Calavera

Calavera

Accompanying people from our sister community in Calavera was an experience to be savored. Our church annually sends a delegation of volunteers to Calavera, a group of five settlements in a remote part of El Salvador. I volunteered to join the group at their 12th annual trip, not really knowing what I was getting into. Our group consisted of our priest, Father Tom, our chorus director and organizer, Kathy Fries, translators, Anna Maria and her almost 15 year old daughter, Natalia, and two wonderful nuns/nurses from the East coast, Ceil and Dianne. We could not have had a better group of individuals. For a couple of weeks before leaving, we packed large suitcases with medical and school supplies that we would give to each community. We each had our own backpack and one of the large supply suitcases to check in. Everyone in our group was very kind and most had done this before. I felt less experienced and lacking in knowledge in how this all worked, but I was very comfortable with the traveling and camping part of it and I really enjoyed my companions. We flew from Indianapolis to Philadelphia and then on to San Salvador. It was obvious that rituals had been established from previous trips. We visited the church where Arch Bishop Oscar Romero was murdered and also visited his tomb. This was a moving journey and it was fascinating to listen to our priest relate stories of this martyr. I felt honored to be witnessing these strong feelings. We talked with the people from the community organization who was helping us with the details and logistics of our trip. The next morning, they drove us to an accessible village where there was a celebration for us. Even though I could not understand the language, they were all obviously very happy to have us there and very grateful that we came to “accompany” them. From this village, we started our hike to the first settlement. The terrain was pretty level, although rocky at times, but it felt like a long hike. The people of the village hiked with us, little children skipped ahead and passed us on the narrow path, then nimbly ran back again. We tried really hard not to pant and ask, “Are we there yet?” Many of the boys and men offered to take our backpacks and carry them for us. Another group of men were hand-carrying the very heavy supply suitcases. I don’t remember the distance, but I bet it was no more than four miles – and this was the shortest hike by far. We soon learned not to turn down the kind offers to carry things for us. At times we stopped to catch our breath, bent over to redistribute the weight and trudged on. Although we were not yet in the highest altitudes we would go, it was still significantly higher than we were used to. At each of the villages, a family put us up for the night. Each day included a medical clinic, a lesson for the schools and mass in each community. We spent the day hiking and when we entered the next settlement, we were welcomed by the community, usually with some type of ceremony – plays, dances, music, readings, etc. It meant a lot to the people of Calavera to have us come personally to their communities to “accompany” them. And it was touching and amazing to be accompanied by so many people in each community as we walked both to their community and to the next community. We met each evening with the leaders of the communities to talk about their needs, progress from the previous year and ways we can assist them over time. There were definite leaders and politics involved. Anna Maria was a marvelous translator. Not only did she have an intimate command of the language, she could also translate innuendoes and what was not said. It was very helpful to get her feedback and assessment as she better understood the culture, history and politics.

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