When I first entered Guarjila, I was immediately struck by the political slogans and murals adorning everything from lampposts to the corner store. It is an incredibly politically conscious town. And not just in the sense that everyone is involved in some type of politics. No, in Guarjila, everyone is united in a common politic. The town leaders proudly proclaim that 99% of the down is for the left-wing party Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). Which makes for an exciting time these days in Guarjila, after the victory of the FMLN’s candidate Mauricio Funes in the recent presidential elections. Now, there is a sense of hope in the air, a sense of possibility for progressive change.
Political slogans in the center square of Guarjila
Not only is Guarjila politically conscious, it is also organized. The community is governed by its own autonomous government system that is distinct from the federal system. They have their own community workshops in carpentry, fish hatchery, and drying fruits for packaging and sale. The proceeds from these workshops go to help the community in its administration and special projects. The community runs its own autonomous health clinic and community pharmacy. They rely heavily on community health promoters to provide health education and basic services. Guarjila also has its own radio station, which spread messages about community events, health, and political solidarity.
The high level of organization of the community is evident in the story the community members tell about the time the police tried to shut down this radio station due to its political content. When the police arrived at the office of the radio, they began removing the transmission equipment. Community members observed what was going on and a call went out to the whole community. Within a half hour, a huge group of people had gathered outside of the office. Practically the entire community was present. They demanded that the police give back the equipment it had taken and that the police reimburse the community for the equipment that had been broken in the removal process. In the end, under the pressure of the whole community, the police gave in, and acceded to their demands.
Radio Sumpul
The organization and political involvement that can be seen in Guarjila is not happenstance; it is a result of the history of the community. Guarjila is a community of ex-refugees from the war in El Salvador in the 1980s. During the early years of the war, many people from the state of Chalatenango, where Guarjila is located, fled from the homes to escape the violence and death squad raids that were being carried out on FMLN sympathetic and other rural communities. They settled into refugee camps just across the international border in Mesa Grande, Honduras (about two hours away by car). There, in the refugee camps, they lived in terrible conditions. They were like prisoners, not permitted to leave the camp. They were not given adequate sanitary facilities and the people lived, according to one resident, “all piled on top of each other.” The people began to organize among themselves to make the best of the little they had and were given. With this organization, life improved somewhat.
Still, after six years or so, the people could no longer stand the life in the camps. They decided it was time to go back home. They organized amongst themselves in their section of the encampment and communicated their decision with the UN commission on refugees. The war was still raging in Chalatenango, but the people gathered up their courage and started the two-day march homeward. Out of the 11,500 people living in Mesa Grande, 1,474 left to settle in Guarjila. No one had lived on the land previously, but all of the people were from towns nearby. When they arrived, the land was ravaged by war. The people had to go around digging up landmines and there was hardly any wood to build their houses. Despite these challenges, through their organization, the people were able to ensure that resources were shared. They took the little there was and divided it up among themselves.
Mural commemorating the war in El Salvador
In 1992, the Peace Accords were signed and the people of Guarjila were able to access more resources and work on improving their situation. Little by little, conditions in the community started to improve until every family had a decent home and food on the table. Throughout this entire process, the community has remained organized and in solidarity.
Learning about the history of Guarjila and its current organization during the conference had an incredibly impression on me. I’m very interested in community organization and in my work in the past two years I have worked to “build community” in places of social isolation and discrimination. I have seen how difficult this task can be. At the same time, I have learned that when a community is truly organized and involves all its residents, real positive steps can be made that promote that well-being, health, and prosperity of the entire community. These positive results are clearly seen in Guarjila. For example, through the system of health promoters and accessible care (the medical visit costs $1), the community, despite its poverty and lack of resources, has achieved significant advances in the health status of its population. In the past six years, the community has experienced 0% infant and maternal mortality and a malnutrition level that is 1/3 that of the federal level.
Dried fruits workshop in Guarjila
Despite the positive nature of these impressions, the people of the town consistently reminded us that they are not without their challenges. The principal challenge they face is emigration of their youth. Even with the success of their community building efforts, the youth of the town (primarily the young men) don’t find many professional possibilities for themselves in Guarjila. They leave the town and migrate to the United States with the goal of finding work and earning larger amounts of money than they could earn in El Salvador. A total of 16% of the population of Guarjila is currently living in the United States. Some of the emigrants leave behind young wives and children. Some of them never return. The problem of family disintegration is very prevalent in Guarjila, the town’s health promoters tell us, and causes a wide range of problems in the health and structure of the community. On the flip side, emigration does carry with it the benefit of increased financial resources that arrive in the community. However, town leaders attest that the money earned abroad usually stays within the families and is not put towards community development activities.
The strong emigration from Guarjila can noted in the absence of youth in community spaces and leadership roles. In the carpentry workshop, for example, the head carpenter tells us that, although they started the workshop with 12 people, now they are left with only four because the rest have left for the United States. Which leaves me wondering: a few years down the road, who will continue to carry through the community organization that I find so impressive and that Guarjila’s residents have worked so hard to achieve?
Learning about this challenge, and seeing its effects, left a deep impression on me. I realized that, no matter how organized and progressive a town like Guarjila might be, its residents will never truly be able to live successfully as an integrated whole when they are enmeshed in the global capitalistic system. Even if they try to break out of that model with their community projects and workshops, it seems impossible to completely escape.
So I leave Guarjila feeling inspired, excited about the possibility of community organization, but at the same time tempered in my excitement by the realization that the world system in which we live complicates the process of autonomous community organization. The conservative politics of ARENA, the exploitation of El Salvador’s resources by multinational corporations, and the manipulation by the United States government in the country have all contributed to economic problems in the country, and lack of feasible economic opportunities for youth. The striking inequality between the economies of the United States over El Salvador has created a strong “pull-factor” towards the U.S. to find work. At the same time, cultural and economic “imperialism” (such as adoption of the dollar as El Salvador’s national currency and the imposition of hundreds of U.S.-based chains and businesses in the country), combined with the chain migration built on the legacy of war-time emigration of refugees also contribute to the emigration phenomenon.
The old currency of El Salvador, before the adoption of the US dollar
Any efforts to halt emigration from communities like Guarjila have to address the economic situation of El Salvador. They must provide real economic opportunities for youth and affirm the right of the country to manage its own economy and natural resources. I, along with the people of Guarjila, am excited about the potential this incoming FMLN government has for making positive change. Perhaps one day we will truly be able to know what the community building and organizing efforts of a town like Guarjila can achieve, when backed-up by a supportive political and economic environment.
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