Wednesday we went to praxi in Mariona. The families we accompany were so excite to meet our parents and embraced them with such immense love in the same way they embrace us. It is hard to describe but truly an example of agape if I ever knew one. We shared many stories and with one another as well as coffee and meditation. It was beautiful to see the deep confianza that was created between our families.
As we talked after lunch about the war, Lolo opened up in away that myself and my praxis partner had never seen him before. I could see a suffering in his eyes before he began to share his story. These are his words:
We share our experiences with you because it helps us heal from the very difficult things we have experienced. Sometimes people say, you must like to suffer because you talk about the war so much. That is not true. We do not share because we like to suffer. We share because it is important to remember and we cannot carry these sufferings by ourselves. And I want to share this story with you. I come from Sumpul in Chaletango. I am one of about 30 to 25 people who survived a massacre there. All of my friends who I played with when I was a boy were killed. All of them are gone. My pueblo is gone. Nothing exists there any more. No one lives there any more. I don't know why I wasn't killed. I believe it is the plan of God that I am here. Gracias a Dios I have my life, because I am able to be here today with all of you. In all my pain and suffering, God has been with me and I feel God's presence in you all here with me now.
Before I came here I learned about El Salvador mostly through Romero House at Regis, but also from the stories of my friends. One of my best friends at Regis Mahalah has been to El Salvador twice in high school and in her room she always has a picture of a particular mural from here. I remember especially during our first year how she would share with me about her experiences with Salvadorans and how deeply they impacted her life. She also shared with me about this particular mural and how it has helped her understand peace and justice.
This is a mural at the Monument of Memory and Truth called "Justicia y Paz" This memorial has all the names of innocence who were killed and disappeared during the war. This memorial has over 30,000 names. These were people who were not involved in the army or the guerilla. In the final section it has listed all of the massacres happened during the war.
I did not know the name of this mural when I came here. I just knew I really wanted to see it and share that first experience with my dad. I asked different people if they knew the mural and where it was and thankfully one of my housemates knew where it was. So I decided to take my dad with me on Thursday afternoon, to share this experience.
When we arrived I shared with him the story of what the different symbols and parts represented in the history of El Salvador from what Mahalah had shared with me our freshman year at Regis. We then spent time reading the names of the killed and disappeared. And at the end we stood in front of the names of the massacres. I shared with my dad the names of which Oti had shared she had been present at and which occurred in the communities she worked with. Then I showed him the name of the massacre of the pueblo of Lolo from the story he shared with us from the day before. We both stood in silence and I began to cry. I could feel the lasso en mi corazon in solidarity with the pain I saw in Lolo's eyes. I felt the loss he shared with us. I felt the loss because of the love and care I have for him, Oti, and their family. My heart is lassoed here and to have this opportunity to share this experience with my dad allowed for my many worlds to come together in such a profound way.
Mariona Praxi Semana de Familia
Con mi papi en La Vigilia de Romero
"Justicia y Paz"
Memorial of Massacares
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