Funes ordena al ejército no llamar héroes a violadores de derechos humanos - ElFaro.net
Yes, this article is in Spanish. Here is the Associated Press article from yesterday, in English, although it is less comprehensive:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/world/americas/el-salvador-president-apologizes-for-1981-massacre.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=El%20Salvador%20president%20apologizes&st=cse
martes, 17 de enero de 2012
The Peace Corps kids are all right
The Peace Corps kids are all right
A commentary written by a current Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala.
A commentary written by a current Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala.
viernes, 23 de diciembre de 2011
Felices Fiestas!
Clarification: Peace Corps Honduras has not shut down like the New York Times article made it sound. They are going to send all volunteers home in January on administrative leave while they figure out what to do next. Still nothing decided about El Salvador and Guatemala.
The beach today was great and we had perfect weather. Not that it is ever not perfect weather at the beaches here. The cookie party last night at my house was also a huge success! I will add that I made all the cookies in a toaster oven, 4 at a time, because my real oven doesn't work. Here is a sampling from our sugar feast:
And...here is a snippet of the beach trip with my coworkers. I think they might have had more fun on the bus ride there than at the beach!!! Also interesting to note that Salvadorans have many great qualities and talents but clapping in unison is NOT one of them. Enjoy and happy holidays!
The beach today was great and we had perfect weather. Not that it is ever not perfect weather at the beaches here. The cookie party last night at my house was also a huge success! I will add that I made all the cookies in a toaster oven, 4 at a time, because my real oven doesn't work. Here is a sampling from our sugar feast:
 |
| Here we have oreo rice kispie treats (made with oreos instead of rice krispies--no bake!) and peanut butter Hershey kiss cookies. |
 |
| From left to right: melted snowmen sugar cookies, peanut butter and jelly cookies, more kisses, some sugar cookie candy canes, and peanut butter pretzel reindeer. |
 |
| The cookie decorating station. |
And...here is a snippet of the beach trip with my coworkers. I think they might have had more fun on the bus ride there than at the beach!!! Also interesting to note that Salvadorans have many great qualities and talents but clapping in unison is NOT one of them. Enjoy and happy holidays!
jueves, 22 de diciembre de 2011
Continuing security concerns
Yesterday Peace Corps Honduras pulled out of the country and sent all of its volunteers home. The situation in El Salvador is very similar to Honduras and the three Northern Triangle countries (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras) are sort of a packaged deal in the world of Peace Corps, so we are waiting to see what they will decide to do here. The uncertainty is very nerve-wracking, to say the least. All we know for now is that Peace Corps El Salvador will not be receiving any new volunteers (trainees). Here are some articles that addressed these new developments:
I will post some links to articles when I have more time and my internet isn't being so slow. I've got to go, I need to get up early for my annual office trip to the beach!!! Yes, we are trying to carry on as normal here...
Peace Corps To Scale Back In Central America
Thursday, December 22, 2011
New York Times
By Randal C. Archibold
MEXICO CITY - The increasing drug and organized-crime violence in Central America has led the Peace Corps to pull out of Honduras and stop sending new volunteers to Guatemala and El Salvador, the organization announced Wednesday.
Peace Corps officials said they had taken stock of the worsening conditions and decided to withdraw their 158 volunteers from Honduras in January and scuttle plans to send 29 recruits to complete their training.
"We are going to conduct a full review of the program," Aaron S. Williams, the director of the Peace Corps, said in a statement.
In Guatemala and El Salvador, officials decided to keep the 335 volunteers already in those countries but not to send the 76 recruits who were to begin training there next month. The trainees will be sent to other countries, the corps said.
Kristina Edmunson, a Peace Corps spokeswoman in Washington, said the moves stemmed from "comprehensive safety and security concerns" rather than any specific threat or incident. However, Peace Corps Journals, an online portal for blogs by Peace Corps volunteers, has an entry referring to a volunteer's being shot in an armed robbery.
There was no immediate reaction from the governments.
All three countries have endured a rash of violence primarily related to drug traffickers using Central America as a staging point to ship cocaine to the United States from South America.
