July 1999

Dear Friends,

We're back! This weekend has been one for rest and revitalization after several weeks of hard work preparing for and coordinating the visit of Alfalit's first-ever work group to El Salvador. The group of eight are from two churches in Denver—Mission Denver and South Broadway Christian (Disciples of Christ). It is amazing how much they were able to accomplish while here, not only materially but also spiritually, building not only wood and cement structures but also lasting relationships that will be strengthened in the years to come. It was powerful, exciting, full of grand surprises, transforming. We felt we were truly building a bit of God's kingdom on earth because the structures cemented together in Colima will last. They are everlasting.

This is a dream come true for Julie and me, a dream born during the ten years when we were privileged to work in 15 Latin American countries and saw so many abandoned development projects that were mismanaged or neglected due to improper foreign intervention, lack of follow-up, and the lack of a feeling of ownership on the part of the communities. With this group, we initiated a new model through which groups in the States will commit themselves over several years to a lasting relationship, to have an attitude of servanthood to the community, and to be flexible.

After our weekend's rest, we began to prepare for meeting with the children's group. We set up one of the big tables in the veranda for the kids to work on. The Colima youth group is dedicated to learning crafts, music, and traditional dance. The money from their craftwork is used for their families and the group's activities. We laid out the special clay for making colored beads for their necklaces, and we laid out the branches of bamboo with the little saws the kids use to make bamboo beads for the necklaces. Then we got out the big tripod easel with the words to songs and began to copy off a new song for the kids to learn.

When the kids arrived we were able to tell them their group had been invited by the archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church to be one of the groups to sing at the various events commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the assassination of Monseñor Romero. The first event will be a Mass performed in Ciudad Barrios, the town where Romero was born, to take place on August 15. Our group of twenty or so children will be transported by bus from Colima to Ciudad Barrios to sing there. They will be provided with lunch and then transported back to Colima. It's a four-hour trip each way, a big step for the kids. They are excited, and want to do it, but they don't know if their folks will let them go. We have invited Oscar Menjívar, who is the social worker there at the co-op and also the catechist of the local Roman Catholic church, to accompany us on this trip, thinking that the parents will be more likely to let them go if Oscar goes along. Then we began to teach the kids the new song, to be performed at this special Mass, and they really liked it. It's a liberation song from the Salvadoran folk Mass, which we have known and loved for years—but new to these kids. It says, "Let's all go to the banquet, to the table of creation! Each one of us, with his tambourine, has a place and a mission!"

We'll also be singing other songs the kids know well, such as the "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven (in Spanish, of course!). We will be one of eight groups from around El Salvador to perform in these five special celebrations to be held between August and next March, when the final celebration will be held in the national cathedral in San Salvador. This will be quite a bit of excitement for these kids.

Then we started making more beads with the kids. They were so happy because they sold $20 worth of necklaces this last week to the work campers who were here at Colima! This money will be used to help buy folk-dancing dresses for the kids.

Then I, Julie, had to leave the kids working happily with Emily and Melissa in order to come back into San Salvador for a meeting with an attorney. The attorney wants to help the group of eight sugar cane co-ops (including Colima) to incorporate as an association and be able to better negotiate with Mr. Badia, the owner of the sugar mill, to get better payment for the cane and eventually get him to process the organic sugar cane. The attorney says he can draw up a contract that will provide better security and guarantees of payment for the growers, and this is great, this is really needed!

This is how our day went! We see many signs of God working in Salvadorans and through Alfalit to bring about the new kingdom on earth, where God's people live in peace with basic needs met, and decent jobs and houses. We ask your continued prayers for our work.

Robert & Julie Dunsmore