PROGRESO, Suchitoto Update, February 2, 2007

February 2, 2007

PROGRESO Monthly Update #1

 

 Introduction

This document is the first in a series of monthly updates on the work of the PROGRESO, the regional branch of CRIPDES, and documenting the social, political, economic and cultural panorama in Suchitoto.  PROGRESO, with support from U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities local staff, has decided to share in this format news about its activities as well as reflections, reactions and analysis.  These updates are written first and foremost to share with Sister Cities in the USA who are partenered with organized communities in PROGRESO, but should also be suitable for general distribution.  Information was presented to me in an informal and open style, a veritable barrage of activities and alliances that were persistently and patiently mapped out over the course of 90 minutes of talking and furious note-taking.  It was such an energizing and invigorating break from the formality that often obscures the exciting nature of all the good work going on the author has decided to present the information below in much that same format.

 

Jesse Kates-Chinoy,

Sister Cities E.S. Staff

 

The work of the Regional PROGRESO Board:

 

The current PROGRESO “Directiva Regional” or regional coordinating board was elected last December (2006), and officially began work on January 8, 2007, as the newly elected board members divided up responsibilities and tasks.  [See attached PROGRESO profiles for more info on each board member]

 

This Directiva says goodbye and honors the work of German Gonzalez, the past president of PROGRESO, and José Rudecindo Abarca, known as Milton, who has coordinated the sistering and scholarship programs for the last 6 years.  Also finishing her term was Rosa Arias, the past youth organizer, from the community of Milingo.  The treasurer for the last term, Pedro Miranda Rivera, from the community of Agua Caliente, was elected President this term, and 3 new board members were elected for this 3 year term: José Angel Lucero from the community of Primavera as treasurer, Lilian del Carmen Menjivar from the community of La Bermuda as Vice-President, and Francisco Martinez from the community of El Papaturro as the Sistering program and Scholarship program coordinator.

 

Health Programs:

 

PROGRESO is carrying out an educational project in the organized communities of Suchitoto to promote family and environmental hygiene. Lorenza Pichinte, a longtime volunteer health promoter and guerrilla nurse during the war, and member of the PROGRESO board is coordinating the project. Project activities include trainings in 8 communities around solar methods for water purification, proper construction and use of latrines, personal and family hygiene, garbage and waste treatment.

 

Lilian del Carmen Menjivar continues to carry out an HIV-AIDS prevention program throughout the municipality of Suchitoto and expands this year to cover part of the neighboring municipality of Tenancingo. The program’s goal is to train 1,700 people over the course of 2007 around HIV-AIDS awareness and prevention, in schools, religious groups [that one is certainly a challenge], communities, and adult classes.  This is the 3^rd year of the program, and the work has expanded to accompany a peer support group of HIV+ youth from the communities of Suchitoto.  PROGRESO found funding to supply the peer support group with a number of individual micro-credits.  This project has been immensely successful, especially to raise the self esteem and autonomy of each of the youth.

 

Community Organizing Program:

 

PROGRESO works constantly to support community organizing structures, with a specific focus on strengthening Community Councils (“Directivas Comunales”), in the 23 rural communities that make up the municipal association.  An important mechanism of this work is supporting the legalization of Directivas in each community into an Association for Community Development.  The acronym is ADESCO in Spanish.  These ADESCOs are the legally recognized authority in the communities, and have power to find funding and support for community projects, as well as be the legal reference points for governmental organizations and other institutions that come into the community, making them a crucial structure for community autonomy and democracy.

 

PROGRESO in the month of January accompanied the legal renewal of 5 community councils (the elected directiva had finished their 2 year term).  PROGRESO helps to organize the community assemblies to elect the new directives as well as give legal support to putting all the documents together to be recognized by the local government.

 

To strengthen the network of organized communities in the Municpality of Suchitoto, PROGRESO has been building coalitions and collaborating with the Department of Social Promotion from Suchitoto City Hall, as well as a local ngo called CRC.  The CRC is a similar organization to PROGRESO, though it works in entirely different communities in the municipality of Suchitoto as it was born out of a separate one of the 5 groups that eventually came together to form the FMLN.

