Dear Customers,
I got back from El Salvador on Saturday at 5:30 am after an exhausting 19 hours of travel. Needless to say the trip was absolutely incredible. It was rewarding to go back a third time, see many friends and familiar faces, and bring musical and educational supplies I knew they would enjoy.
I took guitar strings, music books, marching band music, and reeds for clarinets and saxophones in hope of expanding the opportunities for the musicians in Chiltiupán. These supplies will help them learn how to read music and play their instruments with better quality. I gave them to the principal, Sister Irma, and the music teacher of Santo Domingo who were very excited and appreciative to receive the gifts. I also gave Sister Irma Spanish books, dictionaries, and $145 to buy books that can only be found in El Salvador.
When we visited the Santo Domingo School, the students put on a variety of performances for the Saint Dominic group and the entire Santo Domingo school. After the marching band played, the music teacher asked me and several other musicians from our youth group to play in the marching band. Although I was nervous to play, the kids in the band were really nice and let us become apart of their world for a few minutes
Later that day, I went to Centro Escolar Colonia El Coco canton school, which is a very poor rural school. There are about 16 of these canton schools in Chiltiupán. Seven teachers teach 300 students (K-9). They are in desperate need for white boards, shelves for their developing library, and computers. Most of the working computers date back to 2002! Surprisingly, one of the classrooms in the school is made out of bamboo because they couldn’t afford the cement. They used to have a marching band, but most of the instruments are broken, and they can only afford a music teacher for part of the year. We thought recorders would be a simple way to introduce students to instruments. There is a beautiful garden with flowers, corn, papaya, and bananas that the teachers use to teach the students to grow and care for plants. Every change in this school, small or large, will drastically change the students’ lives and education.
On my trip, I also visited the Cultural Center, which is a small library filled with books and posters used for educational purposes in Chiltiupán. By bringing chairs and tables into the room, they hope this center will become user-friendly for people who visit it. They also need storybooks, puzzles, children’s activities, markers, and coloring books.
This trip I witnessed just how important and vital your contributions are to Chiltiupán. I want to sincerely thank you for your support. Attached are a few pictures. More pictures will be uploaded to the website soon!
Thanks,
Lauren Hawkes