Saturday January 10, 2009
Each day of this journey seems to be more and more special, but also increasingly more and more difficult. Today, we were up and out early. I had the opportunity to see the sunrise over that beautiful view from my balcony. It was really remarkable to watch as hundreds of birds flew beneath us, through the canyon below and then out over the lake.
For breakfast we went to the haciendas restaurant for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, watermelon and refried beans. However, it was the orange juice that caught my attention. It was by far the best orange juice that I have ever had in my life. It was so sweet that it reminded me of my favorite drink, an Orange Julius, that you can get at most shopping malls.
We then loaded into our vans and headed down to the lake. The lake itself is very beautiful. It was formed around 1973 after the building of the hydroelectric dam. Many people lost their homes and perhaps most importantly their farm lands. The question that has me wondering, is if the greater good that is served by the hydro electric dam outweighs the cost the poor people had to pay by the loss of their homes and farm land, or should there have been more consideration of what these people were forced to give up such as homes, and livelihood.
Once we arrived at the lake, we got into 2 boats and started across. We had with us, our group, 2 guests, Mercedes and Rogelio, and the two boat drivers. Mercedes came to share with us what life was like in the villages and especially the village of Copapayo and Rogelio was here to share with us his story of survival when his village was attacked by the government troops.
After about a 20 minute ride we stopped at a large cross on the shore of the lake which we were told was the site of the village of Copapayo until the massacre. We then went a little bit farther, got off the boats and listened to the stories of Rogelio and Mercedes. Mercedes began by telling what life was like even before they dammed up the river. She described how difficult it was to live with the nearest town of any size with a doctor or anything else for that matter being Suchitoto which was where we had come from this morning. That would have been a very long walk indeed. Copapayo was predominantly an agricultural community, where they barely were able to grow enough to eat. They actually rented the land and when the harvest came they paid the land owners. But, it always worked out that they remained in debt to the land owner. They were essentially slave laborers on the land.
Rogelio then began to tell his story. One day, word had come to the village that government troops were on their way, so the community fled across the lake in their small boats to avoid any confrontation with the soldiers. After a couple of days, the village sent someone back to see if the troops were gone and word was sent back that it was all clear. Rogelio and his family along with about 160 other people went back across the lake, the plan was to stay back and watch to be sure that all of the soldiers had gone. Two men, however were very hungry and had brought along a chicken that they were planning on cooking, so instead of waiting, they went on ahead to the village. Seeing them go on ahead, the rest of the villagers determined that it was safe and they followed. Once the villagers were on shore, the soldiers sprung their trap and descended from the hill tops killing everyone, men women and children and even a woman who was pregnant.
Rogelio, who was only 9 years old at the time, managed to hide near by and watched as the soldiers tossed grenades into the boats as people were fleeing and systematically killed a great number of the villagers. Rogelio wasn’t able to hide long and he was ultimatly found. At the point of a gun, he was placed with a group of survivors and told that he didn’t need to worry, that he was to be taken to San Salvador and put in a school there. There was a fairly large group of survivors, but he wasn’t allowed to even look around to see who was there with him. They then ordered everyone up and began the long journey to San Salvador. After a while the soldiers stopped and one asked him if he was hungry. Since he hadn’t eaten in 2 days he of course replied yes. The soldier opened up his backpack and showed Rogelio some sweet bread and fruit and asked him if he would like some. As Rogelio reached into the pack to take a piece, the soldier grabbed it away and laughed saying that he was only joking.
After what seemed like a very long time, they arrived at a neighboring town and Rogelio was told that he and a few others could go and sleep in one of the deserted houses for the night. The younger children were allowed to go out and scrounge around for some food to bring back for the group, but once back they were told that if they so much as looked out the door or window, they would be shot.
The next day they resumed their forced march and in the afternoon the soldiers took all of the young girls, separated them from the group (including one of our boat drivers sisters) took them into the woods where they were raped and murdered. This taking place all while their families pleaded with the soldiers not to take them. It wasn’t until this moment that Rogelio realized that his aunt and sister were among the people that had survived the initial attack.
A few miles later, the soldiers stopped again, talked on the radio and then separated the remaining survivors into 3 groups and took them to three separate locations. The order then came to kill all of the survivors. Immediately the soldiers began firing, and killed the first group who had been taken to a small hut. After the villagers were all dead, the soldiers caved the roof in to cover the bodies. They next went to the second group and killed them as well. One of the villagers who was mentally handicapped was hung from a tree and raised and lowered like a piñata until he was dead.
