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Clean Water Heals Old Wounds
It sounds like a recipe for disaster — settling former enemies of a long, bloody civil war in the same village after a truce is signed. Yet in El Salvador, ex-guerillas and ex-soldiers are not only tolerating each other, they are working together to make their communities better places to live.
The secret to unleashing the peace and reconciliation process is old-fashioned development work — helping people turn scarcity into abundance by obtaining clean water, putting a roof over their heads, and growing nutritious crops. Episcopal Relief & Development is proud to be playing this central role in the healing process.
Millions of people were left homeless and many villages were destroyed during El Salvador’s decade-long civil war. After it ended in 1992, new communities were hastily formed to house displaced citizens. These villages had little infrastructure, few economic opportunities, and no real social cohesion, a problem exacerbated by the fact that people who were once on opposing sides found themselves as neighbors.
Episcopal Relief & Development stepped into this void, partnering with the Episcopal Diocese of El Salvador, CREDHO (Conscience as Action for the Spiritual and Economic Recuperation of Mankind) and Asociación El Mangle.
The partnership is helping communities organize themselves to improve lives. Priorities, determined by the residents, are to create reliable potable water supplies, build permanent houses, develop family gardens to provide nutritious food and create new sources of income through the sale of surplus produce.
These efforts are already raising living standards, restoring hope and giving residents opportunities to build a better future. They are also turning old enemies into friends.
With the war over, former adversaries find themselves wanting the same things: clean drinking water to prevent illness, good schools for their children and the ability to provide for their families. Episcopal Relief & Development helps them form community councils to achieve these goals and they quickly find they can accomplish more working together than apart.
The result is a social and cultural transformation taking place at the grassroots level, one that bodes well for El Salvador’s future peace and prosperity.
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