Tuesday January 6, 2009 AM
This morning we had the opportunity to visit the US Embassy. We were up and going early after a breakfast of all fresh fruit which was extremely good. Our Embassy in El Salvador is the third largest in the world after Israel and Egypt. My first impression was that it was a very intimidating place with very heavy security.
While we were waiting in line to go in I was approached by a man probably in his 20’s who spoke very good English. He had in his hand a Power of Attorney and he asked me if I could help him to understand how to fill it out. I thought for a moment and debated in my mind all of the possible ramifications and whether or not I was doing something wrong and then I looked at him and said, "sure." I told him that the date went first, then his name went on the first line, his wife’s name went on the second line and on so forth. He explained to me that he had been living in Virginia with his wife and daughter when he was deported. He then asked if I would be willing to help fill out the form. He explained to me that even though he spoke English very well, he wasn’t able to write very well and that the Embassy simply handed him the form and told him to come back when it was filled out.
The problem was that he lived 3 ½ hours away and that the only people he knew who could help him lived 3 hours away. The reason that he needed the Power of Attorney was that his wife was unable to get the title of the car transferred into her name for DMV purposes unless she had the Power of Attorney. So, once again after debating how this could adversely affect me and the group, and running all of the possible scenarios in my mind, I said, "sure." After filling out the form, I wished him well and left to go into the Embassy with the group. I would have loved to ask him why he was deported, but I thought that perhaps that was more than I really needed to know. When we came out later, he was gone, so I hope that he was able to get the problem handled. One question that I had, however, was that if all that was required was to simply help him fill out this form, wasn’t there someone in the Embassy that could have taken 3 minutes and helped him? The people of El Salvador, who are in need of help, seem to run into these bureaucratic road blocks all the time.
After helping him, I thought about something else that I witnessed on our way into the Embassy. We saw this little boy dressed up in a shirt and tie and jacket and a little girl, I presume was his sister, dressed in a beautiful dress and what I assumed was their mother also all dressed up. I wondered when I saw them what they might be doing at the Embassy today, then I saw a line of another 100 people and then another line and I began to wonder what the stories of all of these people were, then I was given the opportunity, with the man with the power of attorney, to not only hear one of those stories, but to help someone in need. I felt blessed by the experience.
The Embassy itself was a very secure place with high walls, guards all around the perimeter and extensive security inside. We were escorted into a small “auditorium” with another group that was from Minneapolis. The presentation by the Embassy officials was very informative and they actually confirmed some of the issues that we had been hearing from the other side, but they also painted a much different light on what the US role is and has been over the past few years than we had heard previously.
This morning we had the opportunity to visit the US Embassy. We were up and going early after a breakfast of all fresh fruit which was extremely good. Our Embassy in El Salvador is the third largest in the world after Israel and Egypt. My first impression was that it was a very intimidating place with very heavy security.
While we were waiting in line to go in I was approached by a man probably in his 20’s who spoke very good English. He had in his hand a Power of Attorney and he asked me if I could help him to understand how to fill it out. I thought for a moment and debated in my mind all of the possible ramifications and whether or not I was doing something wrong and then I looked at him and said, "sure." I told him that the date went first, then his name went on the first line, his wife’s name went on the second line and on so forth. He explained to me that he had been living in Virginia with his wife and daughter when he was deported. He then asked if I would be willing to help fill out the form. He explained to me that even though he spoke English very well, he wasn’t able to write very well and that the Embassy simply handed him the form and told him to come back when it was filled out.
The problem was that he lived 3 ½ hours away and that the only people he knew who could help him lived 3 hours away. The reason that he needed the Power of Attorney was that his wife was unable to get the title of the car transferred into her name for DMV purposes unless she had the Power of Attorney. So, once again after debating how this could adversely affect me and the group, and running all of the possible scenarios in my mind, I said, "sure." After filling out the form, I wished him well and left to go into the Embassy with the group. I would have loved to ask him why he was deported, but I thought that perhaps that was more than I really needed to know. When we came out later, he was gone, so I hope that he was able to get the problem handled. One question that I had, however, was that if all that was required was to simply help him fill out this form, wasn’t there someone in the Embassy that could have taken 3 minutes and helped him? The people of El Salvador, who are in need of help, seem to run into these bureaucratic road blocks all the time.
After helping him, I thought about something else that I witnessed on our way into the Embassy. We saw this little boy dressed up in a shirt and tie and jacket and a little girl, I presume was his sister, dressed in a beautiful dress and what I assumed was their mother also all dressed up. I wondered when I saw them what they might be doing at the Embassy today, then I saw a line of another 100 people and then another line and I began to wonder what the stories of all of these people were, then I was given the opportunity, with the man with the power of attorney, to not only hear one of those stories, but to help someone in need. I felt blessed by the experience.
The Embassy itself was a very secure place with high walls, guards all around the perimeter and extensive security inside. We were escorted into a small “auditorium” with another group that was from Minneapolis. The presentation by the Embassy officials was very informative and they actually confirmed some of the issues that we had been hearing from the other side, but they also painted a much different light on what the US role is and has been over the past few years than we had heard previously.
I took the opportunity to ask the question: “As students, our world is centered on receiving grades based on our efforts, what grade should the US government get for our efforts in El Salvador over the past 25 years?” I have to admit that it was a bit amusing to watch as they stumbled around trying to answer the question. Ultimately, they seemed to agree that our grade depended on what time period over the past 25 years that we wanted to talk about and that perhaps we have been doing a better job more recently than we did during the war years for instance. All in all, I would say that we as Americans can be very proud of the people who are representing us in our Embassy.
We left the Embassy and stopped at a coffee shop. I got a dish of chocolate ice cream with hazel nuts. Karen would have loved it. We then went back to the house for lunch and waited to leave to see the place where Archbishop Romero was assassinated.
We left the Embassy and stopped at a coffee shop. I got a dish of chocolate ice cream with hazel nuts. Karen would have loved it. We then went back to the house for lunch and waited to leave to see the place where Archbishop Romero was assassinated.
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