No adios…hasta pronto

Que tal me amigos et amigas!  I’m sorry it has been a very long time since my last blog, but as you know, there is a very good reason!  I was away for two weeks in El Salvador on a service learning program with the university.  I got back a couple of weeks ago, but am still playing catch up, trying to get everything done for classes I missed… and let me tell you, it’s not easy!  But was it worth it?  Absolutely! I wouldn’t trade those two weeks for anything. 

So to make up for my lack of blogs over the past couple of weeks, I have a great blog in store for you all today!  I guess the best place to start is to explain what the trip was all about and what we did in country.
 We were in a small town called Santa Catarina Masahuat (pronounced massa-what… yes, we had a lot of fun with this name!).  It was a small, very modest and cute town, and the people were incredibly welcoming and kind.  I fell in love with them, and as you can see by the title of this blog(written in my very rough Spanish), which in English means,  ‘no goodbyes… see you later’.  I really hope to go back and visit them one day. 
Basically we were working with community members and the Lutheran World Federation, helping the community with their work in setting up an organic farming cooperative.  The great thing about this project is that it was a community identified program.  A similar project had been done in the community of Tacuba, and we were fortunate enough to have a chance to get a tour of their cooperative and learn about the positive impacts and benefits to the community.  The land in Santa Catarina Masahuat had mostly coffee plants for farming but also some mango trees, orange trees and cinnamon trees.  A truly special memory is when we were walking to the site one morning and could not figure out why the air was filled with the smell of sweet flowers, only to arrive at the cooperative and realize all the coffee plants were in full bloom with beautiful white blossoms.  This is something I will never forget!

We spent most of our time on the farm doing all sorts of work.  We raked leaves around the coffee plants to preserve moisture,  levelled the soil on an empty stretch of land so they could build a greenhouse, fixed up an old barn on the land by tearing down the old roof, laying a new floor, leveling the earth around the barn, and doing many other odd jobs.  It was lots of hard labor, all by hand of course, no heavy machinery, but it was good work.  We worked hand in hand alongside the leaders of the cooperative, and to say that we learned a lot from them would be an understatement.  It was amazing to see how people had come together in the true spirit of team work and community to bring this project into fruition.  To see how much people had sacrificed and invested in order to do something positive for the community was truly humbling.

We also spent three days at local schools where some of us organized small music activities, taught English lessons and I organized a hand washing lesson for the young kids.  This, as you may have guessed, was a program linked to pharmacy!  Pharmacy students actually teach the same hand washing lesson plan in elementary schools here in Winnipeg, so it was really fun to be able to share it with the kids in El Salvador.  I hate to pick favourites, but the school in El Escalon, and all the cute children there were amazing.  I absolutely fell in love with everyone there, the teachers and the children.

We had a couple of field trip days too, one of which we were taken to see the volcano Izalco.  Our last day in country was spent at the beach.  I got to ride a horse along the surf, and I also tried surfing…. Both were a blast, but surfing, I will never do again! I have a huge gash and bruise on my leg from one of the tumbles I took amongst the waves (still in the process of healing) and I thought I was going to drown.  Our instructors were great, and never left us, but I still think it is one of those things that will be a once in a lifetime venture!  All I can say is that it was fun, I’m glad I tried it but I’m even happier that I’m still around to tell you about it =P

We lived in a small house, all 13 students, 2 mentors and our interpreter, Freddy,  who became part of the Manitoban family, guiding us, helping us, teaching us and most importantly sharing his friendship.    I call our group my new family, because we grew so close during our time in country, that even with so many people in one tiny house, we never felt crowded!  This is what really made our trip unique… the connections and friendships that were formed.  For two weeks, we were living with the people of Santa Catarina Masahuat as family and friends.  To add to our close knit little family, one amazing woman, Sandra, became like our adopted mother while we were there.  When I got stung by wasps working amongst the coffee plants on the cooperative on the first day, she kept her eye on me the rest of the day, just in case, even after my repeated reassurances that I was better than ever.  When we were out on day trips, she counted us like her children, made sure we were taken care of, taught us about the country, and even spent hours patiently teaching us Spanish.  Everyone we met along the way left their imprint on our group.  Gracias a toros!

Overall, it was a great experience.  I still wake up some mornings wishing it was 6am in El Salvador and I was getting ready to head out for another day of working in the sun and dirt with our friends at the cooperative.   Not a day goes by that I don’t think about all of our friends and new family in Santa Catarina Masahuat and send them my thoughts and prayers.  No adios El Salvador, only hasta pronto!