They finally came to the group with Rogelio which also included his aunt and sister. When the soldiers opened fire, he managed to slide over into the bushes with the man standing next to him who had been shot. The man started to scream in pain but Rogelio said that the soldiers will find us. He immediately became quiet and Rogelio realized that the bullet in this man would have hit him and so in reality this man had saved his life.
The order then came to cover the bodies with branches and a soldier nearly stepped on his foot while he was cutting down branches. Rogelio believed that God had blinded the soldier so that he couldn’t see him lying at his feet. After the soldiers left the area, he waited for a very long time and then started walking all alone back down the road toward home. All along the way he could see the bodies of those who had been killed as they went. After finally reaching the village he found no one alive.
Suddenly he smelled something that smelled like ripe bananas and he realized that he really hadn’t eaten in 3 days and was incredibly hungry. He went to a neighbors house and hanging on the back of the door was an entire bunch of bananas. He thought that as hungry as he was that he could surely eat all of them. He then went down into a secret hiding place dug in one of the houses and simply waited.
The next morning he heard sounds and people talking, he looked out, not knowing who they were and fearing that they might be more soldiers coming back. He then saw one man standing by himself, and Rogelio was filled with all of the rage and anger over what he had been though and he went out and attacked the man that he thought was a soldier. Suddenly he realized that the man he had jumped on was his uncle. Rogelio told him everything that had happened, and his uncle went on to the village, but everyone was dead. Rogelio then went to live with his uncle
You could tell watching Rogelio, how painful it was to tell this story. When he was finished, we prayed together, hugged each other and then left in silence . The trip back across the water was very difficult, I was both struck by the beauty of God’s creation and anguished by our ability to hate and murder. However, as we got closer, high on the hill, I could see something large and white. It was difficult to make out at first and then as we got closer I was able to see that it was the church in the village of Suchitoto. It was amazing to think that this beacon of hope would have also been visible to young 9 year old Rogelio as he left his home in Copapayo to an unknown future. In reality this beacon of hope has stood on the top of this mountain for 300 years. I have to wonder how many thousands of people have seen it as I did today?
Each day of this journey seems to be more and more special, but also increasingly more and more difficult. Today, we were up and out early. I had the opportunity to see the sunrise over that beautiful view from my balcony. It was really remarkable to watch as hundreds of birds flew beneath us, through the canyon below and then out over the lake.
For breakfast we went to the haciendas restaurant for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, watermelon and refried beans. However, it was the orange juice that caught my attention. It was by far the best orange juice that I have ever had in my life. It was so sweet that it reminded me of my favorite drink, an Orange Julius, that you can get at most shopping malls.
We then loaded into our vans and headed down to the lake. The lake itself is very beautiful. It was formed around 1973 after the building of the hydroelectric dam. Many people lost their homes and perhaps most importantly their farm lands. The question that has me wondering, is if the greater good that is served by the hydro electric dam outweighs the cost the poor people had to pay by the loss of their homes and farm land, or should there have been more consideration of what these people were forced to give up such as homes, and livelihood.
Once we arrived at the lake, we got into 2 boats and started across. We had with us, our group, 2 guests, Mercedes and Rogelio, and the two boat drivers. Mercedes came to share with us what life was like in the villages and especially the village of Copapayo and Rogelio was here to share with us his story of survival when his village was attacked by the government troops.
After about a 20 minute ride we stopped at a large cross on the shore of the lake which we were told was the site of the village of Copapayo until the massacre. We then went a little bit farther, got off the boats and listened to the stories of Rogelio and Mercedes. Mercedes began by telling what life was like even before they dammed up the river. She described how difficult it was to live with the nearest town of any size with a doctor or anything else for that matter being Suchitoto which was where we had come from this morning. That would have been a very long walk indeed. Copapayo was predominantly an agricultural community, where they barely were able to grow enough to eat. They actually rented the land and when the harvest came they paid the land owners. But, it always worked out that they remained in debt to the land owner. They were essentially slave laborers on the land.
