World Cup!

I'm in a country obsessed with Futbol (that's soccer in the US) and entirely consumed with the FIFA World Cup games playing in South Africa, so I decided it was past time for me to learn something about this beloved game, THE game in Latin America and in most of the world's countries.

This morning I decided to see which game might be on TV (I could hear the roar from the converted theater that backs up to our house and must be offering a big screen view of the games), and came on the Spain/Switzerland match which almost instantly had me riveted. I knew Spain was one of the heavy favorites going in, and they certainly seemed to be dominating with much more time in possession of the ball...........but, amazingly, the Swiss made the first goal, and even more amazingly the Spanish missed on a number of attempts in the second half and ended up the losers.

I've never been much of a sports fan (except for baseball, where I stubbornly and forlornly root for the Seattle Mariners), but futbol! What a game! I have a lot to learn about it, and happily there's many more World Cup matches to come.

Looking good

A joyful community of seniors (mostly) came to Dra. de Burgos' office yesterday from San Juan Opico for the final post-cataract-surgery checkup - and another group will come today . In this final checkup they receive reading glasses, which they are happily showing off in this photo. Three of the 42 patients need follow-up laser surgery, which Dra. de Burgos has scheduled for Thursday.

One woman told me yesterday how wonderful it is to be able to recognize her family and friends at a distance, how good it is to be able to see what's on the other side of a room. A man said he rejoiced in being able to read the Bible again. Everyone asked me to say a big THANK YOU to the doctors and the team. I just wish I could transmit all the hugs I got.

Children in El Salvador

Last week La Prensa Grafica, one of the major newspapers here, ran a sad graphic. It showed a World Bank index of the opportunities offered to children in health, education, and housing among the different countries of Latin America. Chile led the list, followed by Uruguay, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Argentina. These countries cover 90% or more of the basic needs of children. Down at the bottom are four Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and - at the bottom - Honduras, where only 50 to 60% of those basic needs are covered.

A report on child labor was also released this week from the Ministry of the Economy here, which concluded that about 10% of Salvadoran children between 5 and 17 work, many of them on family farms or in family businesses. There's a good report on this in Tim's El Salvador blog, and a link to the original study.

Statistics tell a grim story, but there's another story, just as important. I visited a family today that we'd met in our February clinics in San Juan Opico. As so often here, this family with four children between the ages of 11 and 4 is headed by a single mother (the father walked out two years ago and hasn't been heard of since) who works in the informal economy, reselling used clothes, to try to put food on the table. They live in great poverty in a borrowed house made of tin sheeting propped together. But the mother sends all of her children to school (except the four year old - he'll go next year). She knows that education is the only hope for her children to escape the net of poverty, and she's determined that they will be educated.

The church floor

I've been admiring the tiled floor of Santa Lucia, our parish church in Suchitoto, for a long time. The tiling makes a carpet of color down the central aisle, and - what's most surprising - it's not a single pattern, but a slightly different pattern in each row. All the rows use the same set of tile colors: dark red, gold, green, brown, white, but each row is unique in its design. The tiles are chipped and worn, but they still make a beautiful carpet. (I wish the photo was better - my camera doesn't do its best in the low light of the church interior).

It's good to think of the tile setters who could have just chosen one pattern and kept repeating it - so much easier that way - but instead must have looked at their tiles and said, each time, now what can we do with this row? What would look good here? And they made a carpet of tiles to glorify God.

Founder's Day

For the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, today is Founders Day, the day we celebrate our founder, Margaret Anna Cusack, a woman of courage who experienced much conflict in her life, and longed for the gift and blessing of peace. Two special celebrations mark her day this year: our new website has been formally launched, and you can learn more about us and about Margaret Anna Cusack there. And in the western U.S., we celebrated Jubilees today, honoring the commitment, faithfulness and contributions of our eight Jubilarians.

Instead of joining in the celebration, I put Margaret Jane on the plane for New Jersey today - she'll be there for six weeks - and came home to a house that feels very big and very quiet with just me in it. Though, come to think of it, quiet is never long-lasting here, and even now I can hear the kids playing in the street and the buses rumbling past.

I can't be there in person with Cecilia Marie (80 years!), Rita Mary (75 years), Rose Marie and Mary (60 years), and Barbara, Jo-Anne, Margaret and Marilee (50 years), but I'm surely there in spirit with these great sisters of mine. May they each know themselves cherished today and every day. Happy Feast Day!

Circus!

They danced, they clowned, they did flips and cartwheels, they swung on great ropes of cloth - last Thursday a young version of the circus came to the Centro Arte para la Paz, thanks to Gabriel and Romina of Charivari. Gabriel and Romina are talented Argentinians who have spent a month teaching circus arts to a great group of young Suchitotans. The audience - parents and friends and school kids - was properly impressed and enthusiastic, and the whole scene was captured by the kids in Rachel's photography class.

It's easy to see how much fun this was. The part that's not quite visible is how important this kind of teaching is in giving these teens a sense of their own talents and possibilities. They may not be destined for the Cirque du Soleil (or maybe one of them is, who knows?), but they'll all be walking taller and with a healthy look-at-me attitude. May the circus continue!

Checkup

Yesterday 20 of our eye surgery patients came to Dra. de Burgos' office in Santa Tecla for a checkup, accompanied by health promoters Reyna Peña and Gumersindo Hernandez. It was great to see them again, looking happy and seeing with much greater clarity. Lots of hugs all around! Today the other patients come in, and then in two weeks there'll be a final post-op check. A couple of patients will need to have follow-up laser surgery, which we will be able to provide through the generosity of our donors.

This week the sun has been shining again, and the country is digging out from the massive rains dumped by Agatha. So far 12 deaths have been reported in El Salvador, with many homes damaged or destroyed, many families in shelters, and some towns cut off by floods or landslides. So far this week, the rains (we are in the rainy season when daily rains are expected) have been very light, a true blessing.