SPECIAL REPORT
Bro. Dennis Beach, OSB, from St. John’s University, arrived in El Salvador with a group of students the day before the earthquake hit. They sent the photos below of Tecoluca, a town where 90% of the homes are now uninhabitable.
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Tragedy Strikes El Salvador
You have all heard of the terrible earthquake that hit El Salvador. “El Salvador” (in English, “The Saviour”), a land crucified by natural and man-made disasters -- perhaps the most suffering little strip of land in the hemisphere -- was still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Mitch when this new disaster struck. Gigi Gruenke, a Maryknoll lay missioner living in El Salvador writes about the earthquake:
“I don’t even know how to describe the experience except that it seemed to last forever and now we jump with every strong aftershock. Mass was held outside this afternoon because just before it started there was another strong aftershock… Most people slept beside their doorways or outside last night. We didn’t sleep by our back door, as we fear another good tremor could bring down the high retaining wall behind the house….Some people are already building provisional housing with neighbors and family. Others are simply overwhelmed. Tears, especially from the mothers, come easily. These people just finished picking coffee during a year in which they were paid nothing - 69 cents for 25 pounds picked. Not only were they not able to save any of that . . . but now they have no homes. People, in their panic, are also remembering the traumas of the war which ended 9 years ago as well as the earthquake of 1986.
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MISSION CONNECTIONS is published bimonthly by
St. Cloud Mission Office, Director, Fr. William A. Vos
St. Cloud Mission Office
11 South 8th Avenue
St. Cloud, MN 56301
(320) 251-1100
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