Dresses Brighten Day in La Llanes, El Salvador

Left to right: Josseline, Marina, Marta, and Carmen.

Ismael (a leader in the La Llanes canton) called everyone near and said some beautiful words of gratitude. He mentioned that most everyone has clothing – but when they buy something “new” – it isn’t new. They buy used clothing that people sell on the streets of Berlín. This was a special gift to have something new.

I told them a little about you (Park Avenue Presbyterian Church in Des Moines): ‘...that a group of women with the gift of their sewing hands and with their hearts full of love... made clothing for their brothers and sisters. You had heard about them in our stories and were moved to raise funds for their water tanks… and even after that, you kept them in your hearts and wanted to do more. So, here we were with these gifts made with love, and I told them again (they had your letter—see excerpt below) they are always in your prayers.’

During the give-away and as we were leaving, people came up to us for a hug and to ask us to tell you ‘thank you’. And that they are also praying for you. And to please greet everyone.

So, please, accept our words of thanks. With all our hearts (the community, the Pastoral Team and me) we say thank you. Thank you for your beautiful gift: for the time and effort it took to make them, for your hearts that were touched by God. And then so touched – moved to share with your new family in La Llanes.

Blessings to all of you. With great affection and gratitude,

~Kathy Mahler and the Pastoral Team

(especially Blanca, Cecilia and Idalia who shared in this give-away)

“Today, I took a suitcase full of 85 little dresses, big dresses, and shorts for the girls, mothers, and boys of La Llanes. Our ladies of the church have been sewing dresses and shorts for sometime. Our church was so generous with providing money for the water storage containers, we wanted to do something personal. So we have sent these clothes with the delegation of the Dallas Center First Presbyterian Church, and are asking that you see they get to La Llanes. The dresses are so cute and we wanted the girls, moms, and boys to know that someone far away thinks of them, prays for them, and loves them enough to make them lovely garments to wear. We hope that they will enjoy them and get lots of good wear out of them... We just want them to enjoy their clothes. We appreciate your work and love of the people. The work you do is so important and I know that God smiles each time he sees you with the people. God bless you each and every day. Thank you for your help in getting the clothes to our friends.”

~Mary Lou Briles, Park Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Day 6 - School Visits

Today it was hot and sunny. Today we saw the smiles on the faces of hundreds of innocent children in their schools. We visited 3 schools in the area. We saw pure joy when they saw us coming. We heard them giggle. We sang for them and they sang for us (their song was better). We took their pictures and showed them their images on our cameras so they could giggle more.

We saw some children in uniforms and some in regular clothes. We saw some with shoes on and some without. We saw some with clean faces and some with dirty ones. We saw school yards with pigs rooting in them. We saw school yards with no playground equipment - just sticks and dirt. We saw happy teachers that were so proud of their students and their schools. And then it broke our hearts when we had to leave... because they hugged and hugged us and didn't want us to go. Some tried to leave with us. And you just wanted to scoop them all up and take them with you.

We saw where more mudslides had been and folks had relocated. We saw where one small village is going to be relocated so that they can live in concrete homes instead of the tin and stick homes where they ended up in after the mudslide. Their current homes were right along the side of the road - literally at the edge where if you stuck your hand out the pickup window too far, you'd be in someone's home space. Their doors open onto the road and the metal fences that have been put up to separate their space from the world are just more large pieces of corrugated tin that they've found somewhere - the same as the walls of their house. There is no grass here. This is the dry season and there is only dirt. Dirt - everywhere. There really is no escaping it.

This afternoon we visited El Tablon, which is Heartland Presbyterian Church's sister parish. They have made a huge contribution to this community in the El Tablon Centre school and the new El Tablon Cerna school which is to be finished in the next couple of weeks. We got to see them putting the finishing touches on that school and even got to talk to a couple of young ladies who are looking forward to that school opening very soon. There is a soccer field at that school, too, which Heartland also helped provide. Remember, though... no grass. Just dirt - and lots of it.

The roads to and from today were much the same as all the past days... more of lava rock made into a path or just more dirt. We were again traveling along the side of the mountain around and around and around... and up and down and straight up and straight down - maybe a little more so than yesterday, but honestly, they've all run together. I really don't know how Kathy (Mahler) tells them apart and how she remembers where to turn to get to which canton or which caserio or how to take someone home and on and on and on...

