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Spring Project: Two Classrooms at Paul VI School in Nahuizalco

by John Nelson

After many years spent changing lives and improving communities outside of our department of origin (Sonsonate, the department or state containing the pueblo of Santo Domingo de Guzman where I first visited El Salvador), The Least Among Us will turn its attention, thanks to its generous donors, to the Paul VI school in Nahuizalco, Sonsonate.  Nahuizalco is located approximately 90 kilometers from the capitol San Salvador (see google map below), and is home to a population consisting of mostly indigenous Salvadorans who still speak their native Nahuatl language.  The school, serving over 730 students from kindergarten through ninth grade, is already running at capacity with classes running morning through late afternoon.  Although the school has room for two badly needed additional classrooms, the local agrarian community simply cannot afford the construction costs…that is, without the help of The Least Among Us!

Please continue to follow construction progress through this newsfeed, the Facebook page, and the Picasa photo album.

Thanks to friends, family, Father Keane’s parishioners at St. Mary’s in Goldsboro, and quite a few anonymous donors for making this project possible.  Special thanks to the students at the University of Dallas, whose Charity Week 2012 proceeds will fund construction of an entire classroom.

 

Pablo VI students: “Thank you for your help.”

 


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TLAU Becados 2013: Pictures and Profiles

by John Nelson

TLAU donors do a lot to help our sponsored students, so I thought it appropriate to provide a closer look at them with a picture and other information, including history, course of study, and aspirations.  Visit our sponsored students page for more information about each student.  We have a total of eight students for the 2013 academic year. Enjoy!

 

TLAU sponsored Luis Sanchez graduates from bachillerato

by John Nelson

Luis with a proud mother and grandmother.

Just wanted to share a few photos Walter sent my way. One of TLAU’s sponsored students, Luis Sanchez, received his high school diploma a few weeks ago.  It’s not an uncommon sight for those of us in the US, but without the help of TLAU donors, his degree would have been an impossibility.  On behalf of Luis and all the Becados, Thank You!

The graduating class. Luis is top row, second from left.

Helping Hands Medical Missions

by John Nelson

With Dr. Joe Hurley, center, and Dr. Carcamo, a Salvadoran obstetrician.

As a Catholic physician with an interest in surgery, I was very excited to learn about Helping Hands Medical Missions and the work they have been doing around the world. Since 1996, teams of about 25-45 volunteers, nurses, dentists, and physicians (both primary care and specialist) have been setting out on annual week-long trips to the third world, including Sonsonate and Santiago Texacuangos, El Salvador, to provide medical care to thousands of impoverished patients. More importantly, through their encounters the missionaries also aim to bring the gospel and it’s saving message to every patient they encounter.

Although it wasn’t my first time in El Salvador, it was the first time I visited in the capacity of a physician. On arrival, I learned that with the exception of general surgeon Dr. Joe Hurley and orthopaedic hand surgeon Dr. Don Condit, I was the only one with significant experience in the operating room and as a result I would be spending most of the week assisting the surgeons.  I spent the first three days operating with Dr. Hurley, and together we repaired approximately thirty hernias, which in an agricultural economy like that of El Salvador can be very debilitating. The next day I spent with Dr. Condit, who had a variety of cases including excision of a wrist ganglion cyst, a free toe phalanx transfer to lengthen the fingers of a child with a malformed hand, and a tendon transfer operation to restore some hand and wrist function to a patient with a permanent nerve palsy.

I also was able to spend two days with the primary care team, where my Spanish came in VERY handy. Although some patients presented to receive vitamins and over-the-counter analgesics like ibuprofen and tylenol, and others just for someone to visit with, I was satisfied to make a few diagnoses including ringworm and asthma and initiate the appropriate treatment.

Woven into the mission work was a great spiritual program. The week was structured almost like a “mini-retreat,” with daily Mass and time for private reflection. Father James Perez served as our chaplain.

In the future I hope to involve the TLAU becados in the HHMM mission in Sonsonate. Many Salvadoran students and volunteers, both medical and non-medical, provided great help to keep the mission running smoothly. I think it would be a great opportunity for them to join the HHMM volunteers and witness firsthand what it means to take the talents you have received and give them to others.  The Least Among Us always emphasizes that scholarships are not merely paths to material advancement, but widespread cultural change and a lifetime of self-improvement.

