Teachers and a sad farewell

We have been telling you about the Amun Shea school now for about a year.  We have told the story of its beginning, it's evolution and it's early success.   We have documented our visits with photography and written stories.  What we haven't said much about are the wonderful teachers at the school who have been doing a lot of heavy lifting to help get this project off the ground and keep it running.  Teachers are and will always be a guiding force for any group of children, but here in Morazon, they can have a profound effect on how children grow.   

Ana is the day-to-day director of the school and as one of the founding members, she has helped to shape the curriculum that has been a main ingredient to their success.  Marlene and Marina teach the youngest of the students here, and have a thankless job of trying to instill the idea of education into children who's older siblings may not have been lucky enough to have this opportunity.  Daisy, Doris, and Antonia teach 1st, 2nd and 4th grades.  As you have seen from our pictures they keep the students smiling and learning.  Meymis who is the Music and Arts teacher has created a chorus from scratch and within only one year this group has won awards for best choir in Morazon and could be the best young student choir in all of El Salvador.

Then there are the volunteers who come and go for periods of time, teaching classes like phys-ed or english.  This is the case of Erica who came from Ireland to help out for a while.  She is replacing Alex (seen above) who after 4 months is going back to D.C.(via a trip to Guatemala) to rejoin his life there.  We were on hand for his last day Friday when we witnessed an emotional farewell scene that took us and all the teachers by surprise.  As the students sang songs to Alex to say goodbye, one by one they broke down in tears. Some students were so overcome with grief that they ran outside the classroom to cover their faces.  Teachers here represent hope and give the students something that is very precious.  They become attached to these teachers and as we saw on Friday their departure sometimes is very hard to take.

Separation from loved ones is nothing new to these children.  As you drive down the road or walk through the villages and hang out in the town square, you quickly notice that the majority of people you see are younger than 18 or older than 40.  During the war, this might make sense, but the peace accords were signed 17 years ago, a whole generation removed from the violence.  Where are the young adults?  Once you reach the age that you would expect to start become an active member of the community, you have a responsibility to support the rest of your family.  For most young people here that means leaving the country to look for work (mostly illegal oppressive labor) abroad.  The largest source of income for most areas of El Salvador are these remmitances.  It is a viscious cycle that has no clear end in sight.  The best and the brightest leave the country and very few are left to become community leaders to build foundations for positive change.  This process has crippled and handcuffed the Salvadoran economy and continues to tear apart families.

When a teacher leaves, even if he was only there for a few months, the students are reminded of the hard reality that hey are trying to overcome.  Perhaps these students with enough help and guidance will help break this cycle.  But for now they sing farewell songs wishing their families could stay together:

Donde voy, donde voy
(Where I go, where I go)
Esperanza es mi destinación
(Hope is my destination)
Solo estoy, solo estoy
(I'm alone, I'm alone)
Por el monte profugo me voy
(Through the desert, a fugitive, I go)
Dias semanas y meces
(Days, weeks and months)
Pasa muy lejos de ti
(Pass far away from you)
Muy pronto tu llega dinero
(Soon you'll receive some money)
Yo te quiero tener junto a mi
(I want to have you near me)
El trabajo me llena las horas
(Work fills my hours)
Tu risa no puedo olividar
(Your laughter I can't forget)
Vivir sin tu amor no es vida
(To live with out your love isn't living)
Vivir de prófugo es igual
(To live as a fugitive is the same)

We follow alex back to the U.S. As we do, we want to thank the teachers for their great work and for welcoming us once again into their world.