There was more riding in the back of the pickup - again - not me. I kept Kathy company in the truck and we had a great talk. I do miss her in Iowa and I had to make up for lost time and get caught up on some things. And today was our last lunch at the pastoral house and the ladies' great food. That was sad. We took them and Kathy out to supper this evening in Alegria - the next town in some direction (I have no sense of direction here at all). It was the six of us, Kathy, Blanca (pictured here, right), Otilia, Idalia (pictured here, left) and Cecelia. Milagro had to stay back at the house, as she had a meeting to attend. These are all names that I have been so thrilled to place with faces this week. Names that I've heard for 3 years - that have finally become people. And oh, how they've become people - people that I now know and love... my sisters in Berlin.

As we said our formal good-byes and thank-yous after supper, while still at the restaurant, with Kathy interpretting, I found myself once again speechless – yes – twice in a week. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. Not only could I not say what I wanted to say to them because I still can't speak their language, but I just couldn't say anything. I just had to ask Kathy once again to tell them how much I appreciated getting to know them and how much I've grown to love them in the past week, but could barely get the words out.

As I was sitting here typing about 20 minutes ago, with Kathy beside me on her computer in her office, we heard a rustling and turned around to find Blanca and Cecelia standing behind us giggling. They had a sack and handed it to me, while Cecelia put a knitted polka dot hat on my head. I opened a sack to find a large, bright-colored blanket in it that they had bought for me, their "sister", as a going-away present. Again, I'm speechless...

Luckily, Kathy is leaving with us to go back to San Salvador tomorrow, so I didn't have to say good-bye to her tonight, or won't have to do that in the morning yet either. But, she put it all into perspective and I laughed so hard I started to cough (my usual routine) when she told me it would be better if I would find a place to display my new hat in the corner of my room. (obviously, not a good look.)

I've waxed poetic enough for one evening now, so must close and go wash my feet before I can put them into my bed. And on to Day 7...


– Betty

Day 5 - Coffee Finca

It's been a Sunday to remember. We attended a 2-hour Catholic mass that actually had a wedding in the middle and we were actually able to take communion during the mass. What a shock! Kathy had told us prior to going that she knows the priest and had asked him when he first came to town how he felt about that and he told her that all were welcome.

After that we went to Sunday market and walked through the shops and people to see all that was for sale today. You see everything... absolutely everything. You see the pigs groveling in the gutters; you see the smelly fish and every other kind of food for sale; you see the clothes, shoes, pens, pencils, paper, aprons, etc. for sale; it's all right there for you. You have to experience it to believe it. When Larry Lepper fell behind by his own choice, he found out which way we'd gone by merely asking "Gringos?" And he was pointed in the right direction. Yes, we're very obvious everywhere we go. But, still, all are so welcoming. We have the opportunity to shake hands often.

We ate lunch at the pastoral house and then loaded up the truck again for a trip to the coffee finca. We went through the town of Alegria and then to Santiago where Kathy showed us the equivelant of Jordan Creek Mall. (We had seen a Valley West Mall equivelant right in Berlin after church.) The mall consists of a metal building with wall-to-wall shops of everything imagineable. The only difference is that the one similar to the Jordan Creek Mall, was bigger.

And then it was on to Stella and Vidal's coffee finca*. We traveled on more of the windy roads up in the mountains again. Straight up and on the way home - straight down, with a little winding to add some interest. At one point we stopped so that we could all see the view... we could see so far that we know that we could see Honduras, even though we were still a very long ways away. You know the routine - you're on top of the mountain and you can see forever. It was a wonderful experience and breathtaking view.

We got to see where the coffee plants are that grow our Don Justo Coffee with Dignity. The trees are just starting to bud right now and actually, it's too early for that. That's because there actually was some rain recently. Since it's the off season now, there aren't a lot of beans drying, but we still got to see how the process works and where the beans are dried. Jorge was the 30-year-old worker overseeing the process and Blanca helped him describe all of it and answer all of our questions.

Another stellar job of driving the little Toyota truck by Kathy was experienced today. As always, she had it all under control. And Blanca and Cecelia (pictured here), two members of the pastoral team, went with us on our journey today. As I've learned, they're always a joy to have around and have wonderful senses of humor. Even though they have no idea what I'm saying to them, they're good to laugh with me. (or, maybe they're laughing at me - I'm not quite sure!) Anyway, we've all become great friends.

Tonight after our evening meeting, we even got Milagro (pictured here with Kathy), Blanca, Cecelia and Wilfredo (a friend of the team) blowing up balloons and making balloon animals with our fearless balloon animal leader, Dave. We were all laughing and having a great time while the balloons were popping left and right. We did end up with a pack of dogs and a flurry of mosquitos in quite an array of colors by the time we were done. (and lots of pics to prove that they were actually doing it with us!)

