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1. Formation and mission of the Friends of El Salvador Committee.
2. Past outreach of the Committee.
3. Current Projects.

Formation and mission of the Friends of El Salvador Committee.

In the late 1990s members of the faith community now known as Faith Weavers of St. Mary established a sister-parish relationship with the small community of Miramar in El Salvador. The purposes of this outreach are to raise global and cultural awareness and provide charitable support in a relationship guided by the Gospel message of caring for others.

 (Residents of Miramar.)

 (Miramar Directiva meet with Friends of El Salvador delegates to discuss the needs of the Miramar Community.)

(Members of a Faith Weavers delegation visiting Miramar.)

(Delegates with a young resident of Miramar.)

Past outreach of the Committee

Improving the lives for Miramar Residents

As part of a relationship of mutual benefit, we have offered financial support to help improve the lives of Miramar’s residents. We have provided donations of clothing, toiletries, medicines, and funds for fertilizer to raise crops. We have also granted funds to improve their village infrastructure. 

The community has used these funds to add electricity in the village and sanitary latrines. With our funds they have constructed a chapel and a soccer field for the children. We have also supported the local school through multiple projects and provided scholarships for Miramar children, and children of other communities, to attend high school.

(Construction of the new chapel in Miramar.)

(Soccer field for the children of Miramar.)

(Friends of El Salvador has supported agricultural projects.)  

(Grant from the Friends of El Salvador provided food when there was a crop failure in Miramar.)

Water wells for Miramar and Flor de Fuergo and also Granzaso

A $41,500 grant to Faith Weavers from the Cebelak Foundation was used to drill a water well and install piping to homes in the communities of Miramar and Flor de Fuego.  The spring that was the source of the potable water for the communities of Miramar, Flor de Fuego, Granzaso, and Guajoyo, was drying up.  Well-drilling was the solution decided upon after a professional engineering study of the problem was made in 2017.  

The communities of Granzaso and Guajoyo also indirectly benefited by having greater availability of water from the existing spring.

Later, the Miramar Directiva requested a grant of funds from the Friends of El Salvador to construct a water tank to store and more efficiently distribute water to homes in Miramar and Flor de Fuego.  This water storage facility reduces the demands on the new well which ran whenever water was used, and it also provides a source of water in the event of a power failure.  

(Residents of Miramar show delegates the site for the water well. The cost of drilling the well was paid by a grant from Friends of El Salvador.)

(Residents of Miramar work on constructing a water tank to be filled by the new well.)

In 2020 the Friends also funded a water well and distribution system for the community of Granzaso near Miramar.  This was made possible also through a grant of $63,000 from the Cebelak Foundation.  The Foundation and the Friends of El Salvador have become special partners in improving the lives of Salvadoran rural poor.

The Friends of El Salvador will continue supporting the community of Miramar and also aid other nearby communities as possible. Future grants will focus on improving infrastructure and on educational projects. More importantly, we want to strengthen our solidarity with Salvadorans, so they know us as friends and not just “Americans” or “foreigners.” Our relationship with the rural poor in El Salvador helps us understand the complexities of life in a developing nation and the essential cross-cultural commonalities we all share.

Scholarship programs

The Friends of El Salvador has been providing scholarships for students in the San Vincente area to attend high school and university. We have worked through different organizations that identify scholarship recipients and administer scholarship programs.

Initially we partnered with SHARE, the Salvadoran Humanitarian Aid, Research, and Education Foundation, and with CRIPDES, a Salvadoran non-governmental organization. SHARE is the primary, U.S.-based, nation-focused organization providing and coordinating assistance activities for improvement of social and economic conditions in El Salvador.  CRIPDES works with communities in many ways, including choosing students who receive scholarships, and it conducts academic and leadership programs to aid student success. In the years we partnered with SHARE and CRIPDES we invested more than $75,000 to support over 70 students in 30 communities.

 (High School Students who received scholarships.)

The Friends of El Salvador has directly supported two university students. Ruth Nohemy has received a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the Lutheran University of El Salvador, and Heri Cruz is close to finishing his Bachelor of Social Work degree from the same university. 

We are now providing support for students through Pazitos, a nonprofit organization located in New York.  Pazitos funds the San Pedro Nonualco Program in El Salvador that manages the scholarship program for high school and university students.  We focus on university students and provide $1,400 per year, per student, to pay for educational expenses.

Latrine Project for the San Vincente Region 

Over the years the outreach of the Friends of El Salvador Committee has extended beyond Miramar. The Committee has funded construction of approximately 130 concrete block, composting latrines in eight villages in the San Vicente region of El Salvador. These latrines improve living conditions for hundreds of people who previously had no sanitary facilities or who had very inadequate ones. 

Supporting the Guajoyo School 

The Guajoyo School is a kindergarten through ninth grade elementary school that serves the village of Miramar and at least three other communities.  

 Since 2013 we have provided funds for facilities and infrastructure improvements and educational projects at the Guajoyo School. The whole school has been painted and roofs on some buildings have been repaired along with upgrades made to toilet facilities.   We have made a grant to the school to replace all classroom furniture.  We have also funded a Technology and Science Project for the seventh-grade class. This project established a Science Corner in the classroom with microscopes, test tubes, magnifying glasses and other equipment to conduct experiments. Our support for the school is on-going.

Here are a couple examples of the many facilities improvements we’ve funded.  One is construction of a storage building to house food, kitchen equipment, and musical instruments.  This was needed to protect these items from damage by rodents and inclement weather.  The second is installation of new windows and air conditioning for two classrooms.  Our list of funded improvements is long.

In addition, the Friends of El Salvador has provided funds for a myriad of technology and equipment purchases in support of learning and teaching.  The school has added video projectors, Kindles, several computers, modems, photocopiers, and related items as a result of gifts from us.

Current Projects

The Guajoyo School topped the list of beneficiaries once again this year with approved projects totaling $18,327. 

The very dilapidated school kitchen, which in its current condition cannot be used, is being renovated so that, once again, the customary in-school meal can be served to the children. 

(Guajoyo School kitchen area to be renovated.)

Funding has been given this year for purchase of extra foods to diversify the menu and enhance the nutrition of the food prepared.  Because of the economic circumstances of many families, the school meal is a key part of the students’ overall diet.

Another facility-improvement project will remodel and enlarge the entrance to building #2 and replace corridor and classroom floors.  The floors are cracked and uneven creating the potential for falls.  This is especially dangerous for a new student with a mobility disability.

The Committee is continuing to fund improvements to teaching and learning technologies at the Guajoyo School. Funds were allocated to purchase a video projector, three LCD screens, and upgrades to the internet-related infrastructure in building #1.

Musical instruments, horns, guitars, and flutes, are being added because of our funding. A recently hired English teacher also plays multiple musical instruments.  She will teach basic musical skills as part of an expansion of the arts-related curriculum.

Funding support from the Friends of El Salvador since 2013 has been credited by the school’s staff as making a large difference in the strength of the curriculum and the appearance and usability of school facilities.  Over 200 students and eight teachers have benefited.

To support the activities of the Friends of El Salvador please send your check to:

Faith Weavers of St. Mary
2020 South Mission Street
Suite 404
Mount Pleasant, MI 48858-4425

Write “Friends of El Salvador” in the memo portion of the check.

You can also make a donation to help fund Friends of El Salvador via PayPal.

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