A Deeper Dimension to Lifeby Gloria Fanta I left Chile one November morning, stopping by Panama before arriving to El Salvador. I had not yet been to this country, but I was excited to visit the land that had encouraged and motivated my daughter Jelena so much. By going to El Salvador, I would finally be able to identify with her and the beauty of the country she had so much talked to me about. I departed full of restlessness and enthusiasm without knowing what I was going to encounter. I had the clarity that the Jesuit education had as its mission “education for justice”, and that it was the light which shone light on my daughter’s path. I arrived at the Center Loyola where I was welcomed by simplicity, solidarity and spirit. What I saw in the Casa de la Solidaridad, the talks and lectures in the UCA, on community visits, conversations with the professors, the images and paintings of the chapel shook my soul: the practice of solidarity, another way of living, the joy, the friendship, the commitment of the people and of the academia. It is difficult to find the words to express the experiences in El Salvador; they are, as one teacher would say, “moments that just go unsaid.” We are caught by these moment, and what comes to my mind and heart are the lyrics “que triste suena la lluvia en las casas de cartón” (How sad the rain sounds on house made of cardboard). What Casa does through its link with the UCA does not have precedence in any of the Latin American countries I’ve lived in and visited. There is an outstanding commitment to the hopes and lives of the common people, linked to the academic excellence of the UCA, and the community living in the Casa. It moved my heart, my mind, and my spirit, and I felt so whole walking with candles in our hand in the night of the vigil with my daughter Jelena and her community. It gave me a deeper dimension to life and to the faith incarnated in the Church that lives in and within the poor. It was made clear to me that peace does not exist without justice. I realized that the martyrs in this 13th anniversary did not die in vain. In addition to the beauty I saw in all Salvadorans, I enjoyed sharing and observing the students living in the Casa. One evening in Casa I listened to the impressions and experiences of the thirteen young students, and the impact those experiences had on them. It was clear that they will never be the same; they will leave El Salvador, but El Salvador will never leave them. Kevin and Trena, in giving life to this project, have made an amazing accomplishment. They have given sense to the aim of “educating for justice” and also to ground the academic excellence of Jesuit education into social reality. I came back to the Southern Cone of South America with my soul feeling whole and with the sense that my daughter has found her way, in this magnificent experience in El Salvador. Thank you Kevin and Trena, Casa, the UCA, to the people of El Salvador, and the spirit of the martyrs for bringing new life to my own life and for keeping the flame alive. As a Latin American mother, professional woman, I deeply encourage all parents to “let go” of their children, to live, and enjoy this unique experience. Contact Gloria at: gloriafanta@hotmail.com |
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