“For a long time we felt abandoned by everyone. Every day we struggled just to get by. Today, because of COFOA organizing, we have electricity in our homes. Now we have a little hope.” Juliana Aguilar, COFOA leader in Villa Altagracia Marale, Honduras
Last week, 107 people joined Juliana, Mayor Edwin Montes, and Fr. Marciano Valle for a mass and community meal to celebrate their faith and work. Altagracia is a town of 47 families. Most eke out a living as small scale farmers. There are few services and people have to travel hours for medical care.
Two years ago, Archbishop José Vicente Nácher Tatay asked COFOA to work with rural communities outside Tegucigalpa to build their capacity to bring about change. COFOA hired two young church leaders, Carmen and Magda, who began to recruit and coach grassroots leaders. With support, teams of local residents have launched listening campaigns in their rural communities. People who’ve never had a chance to participate in social change began to gather. They slowly gained the courage to engage local mayors about long neglected needs that, along with poverty, are the root causes of migration.
Over the past two years organizing teams in eight rural communities have been hard a work to secure funding to improve roads, bring electricity, water and sewer service to hundreds of families. Because faith is so central to their lives, three communities organized their own labor to build small chapels so the visiting priest can celebrate liturgy. Growing in confidence and connecting to one another, local leaders are reaching out to the ministry of health about constructing regional hospital to this area where people have to travel hours to get even minimal medical attention. With the support of Bishop Nácher Tatay and local clergy and religious sisters, COFOA is expanding to ten new communities.
It will take a while to build a national effort, but we celebrate first steps. Later this month, a delegation that includes representatives from the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Africa and Haiti will visit El Salvador to learn more, strengthen relational bonds, and dedicate themselves to grow grassroots organizing for justice.
