Every year, people from Madison travel to Arcatao. Some years the delegation consists of interested people from the Madison community-at-large. Anyone with a sincere desire to learn, establish friendships and experience life as it really is in Arcatao is invited to join these groups! Usually the community delegations number about 10-12 people and can include families, working and older adults, teens, musicians, elected officials and members of the press. Those interested can contact: mascp@mascp.org
Every other year a student delegation from Edgewood College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison visit Arcatao and El Salvador. Edgewood Spanish professor Ian Davies and long-time MASCP activists Marc Rosenthal and Patrick Barrett teach a cross-listed class on El Salvador every other fall semester and then take interested students on delegation to El Salvador during spring break. Those interested in the course should contact Professor Davies at Edgewood College or Patrick Barrett at the University of Wisconsin.
Trail and Friendship Building Delegation–August 1-10,2011
Young people from Arcatao and Madison building trails to the largest Tatu--or cave-- and to the cemetary of unmarked graves high above
Members of the Directiva and of the Historic Memory Committee in Arcatao planned a working delegation with members of MASCP this year. Youth and adults from Madison joined with many youth and adults from Arcatao to build trails and create signs so that visitors to the historic areas in the mountains above Arcatao could find and see the caves where people hid during the war, the cave that served as a hospital for wounded civilians and soldiers, and the cemetary of unmarked graves used during the war when people couldn’t get down to Arcatao to bury their dead.
2011 MASCP delegation and friends from Arcatao at the Honduran border above Arcatao
Four 15-28 year olds were on the Madison delegation: Rainer Bathum-Nathe, Luke Voegli, Jelani Andrews, Simon Henriques and Cassie Wagler. They did most of the heavy lifting for the Madison group, climbing up the mountain early in the morning and working hard all day! Four “older” adults went along too: Peter Hoff, Mary Jo Hussey, Joan Laurion and Paul Patenaude. We did our best to be supportive and encouraging to the energetic and focused young people who were doing most of the cutting, digging, clearing, building, and painting!
Rosa preparing the newly built communion table for the Community Mass after all the work was done
The highlights of the delegation this year were working together on such a meaningful project and participating in the mass and community meal up on the mountain after the work was done.