No. 6 persistence and patience

I continue this week with persistence and patience. I am still not in my community hard at work, but little by little things move into place. Juan Carlos from the ¨Joven a Joven¨/¨youth to youth¨program was out sick yesterday. I´m hoping he will be back today as we have plans to meet about a meeting in Sacacoyo tomorrow with a group of 10 youth from the zone of La Libertad. I know it sounds funny to have a meeting about a meeting, but meetings seem to be necessary for just about everything around here. Cristina, the artist who worked with FUNDAHMER last year told me that if I want to get stuff done, I need to hold meetings, so that´s what I have been doing. This week, I have been scheduling meetings here, there and everywhere about youth initiatives, the painting of portable murals and the painting of stationary murals. The meeting tomorrow will be the first of many for the youth of many communities throughout La Libertad. Juan Carlos has already identified the young leaders of various communities, and has invited them all to the meeting we will hopefully hold tomorrow (if his health permits). The idea is to communicate the desires and needs of the youth in each community, and figure out how these leaders can help us bring about change for them and their peers.
Apart from Sacacoyo initiatives, I have been working with a local artist to paint a sign for the book opening of Maria Lopez Vigil. Maria is a well known author from Nicaragua, who wrote a book that has gotten many people’s knickers in a twist. The book is called “Otro Dios es Posible”/”Another God is Posible.” I realize now, after sitting in meetings with the author, that it is quite controversial as it challenges many biblical concepts. It highlights the possibility of a different god, a more liberal, fair and less macho god. The idea of possibility runs in parallel with the idea that another world is possible. It is not meant to insult the religion, more so to bring awareness around about the god that 95% of this country worship. It is meant to make people analyse deeper, the figure they worship and dedicate so much of their lives to.
Levy, is an artist from Santa Tomas, a town on the outskirts of San Salvador. Until now, he has not yet worked with FUNDAHMER directly, so when he came to FUNDAHMER the other day, I was able to introduce him to some personnel. He is a young, enthusiastic artist who I am really glad to have made the connection with, b/c I am hoping that we will be able to work together in the future. He has already expressed interest in the project in Sacacoyo. So, while I sometimes feel frustrated with the slow pace at which things move, I continue to value the connections I make along the way.
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I started writing this entry yesterday, and this morning had plans to head to Sacacoyo with Juan Carlos to meet with the youth leaders of various communities in La Libertad. Unfortunately, plans fell through with our transportation and we couldn’t go. These things seem to happen a lot. They also happen the other way around. Quite often, the youth cannot make it to the meetings because they have to work, go to school, or take care of their brothers and sisters. This was exactly the case with the youth of Santa Cecilia this week. Carlos Vasquez and I had planned to go out to Santa Cecilia on Thursday so that I could meet the group of youth and talk about the prospective of painting a mural with them. However, when Carlos showed up at FUNDAHMER that day, he told me that just about every one of them had to work and would not be able to make it. He promised to talk to them all and try to figure out what times would work for them. So yet again, I try to figure out how to initiate these side projects. I say side project, b/c my main focus is still Sacacoyo. But I would also like to continue working with other projects that FUNDAHMER initiated with “Sculpting a New El Salvador” last year.