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Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Calle Real Cabanas, El Salvador, hosted a workshop on NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) in order to inform us about their potentials. More familiarly known as Not for Profits or Private Voluntary Organizations in the US, NGOs are multi-faceted and multidimensional. The General Chapter of 2001 indicated an interest in forming a Carmelite NGO at the United Nations. As such we could interface with other similar groups and provide a forum for Carmelites from around the world. Through this forum we would be able to share our experiences and concerns, and provide an opportunity for developing resources, especially for the poor with whom we minister. Membership as an NGO at the UN would also allow Carmelites to attend conferences at the various sites that are offered through the United Nations.
Within this context, Father David Blanchard O.Carm., invited us to Calle Real to explore some dimensions of NGOs and how they can be an advantage for the people with whom we serve. There were four main areas to explore: cooperation among religious men and women and lay affiliates, the resources that are available through an efficient NGO operation, the delicacy of interfacing between the church structure and the civil society, and finally the necessity of defining a goal for the NGO.
Sister Mary Anal and Ms. Ann Greig, a Maryknoll Sister and a Maryknoll lay associate, addressed the issue of available resources. They also addressed another theme that was an undercurrent in the workshop: the cooperation among men and women religious and laity operating as a family. Father John Malley, O.Carm., former Prior General, certainly forwarded this idea when he was in office. Their presentation helped to set the tone for the workshop.
We met outdoors in the pavilion of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Retreat House in the Canton Cabanas. For the first three mornings we met with Dario Mayen, the executive director of the New Horizons for the Poor Foundation; Transito Castor, a former director of Catholic Charities; and Cliff Feldman, an American who works for Food for the Poor.
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(Second from left) Carmelites Father John Malley, and (far right) Father Tracy O’Sullivan tour a factory.
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Dario Mayen is an economist and his duties include accounting for all the goods and services that are provided through the Foundation. An offshoot of the social ministry of the parish, the New Horizons for the Poor Foundation also interfaces with the civil society in many ways. The latest financial audit indicated that the Foundation accounted for more than $32 million in goods and services that they have distributed in their parish area and throughout El Salvador. Our motivation as a religious institution may be laudable and praiseworthy, but an NGO is evaluated on its social outreach: education, health, nutrition, development, etc. Since NGOs are tax exempt, they can receive many goods and services for less than other institutions can. For this reason they must also scrupulously keep the books transparent in order to earn the trust of funding sources. Stating the goals of the organization and staying within the organization’s capabilities are very important. As Father David adapted Saint Therese’s Little Way: begin small, do it well, gain the trust, and grace will be abundant.
This aspect of NGOs especially in poor areas of the world was concretized when we visited various factories and warehouses that are part of the Foundation. Every afternoon we visited a different site that emphasized what possibilities of human development are achievable. After Dario’s presentation we visited two agronomists who are developing food self-sufficiency; e.g., soy milk, a bakery, hydroponics, a worm farm to produce fertilizer, a butterfly farm, and fish tanks for growing tilapia as a source of food and business.
Tuesday’s speaker, Ms. Transito Castor, formerly the director of Caritas in the Archdiocese of San Salvador, talked about how NGOs work with the Church. She noted that the country of El Salvador is very young with 24% of the country’s six million between the ages of 10 and 24. The nation’s average age is 20.6. She and others spoke of the long term effects of the civil war on the psyche of the people and the culture of violence that it fostered. NGOs internationally operate on principles of human rights, usually very compatible with the social doctrine of the Catholic Church and the humanitarian outreach of Catholic parishes.
In the afternoon we visited other dimensions of the Foundation including a warehouse where many goods are stored and given to other ‘beneficiaries,’ other social outreach programs, schools, and churches. For instance, large vats of soap go to the Carmelite Sisters who run an orphanage. Rolls of leather go to a homeowner with leaks in his tin roof. Soy is pulverized to provide a soy milk supplement for undernourished children. Another warehouse has many used computers where young adults rebuild them. In doing so, they also become practical computer engineers and are more likely to get jobs. We visited the foundation’s offices and warehouse as well, where Dario Mayen showed us around. There is also a carpentry workshop, a stained glass workshop, a ceramic factory… More than we can summarize here. This dimension of NGOs was a revelation to many of us visitors.
Cliff Feldman with Food for the Poor described how he was able to help many groups through programs in USAID. As Father David stated, “one used truck might spawn employment for forty more people.” Cliff also emphasized ‘micro-credit’ opportunities especially for women in lowincome countries, the need for networking in a globalized world, and the patience to seek for resources that are usable in one’s area.
The workshop certainly offered all of us an opportunity to think more broadly about the advantages that using NGO status can provide for many of the people we serve.
Our visit coincided with a nineday novena of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, so we had plenty of opportunity to reflect on the Carmelite dimension of the parish. On Tuesday night children from the parish presented a dance and a puppet show about the transition of Carmelites from Mount Carmel to Europe. On Wednesday afternoon we prayed with the senior citizens of the parish with a Mass at noon at one of the chapels and shared in their lunch. In the evening we attended the parish celebration of the 800th anniversary of the Carmelite Rule with a two hour parish concert and the unveiling of a mural behind the altar depicting the giving of the Rule by Saint Albert of Jerusalem.
All in all, it was a very informative, prayerful, and challenging workshop. We certainly thank Father David Blanchard, O.Carm., but also all of the workers at the retreat house, the warehouses, the farm, the foundation offices, and the parishioners who made us feel so welcomed.
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