 

Women’s Community Cattle Banks:

 

PROGRESO, together with sister organization CORDES is implementing a project in seven communities of setting up what they call “Cattle Banks”.  It works like this:  Each community council (Directiva) selects 5 women from their community to be initial direct beneficiaries of the project.  Each of these women receives a pregnant cow.  In return, they pay 15% of the stated value of the cow back into the project, and once the calf is born and weaned (about 1 year later), the women must give the calf away to another woman in the community, who again, must pay back into the project 15% of the value of the calf, and give the first offspring to another woman in the community, and soforth.  The project is also being carried out with the HIV-AIDS peer support group.  PROGRESO projects that after several years, each woman in all 7 communities will have received a cow, which is important to their family economy and nutrition.

 

Youth Organizing Program:

 

PROGRESO continues to emphasize its youth organizing program, this year led by its newly promoted youth organizer, Fernando Lopez Menjivar.

The program kicked off the year by hold a boys and girls youth soccer tournament in the community of El Trapiche, a new community that PROGRESO is beginning to work with.

Fernando’s first job is to solidify the youth committees formed in each of the 23 communities where PROGRESO works, helping them put together their 2007 work plans.

In 8 communities that already have well organized youth groups PROGRESO is working to implement a micro-credit program to give small funds to the youth groups to carry out activities within their communities.

In the beginning of this year, the PROGRESO youth program is has an intensive focus on the community of La Bermuda, working with young leaders in the community to strengthen leadership and youth candidates for the community directiva, as well as strengthen the community youth group.

On a broader level, the PROGRESO youth program is leading inter-municipal organization with surrounding municipalities to strengthen local youth organizing, education, environmental protection and political advocacy.

 

Sistering Program:

 

Starting in 2007, the PROGRESO sistering program is coordinated by Francisco Martinez, who was elected to take the place of José Rudecindo Abarca (Milton).  Francisco is from the community of El Papaturro, and has long served on the local community directiva, though this is his first time at the helm of PROGRESO.

 

PROGRESO is continuing with the scholarship program, supporting 5 students, 4 of them in the Lutheran Unversity of El Salvador (ULS).

 

The PROGRESO sistering program is also participating in the CRIPDES monthly national sistering meetings, where the sistering coordinator from each CRIPDES region, including PROGRESO, as well as in country coordinator for Sister Cities and Salvaide (solidarity relationships with Canada).

 

One of the first tasks for Francisco this year will be to re-establish good ways and mechanisms for community sistering representatives to be selected and trained in each of the sistered communities that PROGRESO works with.  Together with these community sistering coordinators the PROGRESO sistering program will look to develop common work and a vision for the program:  sharing the reality and truth of the country and communities outside their own borders, maintaining the organized communities’ vision of social organizing and change, and strengthening solidarity relationships with communities organized in the struggle.

 

One last piece of good news:

 

This is just one last piece of news that PROGRESO shared with me when we sat down the other day, and I though I would share it with you…  Do you remember Carlos Vasquez, a former scholarship student from the community of Nueva Consolación?  Carlos was a star student, and eventually completed university studies at a technical college outside of San Salvador.  Carlos also was a leader in regional youth organizing, and was well trained by CRIPDES and PROGRESO.  Over a year ago, he made the decision to emigrate illegally to the United States to work to support his family, a sad reality and hard decision that he shares with many young people in El Salvador.  What sets him apart, and what the good news itself is, is that Carlos has consistently maintained contact not just with his family, but with PROGRESO, myself, and the Scholarship Program.  This year he announced that he was financially stable enough (take that one with a grain of salt, because he is still undocumented and barely getting by) to give something back to PROGRESO.

 

Carlos has decided to support a scholarship for a student from Suchitoto to join in the PROGRESO scholarship program.  The student will not be from his community, rather from another organized community of PROGRESO, and will be selected shortly, to join in the 2007 scholarship program.

 

PROGRESO, Sister Cities, and the community of Nueva Consolación are all proud of Carlos Vasquez for his effort to continue to support the work of youth organizing in El Salvador.