Episcopal Press and News
Human Advancement Program in El Salvador
Diocesan Press Service. May 2, 1975 [75168]
From 'Rapidas in English,' edited and translated by Nancy E. Howard
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- A project initiated here by the Episcopal Church of El Salvador is carrying out a full program for human advancement in Cuilapa, a large rural zone near the Guatemalan border.
CREDHO, Concientization for the Spiritual and Economic Recovery of Man, was begun a year ago as an answer of the Church to the social problems of the country.
Luis Serrano, director of CREDHO, tells how the idea came into being. " The Episcopal Church had been ministering in this area for some years. Every Sunday we went there to celebrate the Eucharist. We soon realized that we were giving the Bread and Wine to people who had neither bread nor wine, that in this context the Sacrament of Our Redemption had no meaning. "
"We began with a reading program using the methods of Paulo Freire and a clinic with volunteers from the city," continues Serrano. The clinic has now moved from the curative stage to the preventative. "Today our volunteers teach the campesinos, people of the land, how to avoid sickness. "
That beginning was the seed for CREDHO which today has a full program for human advancement serving the city as well as the country.
Perhaps the most ambitious project of CREDHO has been the purchase of a plot of land, El Maizal, where an agricultural school will be opened and where a communal house and a clinic are being built. An enormous well has been dug which irrigates the entire area so that crops are no longer dependent on weather conditions.
This project is being made possible through help from the Episcopal Church, the Ninth Province, and the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief. International organizations aiding the project are Bread for the World from Germany and the Heifer Project. The Interamerican Foundation is in the process of approving a grant of $140, 000 with which CREDHO will be able to extend its activities to other parts of the country. If this donation materializes, CREDHO will serve one-fifth of Salvadorenian territory.
A Center for Psychological Orientation is run by CREDHO in the city of San Salvador. It gives counselling service in the areas of marriage, alcoholism, drug addiction and vocational orientation. In addition, a month ago ITS (Typical Salvadorenian Industries) was established. ITS creates typical clothes for exportation and popular clothing for local sale. The machines will be used at night by the Academy of Industrial Creation. During a recent visit to ITS, the Minister of Education, Rogelio Sanchez, said that the ministry under his charge would study the possibility of accrediting the Academy so that its graduates would be able to work in other places as qualified operators.
Serrano states that without the assistance of many people the programs would not be working. According to him, the formula is very simple : "Challenge and motivate the people." CREDHO has demonstrated that its motto is very serious : "We take no one by the hand; we only indicate the road. "
( NOTE TO EDITORS : Photographs to accompany this story were sent to you last year in MISSION INFORMATION PIX-PACK 3/74, on The Episcopal Church in El Salvador.)