Rogelio then began to tell his story. One day, word had come to the village that government troops were on their way, so the community fled across the lake in their small boats to avoid any confrontation with the soldiers. After a couple of days, the village sent someone back to see if the troops were gone and word was sent back that it was all clear. Rogelio and his family along with about 160 other people went back across the lake, the plan was to stay back and watch to be sure that all of the soldiers had gone. Two men, however were very hungry and had brought along a chicken that they were planning on cooking, so instead of waiting, they went on ahead to the village. Seeing them go on ahead, the rest of the villagers determined that it was safe and they followed. Once the villagers were on shore, the soldiers sprung their trap and descended from the hill tops killing everyone, men women and children and even a woman who was pregnant.
Rogelio, who was only 9 years old at the time, managed to hide near by and watched as the soldiers tossed grenades into the boats as people were fleeing and systematically killed a great number of the villagers. Rogelio wasn’t able to hide long and he was ultimatly found. At the point of a gun, he was placed with a group of survivors and told that he didn’t need to worry, that he was to be taken to San Salvador and put in a school there. There was a fairly large group of survivors, but he wasn’t allowed to even look around to see who was there with him. They then ordered everyone up and began the long journey to San Salvador. After a while the soldiers stopped and one asked him if he was hungry. Since he hadn’t eaten in 2 days he of course replied yes. The soldier opened up his backpack and showed Rogelio some sweet bread and fruit and asked him if he would like some. As Rogelio reached into the pack to take a piece, the soldier grabbed it away and laughed saying that he was only joking.
After what seemed like a very long time, they arrived at a neighboring town and Rogelio was told that he and a few others could go and sleep in one of the deserted houses for the night. The younger children were allowed to go out and scrounge around for some food to bring back for the group, but once back they were told that if they so much as looked out the door or window, they would be shot.
The next day they resumed their forced march and in the afternoon the soldiers took all of the young girls, separated them from the group (including one of our boat drivers sisters) took them into the woods where they were raped and murdered. This taking place all while their families pleaded with the soldiers not to take them. It wasn’t until this moment that Rogelio realized that his aunt and sister were among the people that had survived the initial attack.
A few miles later, the soldiers stopped again, talked on the radio and then separated the remaining survivors into 3 groups and took them to three separate locations. The order then came to kill all of the survivors. Immediately the soldiers began firing, and killed the first group who had been taken to a small hut. After the villagers were all dead, the soldiers caved the roof in to cover the bodies. They next went to the second group and killed them as well. One of the villagers who was mentally handicapped was hung from a tree and raised and lowered like a piñata until he was dead.
They finally came to the group with Rogelio which also included his aunt and sister. When the soldiers opened fire, he managed to slide over into the bushes with the man standing next to him who had been shot. The man started to scream in pain but Rogelio said that the soldiers will find us. He immediately became quiet and Rogelio realized that the bullet in this man would have hit him and so in reality this man had saved his life.
The order then came to cover the bodies with branches and a soldier nearly stepped on his foot while he was cutting down branches. Rogelio believed that God had blinded the soldier so that he couldn’t see him lying at his feet. After the soldiers left the area, he waited for a very long time and then started walking all alone back down the road toward home. All along the way he could see the bodies of those who had been killed as they went. After finally reaching the village he found no one alive.
Suddenly he smelled something that smelled like ripe bananas and he realized that he really hadn’t eaten in 3 days and was incredibly hungry. He went to a neighbors house and hanging on the back of the door was an entire bunch of bananas. He thought that as hungry as he was that he could surely eat all of them. He then went down into a secret hiding place dug in one of the houses and simply waited.
The next morning he heard sounds and people talking, he looked out, not knowing who they were and fearing that they might be more soldiers coming back. He then saw one man standing by himself, and Rogelio was filled with all of the rage and anger over what he had been though and he went out and attacked the man that he thought was a soldier. Suddenly he realized that the man he had jumped on was his uncle. Rogelio told him everything that had happened, and his uncle went on to the village, but everyone was dead. Rogelio then went to live with his uncle
You could tell watching Rogelio, how painful it was to tell this story. When he was finished, we prayed together, hugged each other and then left in silence . The trip back across the water was very difficult, I was both struck by the beauty of God’s creation and anguished by our ability to hate and murder. However, as we got closer, high on the hill, I could see something large and white. It was difficult to make out at first and then as we got closer I was able to see that it was the church in the village of Suchitoto. It was amazing to think that this beacon of hope would have also been visible to young 9 year old Rogelio as he left his home in Copapayo to an unknown future. In reality this beacon of hope has stood on the top of this mountain for 300 years. I have to wonder how many thousands of people have seen it as I did today?
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