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Project Partner: Passionist Social Services
Country: El Salvador
Missioner: Maggie
VM Since: 2009
Project Started: 2009
People Served: 1,035
Missioner Bio: Maggie graduated from Amherst College in 2009 with degrees in Mathematics and Religion. She tutored in an after-school program for four years, and was a calculus tutor at the college for one year. Maggie spent the 2007 Fall semester in Colon, El Salvador, as an English teacher, and spent the summer of 2008 as an English Teacher in Jardines de Colon under the sponsorship of FUNDAHMER (Fundacion Hermano Mercedes Ruiz). In addition, she has made Spring-break trips (as well as one in June, 2007) to Yabacao, Dominican Republic, as a tutor.
Project Goal: Maggie lives with a family in Mejicanos, an extremely poor urban community in San Salvador. At Passionist Social Services, she organizes Violence Prevention workshops for young people, teaches math and English at the youth center, and cares for children at women’s workshops. She teaches up to 70 youth each week. She also tutors children in her free time to help them pass entrance exams required for high school. She says: “After nearly 16 months living here, I am still continually surprised and humbled by the poor...Solidarity is sharing our joys and our sorrows, our successes and our failures, our food and our hunger.”
Click Donate to support Maggie in Youth Violence Prevention and Education.
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Project Partner: Asociacion Nuevo Amanecer de El Salvador (ANADES)
Country: El Salvador
Missioner: Olivia
VM Since: 2010
Project Started: 1991
People Served: Participants in 36 communities
Missioner Bio: Olivia was raised in New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina displaced her and her family for several months, and upon return, she found herself reflecting on social and political injustice, racism, and several other prominent issues. She attended Boston College and became very active in the Campus Ministry opportunities and the Arrupe Program, which lead her to a mission trip to El Salvador. Olivia spent the summer of 2007 in Morazan, El Salvador, as a volunteer at Hogar de Ninas Natalia de Siman with Global Volunteer Network, and returned for a semester of study in 2009 with the Casa de la Solidaridad Program, working at the Meditation Center in the Mariona community.
Project Goal: Olivia is the Director of Programa Velasco at Centro Hogar Alfonso Acevedo Education Center. She oversees three main programs: the Scholarship Program, Parents’ Personal Formation and Development Program, and the Community Savings and Lending Program. She builds contacts between donor sponsors and the center’s families (mostly single mothers); develops interactive workshops and educational seminars to provide guidance, support and personal growth to families living in poverty, violence and despair; and provides families with opportunities to create personal financial stability and develop business skills. Olivia also works with micro-credit lending and savings groups that helps women, mostly single mothers, to establish their own businesses.
Click Donate to support Olivia in Community Savings, Lending, and Education.
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Project Partner: Lutheran Church of El Salvador
Country: El Salvador
Missioners: Nancy & David
VM’s Since: 2009
People Served: 3 Salvadoran communities
Missioner Bios: David and Nancy were very active in the Greater Milwaukee Lutheran Synod. Nancy’s focus was on education and teaching, and she has volunteered with ELCA Global Mission for Education and Advocacy, GMS ELCA/Salvadoran Lutheran Synod Companion Encuentro, Washington County Hispanic Outreach Committee and Fiesta Cultural Hispania-Museum of Wisconsin Art. David was involved El Salvador Committee and the ELCA Global Missions Conference in Costa Rica. He was the Evangelism Chair of Our Saviors Lutheran Church, Treasurer of Christos Ministries, and taught Sunday school for 20 years. He worked at Eaton Corp. for many years in management positions, and was Executive Director of Citizen Advocacy of Washington County from 2002-2003.
Project Goal: David and Nancy are Pastoral Accompaniers to the communities of Santa Maria, San Jorge and Usulatan in the Lutheran Church Eastern Micro-region of El Salvador. They serve the people in child and adult education and development and commerce projects such as micro-business start-ups and project management for water and agricultural programs.
Click Donate to support David and Nancy in Community Education and Micro-Business Development.
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Project Partner: The SHARE Foundation
Country: El Salvador
Missioner: Bethany
VM Since: 2010
Project Started: 1981
People Served: Connects 44 parishes and communities in the U.S. with urban parishes and rural communities in El Salvador
Missioner Bio: Bethany grew up in a politically active family where she developed a sense of responsibility for working for social justice. She studied at Goshen College, where she received a degree in Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies. As part of her study-aboard experience, she spent three months in the Dominican Republic teaching English and living in a small village in the mountains and eight months as an intern with CRISPAZ (Christians for Peace in El Salvador), planning delegations and facilitating activities at the center. Before joining VMM, she worked with CAUSA (Oregon Immigrant Rights Coalition), where she planned, organized, and lead presentations and delegations on immigration.
