Our Final Week: Looking Ahead, Looking at Hope

One of many hugs shared during our final week

By Janet Crenshaw

If there are two things I learned this week, its that we have to have hope. And that re-entry into the U.S. is going to be, well, hard.

“We will have to talk about you going down there, I wouldn't be real interested in having one of my daughters in jail!!” he said.

After I emailed my Dad my final project, in an attempt to not have to explain all that we did and learned in our 10-day travel seminar in El Salvador, I received this reply in response to my comments on the School of the Americas. Immediately after to a talk we had a couple of weeks before with Sister Kathy Long about the School of the Americas, I immediately called my Dad and told him he should go to the protest that weekend at Fort Benning – just an hour from my hometown of Atlanta. Sure, we joked how if I went and was arrested, that the phone reception would be worse in jail than it is with the Casa Verde phone, but I’m starting to realize that I am going to face some tension in integrating my experiences here with my life in the U.S.

In our last few hours of the program, during our Social Change Lab Group, Julie gave us a big warning and very detailed suggestions to help deal with this re-entry concept and the whole “How was Mexico?” question. One typical reaction she talked about that scared me was the “reversion reaction” – where one just closes up and doesn’t talk about their experiences and just falls back into one’s old life as if the past semester had never happened.

After a day filled with final presentations that are intended to educate those at home about El Salvador, I have faith that our group won’t forget. With Elsbeth’s beautiful “rompe cabeza” (which translates into “head-breaker”, but it is a puzzle), I know she will get people looking closer at the images that make up the history and current situations of El Salvador, and also encourage others to “speak their own truths” as those we met also did. And Kathryn is bound to get her tune parody of School House Rock actually on the School House Rock program – maybe kids will start to learn the real U.S. history, about the U.S. role in El Salvador, and that “guerillas aren’t just monkey’s anymore.” Oh, and Dan, he might just start a [insert swear word here] revolution.

All of the speakers we’ve had, families we’ve lived with, the staff and professors at CEMAL, and all of the students – all of them have given me hope that maybe this big concept of “social change” is something we can actually tackle. Yes, I did think I would found out what to do with my life, I thought I’d be fluent in Spanish (ask Megan, I’m not – but the Spanglish is going well), and yeah, I thought maybe we would get the answers and formulas on how to change our world.

But no, believe it or not, there is no cheat sheet for Social Change 101. But in order to make efforts to change our world, we do need hope. And each other.

“If you don’t have hope, you die. And there are a lot of dead people walking around,” said James Cone, a black liberation theologian.

At our closing ceremony at Ann’s house this Friday, we all read a pledge as to what we are going to do once we return home.

“I pledge to not lose hope,” I said.

I pledge to not lose hope that one day maybe Licha will change the church from working within it with Liberation Theology, that I can go to a School of the America protests and have my voice heard and not get arrested as my Dad seems to worry about, and yes, that maybe the Casa Verde phone will one day work better.

My mom told me this would be a radicalizing experience. I thought she was just exaggerating. I believe Mexico changed us all, and the most important thing I’ve learn from this dynamic, silly and thoughtful group is that we can’t change the world alone as individuals. So why don’t you all join us?

As Dan quoted in his final project, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

–Margaret Mead

In addition to her “Ask me about El Salvador” shirt, Kathryn also sang three song/tune parodys for her final project to sing to her music fraternity and friends (and maybe in concert one day, right Kathryn??)