Reflection on El Salvador

Chiltiupan just will not go away. It won't leave my head. It's been two weeks since my return to a cold Cleveland winter, with work, family and parish activities all needing time and attention.

Every day, though, my head and my heart are drawn back to Chiltiupan. I think often of Trini and Andres, the homeowners who were so grateful that our group from St. John Neumann Church in Strongsville poured a concrete floor in their home, paving over the hard-packed dirt.

Or I think of Mauricio, the army veteran and board member of the parish clinic, who led fellow missioner Regis Falinski and me on a hike a thousand meters down into the river canyon to see 2,000-year-old petroglyphs carved into an automobile-sized boulder. Then, after the hike was done, Mauricio took Regis and me into his home, introduced us to his family and served freshly-made lemonade and delicious pineapple, papaya and mango.

Then there's Rafael--Sister Rose's "bread boy"--and his brother Fran, both of whom I gave T-shirts from Boy Scout Troop 701. I think of how much I'd like to bring Scouting to the youths of Chiltiupan--or help the kids in Strongsville understand how blessed they are compared with their Salvadoreno brothers.

I think of Luis, an older man I met twice during my stay. What caught my attention the first time was the sun-beaten, frayed old baseball cap, which I recognized as being from the Boy Scouts in the U. S. It was only when I met him the second time that I noticed his belt was a thin cord and that he had mismatched shoelaces--the left one was a piece of aqua-colored nylon twine.

Or I think of Sister Bernardita, the Carmelite nun who was our guide at the home of martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero, telling us in a reverent tone just above a whisper, "With Monsenor Romero, God passed through this country."

I had less than five days in El Salvador, most of it in Chiltiupan, yet I learned so much from the people. They gave me renewed compassion for others, they opened their hearts and shared good fellowship, and they showed me how to live one's faith every day.

My hope is that Chiltiupan stays with me every day--that it never leaves--and that I will find ways to continue supporting its people.