I think it's bedtime now... as the fun is not over yet. We still have 3 full days ahead, so lots of rest is needed. I've seen more in the last 4 days than I have in a lifetime up until now.

–Betty

*Modern Language Association (MLA): "finca." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. Feb. 9, 2009.

Day 4 - Casa de Zinc

It's Saturday... but it really just feels like the past 3 days and none of us have a clue what day it is! We took off before 8:30 a.m. with a truckload of food, tools, other things and various people and headed to our sister canton (community) of Casa de Zinc. They knew we were coming and we were bringing along a goodly part of the lunch that we would have there. We had Mily, our interpreter with us today. Mily is 20-ish (pictured here) and a native of El Salvador. She's a junior in college and has lived in the U.S. for a couple years of her life. She is a real gem. We all fell in love with her immediately and we could not have had a more dear person to join us today!

We had found out that there were 17 families spread out over the countryside that are considered to be part of this community, so we brought along shovels, crayons, writing tablets fruit roll-ups (one of which I'm eating at the moment), cucumber seeds and children's books in Spanish. We also had pictures printed of our group to give to each family. There were also aprons that we gave to all the women older than 12 years old. They had been made by the women of Trinity Church. More of the garden tools that we will be giving these families will be arriving as soon as possible and will get to these families when they do.

We met with the Directiva, which are the leaders of the community. They are all men and we all talked while most of the women worked on lunch, along with some of the pastoral team ladies that went with us. We sat under a plastic canopy that had been put up just for us and we sat in the molded plastic lawn chairs that our funds had purchased for them in 2008. We talked about various things – questions that we had for them and questions they had for us. We learned a lot about their community and told them some things about what goes on in Iowa. We also talked about some possible future projects of which we may be able to be of help to them.

But, one of the biggest things that we learned is how warm and welcoming these people were to us. They welcomed us with open arms. Pastor Dave Endriss made balloon animals for the kids and huge smiles would appear when they received them. They were all dressed in their best clothes and they may have been their only clothes. Before and after lunch we drove to each of the homes in the community and took pictures of each of the families after we presented our gifts to them.

They were so excited to have us visit their homes - homes which are on the dustiest of dusty roads, with dirt floors and concrete or tin walls. There's an occasional chair here or there with chickens and dogs walking in and out of the house. There's usually a hammock, too. There might be a door and there might not be. But I tell you this not to point out the extreme poverty. I tell you this to let you know that none of this phases them. They are such proud and humble people. The rare person has a pickup, but none of the ones we saw today had one. They walk everywhere they go. It's 6-7 or more miles to get to town when they do go. And those with jobs have to go there during the weekdays. Any water they have, has to be hauled to the house. Most of the houses have the water filters that we saw yesterday.

And the roads to actually get to these homes? Well... they're barely wider than the truck (remember it's a small Toyota). Part of them are dirt and part are made of the volcanic rock that is everywhere down here. There are huge ruts, holes, dips and huge everything when you're riding standing up in the back of the truck (not me, again today). The fastest that Kathy (Mahler) drove on any road was 15 mph. But, that seemed fast when we actually got that high! She did a great job - and you must remember that we're in the mountains of El Salvador... the roads were going almost straight up, almost straight down, or winding around to get to the top of the mountain, where we were more than once... and the view was spectacular! What an amazing sight that was! We were on top of the world... during the dry season of the year here... on a dirt road... visiting some of the sweetest people in the world. Kathy's knuckles were white and we were all saying our prayers every time she's ask us to! (as if we weren't already doing that!)

As we reflected tonight... what we all had seen today was a bunch of strong, kind, loving, warm, welcoming people who want us to know their story. They want us to continue this relationship, as they are so very appreciative of all that we can do for them. The handshakes, the hugs, even the kisses from the smallest of the small ones all made it worthwhile. The "thank-you" that came from a 9- or 10-year-old boy when we were ready to leave was as precious as it could be. He could not have been more proud of the fact that he knew how to say it in our language!

And the pastoral team plays a big part in all of this. They are the ones who work with these community leaders to urge them to be organized and be focused on what it is that we can do to help them. They encourage them to work together so that we will be able to work with them.

Even though we spoke through Mily, it didn't matter. We all could feel what it was that we had to say to each other. They applauded us before we left. They thanked us over and over and over again. They asked us to come back. And we promised that we would.