Project Goal: As the Sistering Accompaniment Coordinator for SHARE, Bethany supports the work of SHARE by organizing and facilitating general delegation trips to El Salvador, for election observers, theology students, and parishes in the U.S. who financially and spiritually support Salvadoran communities. She also collects testimonies through interviews with people that are involved in the SHARE programs. Her work helps to educate people around the world about the current economic, political, and social situations in El Salvador and promotes the good work and hope that The SHARE Foundation brings to the people of El Salvador.
Click Donate to support Bethany in Sustainable Development and Advocacy for Justice.
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Project Partner: (CCBN) Centro Cultural Batahola Norte
Country: Nicaragua
Missioner: Andrea
VM Since: 2011
Project Started: 1983
People Served: 185 participants in three years
Missioner Bio:
A desire to follow Jesus
and serve others was bred in Andrea's bones. Nurtured in the Mennonite church, her parents served as missionaries in London for six years of her
childhood. Raised primarily in Indiana since age nine, an urge to
live extended time overseas again has never left her. She has lived and served among faith communities around
the world, and is eager to engage in diverse friendships wherever she goes. An
artist since a young age, She continues to develop her skills at Goshen College,
where she graduated this year with a B.A. in Art, with minors in International
Studies and Bible/Religion.
Christ continues to call her into deeper
trust of His direction for her life, and she is am excited about where the journey
may take her, both spiritually and geographically. She looks forward to continuing
to make art, participating in the entirety of the Batahola Norte's community, practicing
hospitality, and growing as a leader and mentor to others. Aware of her
privilege in life and the great amount she has to learn, she opens herself to the
lessons God has in store for her.
Project Goal: Andrea will work to strengthen the volunteer
program (started by two previous VMs) to support CCBN in Batahola
Norte, a poor urban community in Managua. She will serve the Youth Formation
Project (through arts), the Women’s Empowerment and Micro-business
Development Program, and teaches English classes. She
accompanies alumnae of small business courses at CCBN and facilitates
small enterprise start-ups. Her efforts empower women with life and work
skills that help them to provide for their families and improve their
self-esteem. Andrea assists the arts program, helping to organize gender talks, retreats and recreational activities for young people.
Click Donate to support Andrea in Youth and Women's Empowerment.
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Project Partner: (CCBN) Centro Cultural Batahola Norte
Country: Nicaragua
Missioner: Sam
VM Since: 2011
Project Started: 1983
People Served: 185 participants in three years
Missioner Bio: Samuel
was born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona. He attended Carleton College, where
he majored in Religion and Latin American Studies. Samuel studied in Guatemala,
El Salvador, and Nicaragua in the fall of 2006 with the Center for Global
Education (CGE). He first became acquainted with his current project partner,
CCBN, during a brief home-stay in Batahola Norte as part of the CGE program. He
also spent six weeks in Colombia in the summer of 2007 facilitating workshops
in the Alternatives to Violence Project. After graduating from Carleton in
2008, Samuel moved to St Paul, Minnesota, where he was a volunteer for two
years with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps and then spent a year at Casa
Guadalupana Catholic Worker House.
Project Goal: Sam will work to strengthen the volunteer
program (started by two previous VMs) to support CCBN in Batahola
Norte, a poor urban community in Managua. He will serve the Youth Formation
Project (through arts), the Women’s Empowerment and Micro-business
Development Program, and teaches English classes. He
accompanies alumnae of small business courses at CCBN and facilitates
small enterprise start-ups. His efforts empower women with life and work
skills that help them to provide for their families and improve their
self-esteem. Sam assists the arts program, helping to organize gender talks, retreats and recreational activities for young people.
Click Donate to support Sam in Youth and Women's Empowerment.
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Project Partner: (CCBN) Centro Cultural Batahola Norte
Country: Nicaragua
Missioner: Amanda
VM Since: 2009
Project Started: 1983
People Served: 185 participants in three years
Missioner Bio: Amanda graduated from Carleton College with degrees in Religion and Latin American Studies. She organized Latin American Catholic communities on immigrant-related issues for two years prior to VMM and continues her interests in solidarity with the Nicaraguan people at Friends of Batahola.
Project Goal: Amanda works to strengthen the volunteer program (started by two previous VMs) to support CCBN in Batahola Norte, a poor urban community in Managua. She serves the Youth Formation Project (through arts), the Women’s Empowerment and Micro-business Development Program, and teaches English classes. She accompanies alumnae of small business courses at CCBN and facilitates small enterprise start-ups. Her efforts empower women with life and work skills that help them to provide for their families and improve their self-esteem. Amanda assists the arts program, helping to organize gender talks, retreats and recreational activities for young people.
Click Donate to support Amanda in Youth and Women Empowerment.
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Project Partner: (CCBN) Centro Cultural Batahola Norte
Country: Nicaragua
Missioner: Greta
VM Since: 2009
Project Started: 1983
People Served: 185 participants in three years
Missioner Bio: Greta has a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from West Virginia University and developed a passion for social justice and peace promotion while working at a Christian Hostel in Amsterdam. She spent six months prior to VMM working with the Mennonite Central Committee in Nicaragua and continues her interest in teaching the arts and aiding scholarship students at the center in communication with their sponsors.
