A View From The Window: Unbound in El Salvador--A Special Journey

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Unbound in El Salvador--A Special Journey

Just last night I returned from a wonderful trip to El Salvador with Unbound. Many of you know that I have done quite a bit or preaching for this wonderful organization. Unbound really backs us priests who preach for them and desires that we experience the workings of their program first-hand, and what an experience it was. One blog entry cannot do justice to the experience that I had so there will be several of them in the days ahead.

Though I have presented Unbound on this blog before I will again describe it for those who missed previous entries. The program sponsors children and elders in 18 countries around the world. At his point there are over 333,000 people being sponsored and the number is still growing. We preachers go to parishes and seek out people who are willing to sponsor. For more information you can go to Unbound. Perhaps after exploring that link you might be willing to sponsor.

Parishioners at St. Matthew's, Tyrone, GA choosing people to sponsor

Before going to El Salvador I had visited Unbound headquarters in Kansas City and had the program explained to me. Having traveled to the Unbound center in Santa Ana, El Salvador the explanations came alive. The entries on this blog will tray to present various aspects of the work of this great organization as I experienced them each day.

(Note: As a matter of policy Unbound does not allow pictures of sponsored members and families to be shared on social media so any pictures here will be of places, or be taken from behind the groups of people).

Being greeted by a group of mothers of sponsored children near Santa Ana

On our first full day in Santa Ana we experienced Unbound sponsored children and the groups of mothers of these children who make it all happen. At morning prayer the mother of a five year old sponsored child spoke to us about what sponsorship meant. She talked about being able to buy shoes and clothing, etc, but most of all she shared deep gratitude and a sense of hope for the future of this boy and all of her children. There was not a dry eye among us.

Walking to the home of a sponsored child

   Later in the morning we split into two groups to visit two of the mother's groups. Community is a big part of the Unbound experience. As my group arrived at one gathering we were greeted like heroes with clapping and singing. It was a moving, emotional experience.
   Mothers meet together and support one another. They help each mother decide how the sponsorship funds will be used for her child. Unbound really believes that these mothers, and not some higher ups, know best what their child needs. In addition to gratitude and hope several mothers thanked us for trusting them.

   In the afternoon we were split up even more and visited the homes of sponsored children. In my case together with Fr. Tim Coday from Unbound headquarters, the visit was to the home of a girl and her family. The girl had just graduated from ninth grade and told us how it would not have been possible without Unbound. She told us as well that she not only wanted to complete high school, but to go on to a University. For a girl in El Salvador this is rarefied air. She had hopes of applying for an Unbound scholarship to help with her goal. (More on that in a later blog entry). Besides having her goals of achievement she, like just about every teenager that we met, sought to work in the future in some sort of service related job in their own country.

   I know that some who read this are asking "Where are the fathers?" Good question. Many of the fathers work long hours and cannot attend meetings, though some join in with the mothers groups. Others may have abandoned the family feeling shame about unemployment which is a big problem in El Salvador and elsewhere. Besides this it is only a few years since the end of a bloody civil was that took the lives of countless thousands of men. While there are many good fathers and husbands it is the mothers who are on the front line, and they do a great job.