New Hope President Rosa Flores Receives Training
Rosa Flores was elected president of New Hope in 1998. She has been so successful that she has
been reelected every year since. During the second week in March she was
rewarded for her work and prepared for more work when Co-partners provided her with a week of training in Washington. Rosa received
instruction in typing and community development. She made fund-raising calls to
the Inter-American Foundation and St. Anthony’s Church. Highlights of the
training were a visit to the White House and a little shopping!
(Yes, this photo is a cut-out, made realistic with the borrowed arms of
another tourist!)
Deteriorating Situation in Central America
So many farmers in Honduras have lost their
crops that the Government has declared a national food emergency. The
Government of El Salvador is considering doing the same because El Salvador, not yet having
recovered from earthquakes early in the year, is also
experiencing severe drought in some parts of the country.
The first year that international volunteers worked with New Hope, no one in the group had relatives in the states.
When, one Saturday, a young girl fearfully told us her parents had decided to
send her to the States mojado (Spanish for wet), we also were fearful
and wondered if there might not be a different solution. But obedience to
parents is still the norm in Central America and she went.
Now, seven years later, there is not a person in the group who does not have
someone—a father, brother or son-- who has made it across the border to work,
and send a bit of money home. Without this support, most rural families would
not be able to feed themselves or keep their children in school.
Recently I listened to the story of a thirty-year-old woman, mother of
four, three under six, who had just arrived in the States. She had been
severely injured in a bus accident on her way to work and lost several months
of pay from her job as a maid. To save the family house, her husband had tried
to get across the border, but was detained and sent back. She, barely recovered
from the accident, resolved to try to cross and signed on with a coyote (word for the “escorts” lead
people to the US for $6-7,000)
who was leading a group of fifteen. They were jailed in Mexico until they
managed to bribe their way out (apparently the Mexican police are effective as a
border patrol, but iin it for themselves). At the
beginning of the five-day trek across the desert each person received food and
water that lasted one day. Three people died on route. Prospective immigres know the odds, but they believe it is their only
option for a better life and are willing to risk their lives.
A Gallery of New Hope Members
The group was introduced for the first time this year to Pinata making. They loved it.
For Julia Andrade embroidery is an important source of income. She also
teaches younger members of New
Hope.
Transito at age 87 is the oldest
member of the organization. She is an avid embroiderer, very creative, but the quality of her
work is not quite up to commercial standards.
Co-partners of Campesinas Board of Directors
Chairperson: Archer Heinzen, Alexandria, VA
Secretary/Treas.:
Julia Gonzalez, La Paz, Bolivia
Glynne Leonard,
Falls Church, VA
Gloria Martel, San Salvador, El
Salvador
Rosa Irma Mendoza, San Salvdor,
El Salvador
Teresa Rodriguez de Sarroca, Rome, Italy
Pilar Lecarios, Lima, Peru
Phoebe Lansdale,
Washington DC
La Nueva
Esperanza (New Hope) Board of
Directors
President: Rosa Flores
Vice President:
Chita Rodriguez
Secretary: Adriana Dinora
Rivas
Treasurer: Gloribel Mendoza