Project Goal: Amanda works to strengthen the volunteer program (started by two previous VMs) to support CCBN in Batahola Norte, a poor urban community in Managua. She serves the Youth Formation Project (through arts), the Women’s Empowerment and Micro-business Development Program, and teaches English classes. She accompanies alumnae of small business courses at CCBN and facilitates small enterprise start-ups. Her efforts empower women with life and work skills that help them to provide for their families and improve their self-esteem. Amanda assists the arts program, helping to organize gender talks, retreats and recreational activities for young people.
Click Donate to support Greta in Youth and Women's Empowerment.
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Project Partner: Central American Project Partners and missioners
Country: El Salvador
Missioner: Stephen
VM Since: 2010
Project Started: 2010
People Served: 10 Volunteer Missioners and their communities
Missioner Bio: Stephen, raised in Spokane, WA, studied Liberation Theology at the University of Central America (UCA). He has been accompanying the poor urban community of Las Palmas, El Salvador since 2005. Working with community leaders, he helped to organize human rights and social conscious education programs, religious formation, creativity workshops to prevent violence, and develop a youth cafeteria that serves over 200 children that live in high risk of violence. His passion for community organizing with the poor, and belief in the validity of the missionary lifestyle as a way to denounce many unjust structures, led him to become a part of the VMM community.
Project Goal: Stephen is the coordinator for our Central American volunteers. He has contact with all of the project partners that VMM currently works with, develops relationships with new potential partners, and advises, supports, and coordinates VMM’s volunteer missioners in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. He arranges spiritual retreats for our VMs and promotes a sense of community among them, creating a support system that is vital to successfully living in mission. This allows them to fully embrace their mission experience while enhancing the communities they serve. Stephen also continues to accompany the people of Las Palmas, a poor urban community where he lives.
Click Donate to support Stephen and Volunteer Formation and Coordination.
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Project Partner: (CEIBA) Consutryendo Espacios Integrales para el Bienestar Ambiental
Country: El Salvador
Missioner: Beth
VM Since: 2010
Project Started: 2009
People Served: 2,000 community members
Missioner Bio: Beth grew up in a family devoted to mission and service, where she developed a unique ability to walk with and sympathize with the poor and marginalized. At Santa Clara University (SCU), she developed an Individual Studies major in Sustainable Globalization, combining anthropological, economic, environmental, and political perspectives. She interned abroad in Thailand and in the fall of 2007, studied for a semester with the Casa de la Solidaridad program in El Salvador. At SCU, she was very involved in creating a Fair-Trade Coalition and coordinating advocacy events to benefit Darfur refugees. Beth was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship in 2009 to study food security in El Salvador.
Project Goal: With other community leaders, Beth has created CEIBA after Hurricane Ida in 2009 flooded three communities near Santiago Texacuangos (FST) on Lago de Ilopango. FST is composed of representatives from local communities, NGO workers and students who work in four main areas: food security through organic agricultural revival; trauma and art therapy using a team of psychologists and social workers; community organizing to confront climate change and prevent future devastation, and social-cultural animation to train youth as change agents. FST collaborates with other organizations, such as Catholic Relief Services, to build capacity among communities.
Click Donate to support Beth in Disaster Prevention, Trauma Recovery and Sustainable Agriculture
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Project Partner: Capacitacion en Produccion Agropecuaria para la Zona (CAPAZ)
Country: Guatemala
Missioner: Pieter
VM Since: 2005
Project Started: 2001
People Served: 4,735 families (about 23,675 people)
Missioner Bio: Pieter has been living and working in Guatemala for 20 years. He received a degree in Development Sociology and Anthropology in The Netherlands. For eight years, he participated in the Solidarity Committee for Guatemala and El Salvador. He worked for Dienst Over Grenzen (DOG-IPSO) in Mexico and Guatemala on livestock training programs. Nine years ago, he founded CAPAZ to bring education on agriculture and livestock production to the poor to diversify their diet and develop environmentally sustainable
farming methods.
Project Goal: CAPAZ is a working farm and training center in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, for indigenous Mayan farmers. In a year-long program, educators train indigenous farmers (most of whom are women) in ways to improve food security, improving their lives through raising and caring for their own animals, increasing production, diversifying their family income and nutrition. The Center also trains extensionsists –- farmers who bring what they have learned back to their own communities and extend the knowledge base. CAPAZ also teaches programs on solar energy and biodigestor technology to provide alternative energy systems.
Click Donate to support Pieter in Agricultural Training and Alternative Energy
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Gifts made to a specific missioner/project represent a gift to the entire movement. VMM allocates your gifts where they can do the most good by combining them with others. Because you are helping VMM serve and accompany the world’s poor and marginalized, your gift is tax deductible.
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