Oh, the ramifications of the virtue of charity! It’s like dropping a stone in standing water and standing back to watch the concentric ripples expand.  Just as that tiny falling pebble affects the stillness of a large mass of water, even remote and anonymous acts of selfless good-will will cause the hardest of hearts to yield to God’s call.

That’s not to say that Manuel Roberto Molina Martinez and Ana Victoria Castillo de Molina have “corazones de piedro.”  In fact, all it took was an article in El Salvador’s national newspaper, La Prensa Grafica, about TLAU’s work at the Centro Escolar Nuestra Senora de los Pobres (see the original post; this story is recounted in a subsequent article pictured to the left).  The successful business-owning couple saw a need that, if addressed, would give hope to 170 very poor children that would otherwise find it more than easy to live a life of delinquency.  So they did what each and every TLAU donor has done and, I pray, will continue to do: something.  They paid for two more classrooms to complete a facilities plan that most of the school’s organizers probably thought was never going to be executed for lack of funds.  That was one year ago, and by Salvadoran standards, that’s called light speed.

Folks, I hope you grasp how truly awesome this is.  Keep it up.

Oh, and the last part of the article can be found here.  One day if I have time I’ll do a little rag-tag translating.

Thanks to my parents, Leonard and Sharon Nelson, I will be spending my spring break driving around El Salvador with Walter.  It’s been almost two years (or more) since I’ve visited, a fact that is only contributing to the excitement.  How funny it is that I have grown so fond of a country and culture that at one time appeared so strange that it frightened me.

First on the agenda will be visiting many of TLAU’s completed projects that I have yet to see.  Many of the projects have been inaugurated already, but Salvadorans are so hospitable that I’m bound to receive a welcome I definitely don’t deserve.

I will also meet many others who have benefitted from your generosity in other ways, such as the becados and their families.  And adding to the excitement, Walter informed me that I’ll be meeting Msgr. José Luis Escobar Alas, the archbishop of El Salvador.  (I hope I can muster enough courage to kiss his ring).

With the help of my youngest brother Jeffrey, who is visiting for the first time, I’m hoping to take many pictures and a few videos while I’m there.  Keep us in your prayers, and as always, stay tuned through the newsfeed–I’ve made a resolution to be more diligent with the postings.

If I was a troublemaker walking the streets of Refugio in Ahuachapan looking for an easy grab from the local parochial school (don’t worry, I’m not), this is the last thing I’d want to see.  Notice the metal spikes on top.  Salvadorans have learned that a wall means “stay out,” but glass or razor wire on top means “I’m serious.”  Just to remind you, TLAU built some classrooms at this school a while back, and during the inauguration Father Keane learned that there is a lot of gang activity and theft in the area hurting the school.

Thanks to all our generous donors for helping to make the Centro Escolar Nuestra Señora del Refugio, with its brand new classrooms, a safe and stable learning environment!

Click on the photo or here for more photos.

Take a few moments to read this reflection by Sabina, a high school junior in North Carolina and friend of Father Keane.  Taken alone, it’s very well written, but if you ever get the chance to visit El Salvador and meet those TLAU serves, you’ll be amazed at how well she has captured the phenomenon of “culture shock.”  It’s that almost sickly feeling an American inevitably experiences when he or she encounters the poverty in El Salvador and realizes that the small things we love to complain and worry about are absolutely trivial.

Well done Sabina, and thank you for your story!

“I heard the world” through the children of El Salvador. Being the selfish and self-centered teenager I was, the thought of leaving my comfort zone seemed ridiculous. However, my life was changed after I had the opportunity to visit El Salvador through the non-profit organization, “The Least Among Us.” Not only has this organization changed my life in countless ways, it impacts and brightens the future for thousands of kids across El Salvador everyday.

             “The Least Among Us” is an organization that raises money here in the states to build schools and send kids to college in El Salvador and other surrounding impoverished countries. In the summer of 2007, I was invited to teach English in one of the schools built by “The Least Among Us”. It was then that my world changed forever. My eyes were opened to the poverty of the world. The conditions these children live in brought tears to my eyes. Many children have one pair of clothes, a mud hut for a house, and the dust on the ground as a bed. However, I have never met more generous and loving people. These people took me in as one of their own and shared what little they had with me. Besides changing my entire outlook on life, these kids taught me to appreciate my education. Many kids have to work in the fields because they have no school to go to. They know that to break the perpetual cycle of poverty, they must get an education. Unfortunately, many of these children cannot go to school because there is not one available or they cannot afford to go to a university. “The Least Among Us” is trying to change that. One of the students I taught was an eleven year old girl named Maritza. Every morning before school, she would get up at four o’clock and travel forty-five minutes into town to sell bread for her family. After selling for a few hours she would return to the village to attend school. Most of Maritza’s classmates had to work before and after school to help their families survive. The needs of these children’s families could not be put aside in order for the children to go to school, but the determined students would work ten times harder in order to accomplish both. They were so grateful for the opportunity to attend school, something I take for granted and complain about on a regular basis! Every student has only one uniform, but never once did I see it dirty or wrinkled because they took so much pride in themselves as students. This really made me stop and think about how often I wear a wrinkly t-shirt to school. Furthermore, they not only took pride in themselves, but their new schools as well. I attended a dedication for a new school built by “The Least Among Us” while I was in El Salvador. I had barely stepped foot off the truck when handfuls of children ran up to me wanting to hold my hand and take me to see every inch of their school and point out every detail, beaming from ear to ear all the while because they were so proud. I witnessed the dramatic changes in these children’s lives due to the education and scholarships provided by “The Least Among Us”. One of my new friends, Yami, was from a family who did not have enough to eat. She was able to go to college on a scholarship from “The Least Among Us” and in November 2008 she passed her final nursing tests. Not only will she be able to support herself for the rest of her life, she will now be able to help feed her family. Yami is just one of the many examples of the lives forever changed by the efforts of “The Least Among Us.” However, this non-profit organization cannot do it without our support! These needy people fight everyday to simply live; let’s not give them the message that “nobody could care how you’re caught up in the fight of your life.” The children of El Salvador forever changed my life by teaching me what it truly means to be generous, thankful, appreciative, and accepting. I am a new person and will always tell their story to whomever I meet. Please consider helping these kids. They deserve a chance to be educated and to create better lives for themselves. They are willing to do their part if we can just give them the tools to do so. I would do anything to give them just a little of what I think everyone deserves; but I feel like I can only do so much as a sixteen year old in high school. Please consider helping “The Least Among Us” as it continues to bring hope to these deserving children.

Walter scanned this and sent it via email a few days ago. The publication, La Prensa Grafica, is the Salvadoran equivalent to, let’s say, the New York Times. Click on the photo for an expanded view.

You should be proud.

Walter sent some great photos of the inauguration of the three classrooms and small office constructed in Santa Ana. The place looks truly packed. The photos do a great job at conveying the sincere gratitude of the people that TLAU helps every day. You can tell that amongst the people in that town, the classrooms aren’t being taken for granted: the crowds are large and spirits are high precisely because the people understand how blessed they are.

Check out the rest of the photos here. The classrooms turned out nicely, didn’t they? And I’ve never seen them painted green before. I rather like that color.