A wave of violence has struck particularly hard in Honduras, whose institutions are still recovering from a coup in 2009.
It has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world - the highest by some measures - and this month, Alfredo Landaverde, the country's former antidrug and security adviser who often denounced corruption, was shot to death.
Ms. Edmunson said that from time to time, the corps withdraws or restricts work in the 75 countries in which it has volunteers.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
New York Times
By Randal C. Archibold
MEXICO CITY - The increasing drug and organized-crime violence in Central America has led the Peace Corps to pull out of Honduras and stop sending new volunteers to Guatemala and El Salvador, the organization announced Wednesday.
Peace Corps officials said they had taken stock of the worsening conditions and decided to withdraw their 158 volunteers from Honduras in January and scuttle plans to send 29 recruits to complete their training.
"We are going to conduct a full review of the program," Aaron S. Williams, the director of the Peace Corps, said in a statement.
In Guatemala and El Salvador, officials decided to keep the 335 volunteers already in those countries but not to send the 76 recruits who were to begin training there next month. The trainees will be sent to other countries, the corps said.
Kristina Edmunson, a Peace Corps spokeswoman in Washington, said the moves stemmed from "comprehensive safety and security concerns" rather than any specific threat or incident. However, Peace Corps Journals, an online portal for blogs by Peace Corps volunteers, has an entry referring to a volunteer's being shot in an armed robbery.
There was no immediate reaction from the governments.
All three countries have endured a rash of violence primarily related to drug traffickers using Central America as a staging point to ship cocaine to the United States from South America.
A wave of violence has struck particularly hard in Honduras, whose institutions are still recovering from a coup in 2009.
It has one of the highest per capita murder rates in the world - the highest by some measures - and this month, Alfredo Landaverde, the country's former antidrug and security adviser who often denounced corruption, was shot to death.
Ms. Edmunson said that from time to time, the corps withdraws or restricts work in the 75 countries in which it has volunteers.
US suspends new Peace Corps recruit training for Guatemala, El Salvador on security concerns
By Associated Press, Published: December 21
GUATEMALA CITY — The U.S. government is suspending training for new Peace Corps volunteers in the Central American nations of Guatemala and El Salvador while it assesses security concerns.
A Peace Corps statement says a training course for volunteers scheduled for January will not take place, but those already serving in the two countries are “safe and accounted for.”
The corps said Wednesday that “due to ongoing security concerns, the agency is enhancing operational support to currently serving volunteers.”
Corps spokeswoman Kristina Edmunson says the corps will try to place volunteers who planned to serve in Guatemala or El Salvador in other countries.
Both countries have suffered waves of violent crime and drug-related violence.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
viernes, 11 de noviembre de 2011
Women Ascendent
This is an interesting article about where in the world women are making the greatest strides. The map of women's share of tertiary school enrollment lists the DR as second in the world, which, based on my observations of the country does not surprise me at all!
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2011/11/08/women-ascendent-where-females-are-rising-the-fastest
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2011/11/08/women-ascendent-where-females-are-rising-the-fastest
domingo, 23 de octubre de 2011
Storm facts sent from Peace Corps and how to donate
International donations can be made through :
·
Bank of America – San Francisco - SWIFT:BOFAUS6S - ABA: 121000358
FACT SHEET ON RAINS IN EL SALVADOR
DUE TO TROPICAL DEPRESSION 12E
Since the entrance of Tropical Depression 12E, which occurred on October 10th of this year to date, the country has registered a historical maximum amount of rainfall of 1,500 mm in some areas. This amount of rain almost doubled the amount of rainfall reported during hurricane Mitch (1998).
· Average precipitation in El Salvador is approximately 1.800 mm per year. So far, in ten days some areas of the nation have registered more than 80% of the amount of rain that falls in one whole year.
· Hurricane Mitch, in 1998, caused 861 mm of rain, meanwhile Tropical Storm Stan in 2005 produced 766 mm of rain.
· So far, the death toll due to the tropical depression 12E has reached 34.
