3 22 2011 A Model for Learning and Living in Solidarity

Delegations can be double edged but at their best leave you inspired and redeemed.  Today was like that.  We began with an interview with Sister Peggy O´Neill, who has been in the country since 1986, working in a refugee camp and then in a small town north of here occupied during the war by returned refugees and several hundred soldiers.   She helped the civilians endure hunger, violence and attrocities in that period and continues working there while being a Professor of Theology at the UCA (University of Central America).  She runs the Casa de Solidaridad at the UCA, which hosts American students for a semester of study and work in El Salvador.  She gave a stunning discourse on her experiences and approach to life and service, speaking of solidarity in facing hunger with a person who was sharing her last food, and of humanity´s need to make each life an echo of the big bang.  She also spoke of being committed to the ongoing struggle of addressing the countriy´s problems, and of the value in metaphorically storing wisdom and experience for use later in life.  It´s little wonder that she has inspired many of her students, including our delegaton leaders, to continue working here.  We were awestruck.

Later in the day we visited the Romero Center at the UCA to view the story and place of the 6 Jesuits´ murders in 1989.  We followed with an interview with Jesuit Fr. and Professor Dean Brackley, who came to the UCA shortly afterward and has worked tirelessly for human rights in El Salvador.  This talk was similarly stunning, ranging from women´s rights to the politics of Liberation Theology in the Catholic church.  Delegations are double edged in that one gets to meet and talk intimately with exceptional, committed people who have made profound sacrifices in their work here, but asks ´´what can we do?´´  How can we measure up?   Sister Peggy, in touching on experiences while focusing on her approach to life, and Father Brackley´s call to discern one´s deepest vocation ' that which one can look back on and say ¨my life mattered¨  point to a path, and provide some of our best moments here.

Chris