I met many very enjoyable personalities and made many friends during the trip. Although everyone worked very hard, we still found time to have fun. It may have been my first mission with Helping Hands, but it definitely won’t be my last!

For more photos, see our Picasaweb page. For more information about Helping Hands Medical Missions, or if you wish to make a donation or volunteer on a mission trip, visit their website for more information: www.hhmm.org.

(Disclaimer – My Helping Hands Medical Missions trip was not funded by The Least Among Us.  As stated in our mission statement, 100% of all donations are used directly on educational capital projects and scholarships.)

Assisting Dr. Don Condit with a tendon transfer procedure to restore some finger and wrist function in a patient with a disabling nerve palsy.

Translation of the “Mission Promise”

by John Nelson

TLAU scholarship recipients think and pray before signing TLAU’s mission promise.

Some weeks back, I promised to post a translation of the document each of the TLAU scholarship recipients signed.  The document, presented to them at a special ceremony with Father Keane, allows each student to pledge solidarity and devotion to TLAU’s mission statement, vowing never to be satisfied with simple material advancement but always striving to improve themselves and those around them mentally, physically, and spiritually.

I, (name), student at (school/institution name), pursuing a course of studies in (major), in this my (number) year of study, do in the first place thank  God Almighty who has given me this opportunity to achieve my dreams of education and self-improvement. Secondly, I thank The Least Among Us, which through its generous donors has given me a scholarship and has made my education possible. The comprehensive formation we receive through The Least Among Us combines acquired knowledge and skills with virtues encouraged and planted by the mission of the foundation: solidarity, devotion to the poor and less fortunate, charity, hope, faith in eternal life, and offering all our work, successes, and failures for the love of Jesus Christ. The Least Among Us has taught us that true joy and happiness is found not in receiving, but in giving.


Therefore, I freely and willingly pledge and promise that just as I have received the gifts of education, formation, and the promise of a brighter future, so also will I place myself and my talents at the service of God and my fellow brothers and sisters so that other young people, within or without my immediate family, have the opportunity to accomplish their professional goals and dreams. In this way, through my continued labors I will bring the love of God to others without regard to their sex, creed, or political affiliations. I understand that I am not obliged to repay The Least Among Us for what it has given me, therefore I will repay its generosity with support of my brethren.

The document then provides a space for the student to list specific promises to contribute to their plan of life, and each student was given a full day to think and pray about the letter before turning it in to TLAU officers. We hope this gives you more insight into The Least Among Us’ unique approach to combatting poverty in El Salvador.

Unleash Your Generosity

by John Nelson

Parents of schoolchildren work to construct the foundation of new classrooms at Nuestra Senora de los Pobres in Zacatecoluca

When I tell others about The Least Among Us and its mission, I’m always sure to emphasize a very important fact about the poor in El Salvador. Poverty, especially in the third world, does not signify complacency. The Salvadoran people we help do not lack ambition or the desire to improve themselves or their lot in life. They simply lack capital. I know from experience that they share our desire to improve ourselves, grow in virtue and knowledge, provide for our families, etc.  Simply put, in a rapidly globalizing, technology-centered economy, the system works over their heads.

As I thought about the virtue of charity, especially as it relates to financial support of our mission, I found an interesting parallel. Just as the poor want to improve their situation but lack the resources and raw materials to do so, all of us in the USA are deeply aware of great, noble, pure ambitions within our hearts that we never realize for a variety of reasons.  For some it’s a lack of courage, and for others it’s the scarcity of time.  And yes, like our Salvadoran brethren, we have all struggled with a lack of money or resources.

So in some ways The Least Among Us serves both the poor and its donors. For the poor, it provides resources to allow them to improve themselves mentally, physically, and spiritually. For donors, it creates opportunities to realize those great, noble, pure desires we all have but worry will never be realized.  It’s a win-win situation. A candle burning at both ends emits twice the light, right?

I started this post hoping to draw attention to some of the easiest ways to support The Least Among Us financially, so I must emphasize that if it is scarcity of time or treasure keeping you from helping, please take a look at the online giving service we have partnered with, Network for Good. Several donors are making clever use of the site to make small monthly donations, as little as $10 or $15. This may seem an insignificant amount, but if every fan did the same, our impact on the lives of those we help would be greatly magnified.  It is also very convenient, since many of us are so busy that remembering to sit down and make a donation every month is a pie-in-the-sky.

