El Salvador

Aryeh, fellow artcorps volunteer and brilliant political theatre artist, is doing her residency in Ciudad Romero, a community in the Bajo Lumpa region of El Salvador. I made a trip across the border to support her and to see the theatre festival which she organised, presenting the work she has been doing with several youth groups in local communities. Firstly, it was hot! I mean HOT. I honestly do not know how Ayreh has been managing to rush around for the last 6 months, almost non-stop, jumping from the back of a pick-up onto a chicken bus and disappearing into the dust to do marvels with the youth groups. It is so hot one sweats simply standing still in the shade. I guess one gets used to it. Anyway the theatre festival was brilliant. The youth shone with energy, vitality and talent, the messages were coherent, significant and poignant and there was a full house very much appreciating the show. Well done Aryeh! It was very interesting to see how different the situations are between the Artcorps placements, and to see how differently one has to live and adapt to each new environment. It was also great to spend some time with Aryeh, who is a remarkable woman doing remarkable work.


Another friend of Aryeh, Naomi, flew out from San Franciso for a week`s holiday, so after the theatre festival we went to the beach for a spot of relaxation, surf (Naomi is the intrepid one) and world cup fever. It was short and sweet, and we were back on the bus after one night heading towards Guatemala, when Naomi and I started feeling the effects of a huge mistake: a glass of water, clear and seemingly innocent, had been consumed by each of us at breakfast, without knowledge of the dangers lurking within. We just about made it to Guatemala City in one piece, but thereafter, on the packed rush hour chicken bus to Antigua (and when I say packed, you need to experience it to believe it!),the nasties started working their evil magic. I got there without any accidents by chanting mantras the whole way and then Bam! We were down with amoebic dysentery, unable to leave our beds, for the next 3 days. The fourth day I managed to get up and a gentle wander into town almost finished me off. The following few days we had our one and only Artcorps reunion, when all the artists (well actually there are only 3 of us now) have a lovely “working” weekend with our coordinator, and what better place to recuperate than Lake Atitlan. Even better, in Aaculuux, a beautiul arty hotel where I stayed for a week in February, in San Marcos la Laguna. By the time I left I was almost back to normal, after a few refreshing early morning swims, stargazing, watching the moon rise, huge and luminous behind the mountains and simply taking in the breathtaking scenery of the volcanoes standing like sentinels over the lake. Of course the main joy was to be with the others; Aryeh, Brooke, a visual artist who is working with youth groups in north west Guatemala, and Blanca Estela, our constant guide and much-valued companion, the Artcorps coorindator. In addition Naomi and Ian completed the group and much discussion, sharing of experiences, and fun was had by all.