· Preventive evacuations maintained low the death toll in comparison with other natural disasters. Hurricane Mitch caused 240 human loses, Ida left 198 dead, and Stan registered 69 casualties.
· To date, a million people have been directly affected by the rain.
· There are 55,976 evacuees (15,195 families) and there are 683 shelters and refuges.
· In comparison, during Mitch the country had 10,000 affected and during Ida (2009) the amount reached 7,428 in 75 shelters.
· 10% of the national territory is flooded. The rainfall has affected directly 181 municipalities, which represent 70% of the total of municipalities nationwide.
· Authorities have distributed more than 470 metric tons of food to the victims.
· There are 18,445 flooded homes, 2,222 affected wells and 879 landslides on highways have been accounted for. There are more than 2,000 houses at high risk of flooding or to be affected by landslides.
· On October 17 the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador declared state of public calamity and disaster throughout the country for the next 60 days, as a result of the situation of vulnerability.
· There are 2,935 manzanas of damaged crops (around 5,000 acres).
· The heavy rains have caused the mudslides and flooding, swollen rivers, destroyed 4 bridges and damaged 14 other in the main routes.
· The Government of El Salvador made an international call for aid on Sunday October 16th to face the national emergency.
· The Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Embassies and Consulates has initiated efforts to support the management of international cooperation
· Salvadorans living in the United States and Canada may contact 1-888-30-111-30 or visit the web site: www.rree.gob.sv/emergencia for more information on how to contribute.
· Donations can be made to an account set up the Government of El Salvador at BANCO AGRICOLA # 0590-057574-5, called “SETEFE-EMERGENCIA EL SALVADOR”. From abroad, international transfers can be made through :
· Bank of America – San Francisco - SWIFT:BOFAUS6S - ABA: 121000358
Since the entrance of Tropical Depression 12E, which occurred on October 10th of this year to date, the country has registered a historical maximum amount of rainfall of 1,500 mm in some areas. This amount of rain almost doubled the amount of rainfall reported during hurricane Mitch (1998).
· Average precipitation in El Salvador is approximately 1.800 mm per year. So far, in ten days some areas of the nation have registered more than 80% of the amount of rain that falls in one whole year.
· Hurricane Mitch, in 1998, caused 861 mm of rain, meanwhile Tropical Storm Stan in 2005 produced 766 mm of rain.
· So far, the death toll due to the tropical depression 12E has reached 34.
· Preventive evacuations maintained low the death toll in comparison with other natural disasters. Hurricane Mitch caused 240 human loses, Ida left 198 dead, and Stan registered 69 casualties.
· To date, a million people have been directly affected by the rain.
· There are 55,976 evacuees (15,195 families) and there are 683 shelters and refuges.
· In comparison, during Mitch the country had 10,000 affected and during Ida (2009) the amount reached 7,428 in 75 shelters.
· 10% of the national territory is flooded. The rainfall has affected directly 181 municipalities, which represent 70% of the total of municipalities nationwide.
· Authorities have distributed more than 470 metric tons of food to the victims.
· There are 18,445 flooded homes, 2,222 affected wells and 879 landslides on highways have been accounted for. There are more than 2,000 houses at high risk of flooding or to be affected by landslides.
· On October 17 the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador declared state of public calamity and disaster throughout the country for the next 60 days, as a result of the situation of vulnerability.
· There are 2,935 manzanas of damaged crops (around 5,000 acres).
· The heavy rains have caused the mudslides and flooding, swollen rivers, destroyed 4 bridges and damaged 14 other in the main routes.
· The Government of El Salvador made an international call for aid on Sunday October 16th to face the national emergency.
· The Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Embassies and Consulates has initiated efforts to support the management of international cooperation
· Salvadorans living in the United States and Canada may contact 1-888-30-111-30 or visit the web site: www.rree.gob.sv/emergencia for more information on how to contribute.
· Donations can be made to an account set up the Government of El Salvador at BANCO AGRICOLA # 0590-057574-5, called “SETEFE-EMERGENCIA EL SALVADOR”. From abroad, international transfers can be made through :
· Bank of America – San Francisco - SWIFT:BOFAUS6S - ABA: 121000358
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