to 8 families which weren’t participating as expected and that had caused morale problems for the rest of the community.  That was the reason we weren’t permitted to visit them in 2015.

I said we understand that a group has to have rules and that it is difficult for a group (community or family) to function efficiently when some people weren’t doing their part. 

I then said we wanted to be friends with everyone, that we felt bad when we had to walk past the homes of people who we considered friends.  It was painful for us and we didn’t feel comfortable being used as a carrot or stick (I couldn’t come up with the words to express this so I used the words for (dulces i acido = sweet and acid)!  They understood.  

Although they understood, nevertheless, Fredy held to his position. I don’t think everyone agreed but no one else spoke up.  

It became a somber moment.

Again I thanked them for their hospitality and generosity.   

… for sharing their lives with us, inviting us into their home and allowing us to take pictures of them.  I said I hoped they enjoyed the pictures we brought back to them. 

 

I gave them some pictures from our 2015 trip and requested they give them to the pictured people.  I encouraged them to continue taking pictures (and left several more cameras) and develop a place to share them with the rest of the community, such as a bulletin board at the church.  I encouraged them to keep pictures as a way to maintain a history of the community for generations to come, 50 to 100 years in the future. 

I encouraged them to work with Equipo Pastoral and search for another church with which to connect. As they have enriched our lives and we have learned from each other, there is another church waiting for such an opportunity.  I didn’t say it but I was thinking that they need a new source for the assistance for fertilizer, scholarships, medical and other needs they have been receiving from our church .  I left some community directories and told them they can be used to demonstrate the organization in their community to an NGO who might come in with some plans.

I thanked them for all the meals we had shared together.  

  

We will long remember all the fiestas and the piñatas we enjoyed as well as the fine music their community band provided. (pics from 2015) 

I reminisced about the memorable trip when I needed a place to lay down and rest until my stomach settled down.

Finally, again I thanked them and then… I stepped in it! I mentioned that I was very worried about my visit.  They asked me why I had been fearful.  I said I thought they might be angry and feel like throwing stones at me.  As soon as I said that and heard their gasp, I felt terrible.  I tried to make it out as a joke but my excuse was feeble.

There was some discussion by the group and then they asked if I would take a letter to our church if they wrote it quickly and got it to me before I left.  I said I would be very happy to deliver it to our church.  (See an entry later in this blog.)

April 18 - Finally I get to Muñoces... but not with Napoleon

April 18, 2017   While waiting for la Tortuga to show up I see an old fellow who use to ride out with us to a plot of land to work. I call out, “Hola, Napoleon,” and walk over to greet him. He mumbles something indistinguishable, I smile and say, “si,” and he continues to talk and I smilingly I nod my head in agreement. 

There’s a beautiful lady with him who I believed to be his daughter who will accompany him to the fields. 

We talk and then he stands up and points.

La Tortuga has arrived and he, the lady who was with him, the teachers and I get aboard for the ride out.

How he got in and out of the truck was a miracle.

But interestingly he didn’t get off at his plot of land.  He rode all the way to Muñoces and then got off… with the help of some folks I knew.

 

It was then that I realized this wasn’t Napoleon but Maugdaleno, a fellow who is one of the patriarchs of the community.  He lost his wife, Paulina Evangelina Reyes Muñoz, one of our favorites, several years back.

 

Then we start the hike to the church, up the steep dusty road seeing more and more of the people of Muñoces

First the students on their way to school…

Then Vilma, a mother with a basket of food on her head walking with a small child heading toward the school…

Then Manual and his wife, Aminta, and their children…. We weren’t permitted to visit them the last time we were here. But this time I marched into their yard and gave them hugs.

I tell Manual he sure looks different without his uniform.

 Then I spotted Juan Carlos and Rene and his kids, calling another little girl to come over and get in the picture.



Aren’t they the most handsome group you’ve ever seen?

You’ll have to wait one more day for my meeting with the Directiva.  I promise you it will be written about next.

April 16 - Easter Sunday

Last summer, 2016, the congregation of First Presbyterian Church was given a letter from the Directiva in Muñoces ending the relationship that we had enjoyed for nearly 10 years. It was clear from their short message that they had been told that we had not wanted to follow their rules which was simply not true.  We had questioned the policies of the Compañeros committee of Presbytery and the Pastoral Team in Berlin and had worked diligently to try to resolve those issues but we had never questioned the right of the community of Muñoces to make decisions for themselves. The “middle men” decided to end the relationship against our wishes and without our knowledge.

It was difficult to end the relationship on that note of untruth and with the community thinking that we had disrespected them. A letter was composed to the community to share our love and respect for them and to let them know that, although we hadn’t desired to end the relationship, we respected their right to do so. The next question was how to deliver it?? There is no postal service and we could no longer trust the Pastoral Team to deal with us fairly and honestly.  

I volunteered to take it to the community in person. This involved traveling to El Salvador, taking a bus to Berlin, and making my way to Muñoces in the back of the truck that Linda and I used to take each day to teach at the village school. 

I didn’t know how I would be received. Would they be angry with us? How would I deliver the letter to each of the nearly 40 houses? I tried to hire a translator to help with the nuanced language that would be necessary to navigate the delicate feelings of this emotional “break up,” but the translator didn’t show up on the morning of the trip to Muñoces so I was on my own. Here is how things transpired:

On Easter Sunday afternoon I took a city bus to Terminal Oriente to catch the bus to Berlin. I sat close to the front since it is recommended for safety.  $2.50 and about 2 hours later I was in Berlin walking to Casa Mia with my backpack and a box with the letters and pictures I was going to give to the folks in Muñoces.

I settled into my room.  Later I walked into the market and saw Heidi and her daughter Mily (familiar faces) and asked if Mily could translate for me.  

She couldn’t, because she was working in the mayor’s office, but she would see if a friend of hers could. I told her my plan was to go with the teachers in la Tortuga (the turtle) at 7:00 tomorrow morning.  Back at my room I prepared my thoughts for Muñoces Monday.  

April 17 - Ready, Set, Go.....Whooooo!

April 17, 2017

Monday morning at 5:15 I’m awake and ready to go but it is still dark outside so I cool it until I see some color in the sky.

I walk to La Tortuga’s stop and after visiting with some acquaintances I’m told the teachers are still on Easter vacation and won’t be going out until tomorrow. What to do?

I walk to the police department on the other side of the park and ask if they knew of anyone who might be interested in taking me out to Muñoces.  They thought I wanted a police escort.  I tell them just transportation.  They make several calls but aren’t able to locate anyone.

I really want to get this task completed today.  I walk down to Heide’s Pupuseria but she knows of no one. 

I’m out of luck for today. 

I’ll have to wait until Tuesday so I’m walking back to Casa Mia when I hear someone call my name. It’s the familiar face of one of our former English students, Lidia, the daughter of Juan Carlos.  

Then I spot Juan and his wife and other members of his family.  He’s a former guerrilla who told us in 2015 about his war years.

It is very comforting to see people from the community that I know, especially since they seem happy to see me.

Moments later I hear my name called again and this time I recognize the voice.  

It’s Manual Chavez.  We all talk and I tell them my reason for coming.

  

Since I have copies of the letter on me I give each a copy. We read it together.

They tell me that they will assemble the Directiva to meet with me tomorrow.

And so I’ll finish this part of the blog tomorrow.  

It will be good to talk with the directiva and since Juan and his family and Manual seemed happy to see me maybe it will go well on Tuesday.