–Betty

Day 3 - San Miguel

I'm back... it's still chilly here, again this evening. It was hot today when we drove to San Miguel. We took the Pastoral Team's pickup truck - it's a red Toyota, the pickup of choice down here. I did something that I couldn't do at home... rode in the back of the pickup all the way standing up. There's a metal railing to hold onto. It's the law that you have to have your seatbelts on in the front seat of the car or truck, but you can stand in the back of the truck. Go figure. But, we got to see the place where they make the water filters. We got a demonstration of the whole process of how they're made and how they work. It was kind of an out-of-body experience to stand back and see the following stenciled on them:

Compañeros of Central Iowa, Club Rotario, Indianola

And what a great opportunity we had to actually see the gentlemen making them.

And then we went to the hardware store to pick up the tools for our families in our sister canton, Casa de Zinc. Unfortunately, they didn't have all that we'd ordered or paid for, so we'll have to make another trip back. It was a lot like a Home Depot – very modern on both the outside and inside – a little different than all we'd been seeing prior to that time.

We traveled back to Berlin and then had lunch here at the pastoral house – another wonderful meal from the sweet ladies here that are taking care of Kathy and all of us. After lunch, we excused Dave to go take a nap, as he did not sleep well last night. The rest of us and Cecelia walked up town... and when we say walk UP town, we mean it! This is a very hilly little town, right on the side of the mountain. Everywhere we go, we go up and down and wind around on very narrow roads. Dramamine is my friend! Thanks to Karen M. for giving me the advice of taking it every day! We bought more items for our Casa de Zinc families and walked back. After another short break in the action, we crawled back in the pickup (and no, I have not been standing in the back since the way to San Miguel this morning.)

This time, we took a very long windy road down a very long ways to El Recreo - the sister parish of St. Boniface in Waukee. Yes, I got to see the wonderful church that you helped build for them, along with the museum! What a great experience that was. And I took lots of pics for others to see. (Yes, I've already taken close to 400 pictures in 3 days. Thank goodness for digital cameras!)

We thought we were going to run out of gas before we got back to Berlin because all the way down the hill the gas tank read "E", but when we started back up the hill, we had nearly a quarter tank again! Kathy was going to be upset with herself if we had run out, as it would've been a first for that. So, she and I went to get gas when we got home again.

And speaking of Kathy Mahler – today was her birthday! We knew it, so sang to her in both Spanish and English at breakfast time. Of course, she was hugely embarrassed, as she gets at times like these, as she hates to be the center of attention. But I need to tell you that she NEEDS to be at the center of attention because as a part of her first delegation as a full-time mission co-worker, I can tell you that she's doing a wonderful job! She is so good at this job because you can tell how much she loves it! It fits her like a glove. Without her, this trip would not be nearly as great or informative. And her Spanish has improved immensely.

And speaking for myself again, I didn't realize how much I missed her. I didn't properly say goodbye when she left in January, as someone came into the office and she snuck out. But, we didn't want to do it again, as it was hard enough to say goodbye in the fall of 2007 when she came down and in the winter of 2008 when she came back. As all of you know who know her, if you know her, you love her. That sounds like a song coming on... but not really. It's just the truth. And we knew that we'd be seeing each other again soon, so we didn't need to say goodbye formally... good excuse, anyway!

Well, I think that's all for now and I'm going to bed, as is everyone else now. (and yes, it's only 9:00 p.m. But it's been a long day in a lot of wind and fresh air. Looking forward to that shower tomorrow morning. :-)

– Betty

Day 2 - San Salvador to Berlin

We are having strong winds at the moment here and it's unseasonably cool. But, it was a beautiful morning with the bluest of blue skies. We sat on the porch with coffee and the best of company. Rev. Bob Cook was also staying at the Los Pinos guest house, so we got to visit with him, also! It was great to see him in the place where he's so happy - here in El Salvador. As usual, he was arranging something for himself and for someone else who needed something and he was going to be sure that they got it and someone else heard about someone where he might be able to get it...and as usual, he lost me... But, if you know Bob, you know that he's always trying to help someone and he'll find a way to make anything and everything happen for anyone who needs it. We said our goodbyes after a refreshing fruit breakfast and left for a morning in San Salvador.

During the morning, we drove past the American Embassy, and we got a quick picture through the window of the microbus, as pics aren't allowed. We saw the place where a mudslide had happened in 2002 and Denise Core and Dave Endriss had been here right after it happened. They were able to see how it looked now, after having seen it at its very worst at that point in time. We went to the chapel where Monsignor Oscar Romero was shot and saw the modest home where he had lived before he was assassinated. We saw the war memorial and all the names and a mural where Kathy Mahler was able to give us a brief history of El Salvador. It was a very meaningful morning for all of us.