Finally, remember that most banks have very useful and user-friendly online autopay tools, whereby a client may designate a payee and an amount and the bank will take care of the rest: a check will be issued and mailed on a one-time or monthly basis without further hassle or postage fees.  So ask your bank, and when you sit down to pay your electricity or gas bill, remember your brothers and sisters in El Salvador at the price of two or three coffees every month.

Father Keane’s Summer Trip

by John Nelson

Father Pat and Miriam Vazquez, one of TLAU’s first college graduates, on her graduation day

Father Pat Keane traveled to El Salvador July 23 through August 2 to visit with the becados (scholarship recipients) and to attend the college graduation of Mirian Elizabeth Clavel Vasquez, a scholarship recipient and one of our first students to graduate from college.  She received her degree in Primary Education and hopes to teach soon at an elementary level.

Father’s meeting with the becados marked the beginning of a new tradition for The Least Among Us. At a special ceremony, each student was presented with a document written by The Least Among Us outlining the foundation’s approach to scholarships.  Each student was given a day to think and pray about the letter before signing it and listing the ways they planned to help their community after they graduate.  To paraphrase the letter (I plan a full post with a translation at a later date), scholarships are not awarded for mere material advancement of the individual, but as a crucial element of our mission to fight poverty and renew the culture from the inside out.  Therefore each student is expected not only to complete their education, but to spend their lives, even after graduation, making continued financial or non-financial contributions to their community. Father Keane emphasized the importance of helping others with their time, talent, and treasure, participating in activities such as weekly tutoring for struggling students.

Our next graduate will be Jorge Perez who successfully defended his thesis during Fr. Pat’s visit and will be receiving his Licenciatura on December 5th of this year.  Jorge has been in our scholarship program for the past eight years and is an alumnus of TLAU’s very first school in Santo Domingo de Guzman.  Born into a very poor family, Jorge entered first grade at the age of 13 and has shown remarkable perseverance in that he had to walk 45 minutes each way to go to school up until 9th grade.  He attended high school as a TLAU becado in Sonsonate and has been studying at the University in Sonsonate for the past 5 years.  At the age of 30 he will finally receive his college degree making him the first in his family to attain the unthinkable.   Fr. Pat plans to return to El Salvador in December for Jorge’s graduation and to celebrate Jorge’s wedding the following day.

The rest of the becados are doing very well as is Madeline Sanchez who received life saving open heart surgery through designated donations to TLAU.

TLAU scholarship recipients think and pray before signing TLAU’s mission promise.

A special thanks to web designer Jorge Preble

by John Nelson

I’d like to thank a great friend of mine, Jorge Preble, for his pro-bono work designing the new website.  As you might guess from how stunning the new site looks, it was no little task. In addition to the bright, well-organized, and overall pleasing appearance of the interface, it has several features that we didn’t have before. First, and most noticeable is the slider banner on the main page, where the promo video is embedded as the first slide. Another great feature is the gallery feature, where we will use to present slideshows of our scholarship recipients, among other things.

Jorge and I were classmates at the University of Dallas and have been great friends ever since. In fact, he was my best man at my wedding. If you or anyone you know is searching for a web designer, feel free to contact him at ajjpreble@ajjpreble.com. Please join me in thanking him for his generous contribution of time and talent!

TLAU named as beneficiary of University of Dallas Charity Week 2012

by John Nelson

University of Dallas, Irving, Texas

Great news! Renee Talamantez, a former classmate of mine and current director of student activities at the University of Dallas, informed me yesterday that The Least Among Us has been named among the beneficiaries of Charity Week 2012. Coordinated by the junior class every year, Charity Week raises between $15,000 and $20,000 yearly for non-profit causes through organized activities including the Charity Week Jail (a small donation will land your professor in jail), Male Auction, Shave-Off (I once lost my golden locks for the cause), KAOS (a campus-wide manhunt game), Semi-Formal dance, Silent Auction, Booths, and Air Band. Please visit the university web site for more information. This isn’t the first time the people of El Salvador have benefitted from the generosity of the students and faculty of the University of Dallas, and we look forward to a fruitful relationship with the Catholic university for independent thinkers!

Shave-off!