Jan
Delegations
Kate: Reflections from Binghamton
By Kate Chesebrough
From January 11 – 20th the Binghamton-El Charcón Sister Cities Project (BECSCP) went on a delegation to visit our sister community in El Charcón as well as Boca Poza and Santa Marta, two other communities that CRIPDES works with. Five delegates went on the trip, four of which serve on the BECSCP Board of Directors. During our delegation we met with representatives from CRIPDES and members of each community’s Junta Directiva (Board of Directors) to discuss the diverse projects and initiatives that are being undertaken in each of the towns. We went on walking tours around the communities to see current and ongoing projects, and visited with new and old friends that we met along the way.
Our role as delegates is to better understand the reality of life in rural El Salvador so that we can have better informed conversations about projects and other initiatives that the Junta Directiva wants to undertake. It is central to our organization to let community members lead, instead of imposing our own views or ideas, and during the delegation we are invited guests to witness their efforts. Delegations are a unique opportunity to gain a much deeper appreciation of how everyday life is experienced in these communities, and to be able to more clearly understand the challenges and impacts that projects have.
After staying in the capital city of San Salvador for two nights, we stayed with families in ‘home stay’ arrangements in El Charcón for four nights, during which we took a day trip to Boca Poza, and stayed in the Casa Communal of Santa Marta for two nights. The delegation was a fully human experience, as we stayed in the homes of families and in communal quarters, in close physical and communicative contact throughout the trip. During meetings and tours we asked an abundance of clarifying questions, and further connected with our Salvadoran friends by sharing meals, telling jokes, playing with kids, dancing, and being honest, reflective, and respectful throughout our stay.
We met with representatives from the national level of CRIPDES as well as two of their regional offices, and with the local Junta Directivas in each of the three communities and their respective subcommittess, including Women’s Groups, Health Committees, Civil Protection Committees, Agricultural Committees, and others.
During our time in El Charcón we toured the community to see the newly paved road, gabions to help retain the slope and prevent landslides, the school, the community’s water system, the bridge that was reconstructed after a destructive flood, the soccer field with surrounding retaining walls, and the distinct districts that compose the community of El Charcón. When we visited Boca Poza we toured the community’s vegetable plots in their agricultural fields, potable water supply, and overall tour of the whole community. While visiting Santa Marta we toured the agricultural landscape, farms, banks of the Rio Lempa and its deteriorating floodwall, and nearby mangrove forests on the coast.
During these conversations, we discussed complex and interrelated issues including poverty, climate change, human / women’s rights, land ownership, health, education, family life, migration, the impacts of remittances from the U.S., flooding, history, landslides, ecology, local and federal politics in El Salvador, stories and impacts of the civil war, and many others, all of which are related to the realities of Salvadoran life.
I went on my first BECSCP delegation in 2006 when I was 16 and a student at Vestal High School, which had a strong influence on my worldview as a young person. After graduating with my Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree in 2016 and while working at a landscape architectural design and planning firm, I went on my second delegation to celebrate our 25-year anniversary in 2017. In 2022 I enrolled as a Master’s Student at the Department of Landscape Architecture at Cornell University and expect to graduate in 2024. As my interests continue to evolve, a preliminary understanding of the realities of life in El Salvador and the empowering approach to working with communities has been a longtime source of inspiration. The social, environmental, and political issues that we witness in El Salvador inform a more nuanced understanding of our shared, dynamic, and correlated world, challenge my assumptions about how to approach complex problems, and inspire visions for community empowerment and human-landscape relationships. I am humbled and encouraged by the impressive work that our friends in El Salvador are doing, especially in the face of challenges unlike any that we experience here in the US, and am grateful for this 30-year anniversary delegation experience.
We encourage others in Binghamton and elsewhere to find out more about how they can support rural communities in El Salvador, and are looking for new members to join the BECSCP board. Our board members are primarily located in Binghamton, though others call in from elsewhere including Ithaca, Seattle, and Madrid, Spain thanks to contemporary technologies! We meet on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 5pm via Zoom. Our Facebook page is Binghamton El Charcón Sister City Project.