On our trip through the curvy streets of the San Salvador area, we nearly lost Blair... his stomach had had enough as were pulled into the shopping area parking lot. I won't go into details, but let's just say that we all gave him credit and thanks for his aim and Alfredo was especially pleased! There wasn't much to clean up as he literally lost his breakfast. But, he was hungry for lunch about 15 minutes later and had no problems the rest of the day!

While eating lunch we were surprised to see Bob again and Daniela and so we had to say our goodbyes all over again! It was good to see her beautiful smile that always brightens any room where she is.

We hit the small shops pretty hard nearby and got the shopping bug out of our system, as this was our one chance. Everyone was so excited to see the gringos walking from shop to shop! We bartered and changed our minds and bartered some more. But, we were done by about 1:30 p.m. and piled back into the microbus. Alfredo claimed that we'd probably not make it up any hills now, as we'd packed the microbus so full of stuff!

It was now time for us to "head home", as Kathy said. And I was excited to finally be on that route. After a couple of hours, we came to Berlin... the town that we've all heard about for years. If you've ever had a delegation come here, or ever heard anyone in the Des Moines Presbytery give a talk about El Salvador in the last decade, you've heard them talk about the Casa Pastoral in Berlin. That's where a group of wonderful human beings work and some stay while taking care of all the delegations who come to visit. It's where Kathy lives and works.

For me, well, arriving here is hard for me to put in words. In fact, when we actually sat down and met with these wonderful women and everyone had to put into words what they wanted to say to the whole group, well... I know all of you who know me will find this very hard to believe, but I had no words. I found myself literally speechless. I know that has to be extremely hard for all of you to believe, but it's the honest truth.

After hearing about this place for close to 10 years and for the past 3 years; wiring funds, sorting coffee, paying bills for flavoring, paying bills for various other things, talking to Bob on the phone and by e-mail, talking to Kathy on e-mail from here... and on and on and on... actually finding myself sitting with the people who's names I have heard about and I've talked about... well, it was so overwhelming that I found myself in a state that I'm not sure I've ever experienced.

God was in that room with all of us – I felt him so strongly – telling me to pay attention because these wonderful women who do so much every day of the year were in my presense and I should sit up and take notice. I had finally found myself in this place that I'd only heard about and it was so real... finally.

Well, I guess I should sign off now. I just really can't say any more or add anything to it. These faithful women have touched me in a way that you couldn't know unless you've actually been here. It's only Day 2 and I'm already a different person. I thank God I'm having this experience. And I look forward to the next 5 days with wonderful anticipation. I'll write more tomorrow.

– Betty

Day 1 - Des Moines to San Salvador

I am traveling with the Trinity United Presbyterian Church delegation from Indianola - 5 of my good friends - Mary MacKenzie, Denise Core, Larry Lepper, Blair Lawson and my pastor, Rev. Dave Endriss. This is a trip of a lifetime for me... having my airfare paid by Compañeros. My continued thanks goes to all of them for giving me this opportunity.

We were about a half hour late leaving Des Moines, after having our plane de-iced (remember - it was 1 degree that morning!) and then having to wait for the batteries in the plane to reach a certain temp. Really??? I guess even big planes have problems starting in the nasty Iowa weather!

After a long afternoon in Houston and 6 hours of walks and naps, we finally headed for San Salvador. We arrived on time and went right through Customs and got our luggage with no problems. We got out to the street to hugs waiting from our Mission Co-worker to El Salvador, Kathy Mahler - a wonderful welcome! However, something smelled funny when Blair was the last to join us... it seems as though we got to be the very first ones that had problems transporting coffee flavoring to El Salvador.

Those of you waiting for more Snickeroo coffee may have to wait a little longer, as a goodly part of that bottle ended up on Blair's clothes and soaked up his suitcase! Actually, we didn't lose too much... thank heavens, but it was a smelly ride to the guest house in San Salvador. (I think our driver, Alfredo, in the dark blue micro-bus marked Becky's Tours wondered what on earth Kathy had gotten him into! At the guest house, we were welcomed warmly by someone with a great name... Beti. It was a wonderful place and after some cold adult beverages, we were off to bed after a long day.

-Betty Dyer
Des Moines Presbytery Office Manager
and a member of the Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Indianola