News 5 -- March 14, 1988

“It is not hard to see the suffering of our people. Open sewers everywhere, the numerous deaths of children dying of malnutrition, the lack of land to plant enough corn for one's family…while one family has as many as 900 head of cattle on a piece of land that is larger than that on which the entire population of our town is situated.”

[In some of his letters Larry used the word womyn as his way of expressing the equality of women and men.
campo = farm field or farm region. campesino(a) = peasant farmer]

Newsletter #5

El Salvador
March 14, 1988


Dear Brother Oblates:

In a recent letter from Jim Deegan, I was encouraged to write a letter to the Province telling of my life and work here in El Salvador.

A quarterly newsletter may have reached a limited number of you, but let me try to be faithful to Jim's request by writing an open letter to the entire Province.

I came to El Salvador a year and a half ago. I came as part of a group of volunteers from the U.S. to serve in refugee camps that are under the auspices of the archdiocese of San Salvador.

Since I was the first priest to join this group, the question had not arisen as to the legitimacy of having clergy accompany the people in the camps. But it was decided best not to live and work there as my presence could possibly draw unnecessary attention and cause further problems.

When the opportunity presented itself I accepted a parish outside the capital where 95 per cent of the population are campesinos, barely making it from day to day.

My experience in Recife and the year in Mexico before coming to El Salvador have helped me to persevere until now.

The war goes on into its 8th year. Seventy thousand lives have been claimed, the majority being the elderly, the women and the children. Yet the spirit and the truth of Monsignor Oscar Romero lives on in the people of this country. What he preached and what he lived cannot be buried or covered over with pious platitudes.

As I write these words, I am aware that the impression can be given that the majority of the poor are well organized, work out of Christian Based Communities, and an end to the oppression is in sight. This is far from the way it is.

Here in this parish, 2 1/2 hours by bus outside the Capital of San Salvador, we have been up to four volunteers -- three North Americans and a religious sister from Canada.

We have truly been gifted by what we have seen and heard and by what the people have given to us. Sometimes working in the fields with the campesinos, taking our clothes to the river to wash, walking up and down the steep hillsides to visit the small villages touching our parish boundaries has been an important part of our few short months in El Salvador.

It is not hard to see the suffering of our people. Open sewers everywhere, the numerous deaths of children dying of malnutrition, the lack of land to plant enough corn for one's family…while one family has as many as 900 head of cattle on a piece of land that is larger than that on which the entire population of our town is situated.

Eighty per cent of the population in the countryside do not read or write. Most children do not complete four years of schooling, while many never have the opportunity of any formal schooling.

Our town was mortared a year ago this month. In the early 80's bodies were frequently found on the road leading to the city. There is no one I know that has not lost a member of their family, or relative, to the war.

Contrary to what we read and hear, the war continues to be the number one priority of the military and government.

Among Salvadorans who have suffered most, many have formed small faith communities. They were drawn together to listen to the Word of God when the bombings and the cost in human lives were most extensive. The truth they speak and the human rights they continue to struggle for are a powerful testimony throughout El Salvador and the entire world.

We have been attempting to listen to the Word of God with our people and make sense of God's Word within the context of our daily lives. This has brought some to address the question of illiteracy, malnutrition, and the need for grass-root cooperatives.

As volunteers from outside the country, we walk a very delicate path. To know when to speak and to share and when to listen is crucial. To learn to enter into the traditional feast days with joy and enthusiasm is important. But taking the clue from Dom Helder and to use these occasions to show their relevance and importance within the context of our lives today is an absolute.

To enter another's culture and tradition demands much openness -- a willingness to change, though mistakes are inevitable.

Most of all, a faith is needed that, despite ourselves, we trust in the Spirit to lead us through the good times and the bad.

It will never be a matter of the people not having the patience to accept us, but that we have the patience to accept ourselves for better or for worse and then moving on.

I was going to end here, but will write the following as one would add a P.S.

Since the first of the year things have grown increasingly tense. Death squad activity such as occurred in the 80's is showing up throughout the country. As the people demonstrate more courage to organize effective unions and to make public their demands, more persons are being arrested, tortured, and killed.

Our town, generally considered outside the war zone, but headquartering 150 soldiers to be on constant guard night and day, is sensing the closeness of the war. Electrical plants have been sabotaged cutting off access to light and water. The day before yesterday, a plane circled the city two or three times and then dropped a bomb that could be heard exploding in the distance.

Elections are scheduled for next Sunday, the 20th of March. Many are terrified with the possible violence that may erupt. Here in El Salvador, the Arias Peace Plan has been violated on nearly every count. (We) I urge you to speak out against any financial aid to El Salvador. It is the U.S. tax dollar and propaganda such as “Human Rights under President Duarte have improved considerably” that allows this war to continue.

My prayers and thoughts and support are very much with all of you.

Larry Rosebaugh