2007 Annual Report to Members

Santa Cruz al Salvador — a Brief History

Santa Cruz al Salvador is a non-profit organization (EIN 52-2289975) that was formed in 2001, with two member churches: Light of Life Lutheran in Scotts Valley and St. Stephen’s Lutheran in Santa Cruz. The bylaws state that “the primary objectives and purposes of this corporation shall be the solicitation, collection, and possession of charitable donations from Santa Cruz County and any other location, for distribution in, or for the benefit of, the country of El Salvador, to those organizations and individuals needing charitable assistance.” We have simplified that with the phrase: “Building Relationships for Better Lives”. Our organization has focused on building and strengthening relationships with (1) the communities of the Ciudadela ‘Dr. Guillermo Manuel Ungo’. Although Guillermo Ungo is the name of the largest community, Ciudadela is an umbrella term (roughly translated as fortress or citadel) that also includes the communities of Sitio Nuevo, Monsignor Romero, Los Enriques, Montepeque, Huerta Enana, Alegría, as well as a few others. In the past few years our focus has been on scholarships for the school and supporting the health clinic, both of which are located in Ungo but serve all the communities. At this time, St. Stephen’s Lutheran is the only “member” congregation of Santa Cruz al Salvador (with voting members on the board), although Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd (Salinas) is an active participant and Trinity Presbyterian sent two members on the 2008 delegation and seem favorably inclined to join the organization

The members of the board for 2007 were: President, Kent Madsen; VP, Mike Cruddas; Secretary, Chris Madsen; Treasurer, Ruth Cruddas; member-at-large, Lisa Johnson. Each member church selects two members to the board, and the board chooses a member-at-large. Kent Madsen & Ruth Cruddas were elected to be voting members at the St. Stephen’s annual meeting last January, and Lisa Johnson was chosen to be the member-at-large by the board.

A Report on the 2008 Delegation

The delegation this year was the largest ever, with 21 people. We visited from Dec. 30, 2007 to Jan 9, 2008. (Some delegates returned home on Jan. 5). Delegation members were:
From St. Stephen’s: Jill Adachi, Mike & Ruth Cruddas & their granddaughter Briana Covington, Stephanie Dawson, Lisa Johnson & her son Colin Boyle, Pastor Jim & Kyle Lapp, Kent & Christine Madsen, Renee Rice, Mitch & Joe Ronning, Manny and Kyle Travers.
From Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Salinas: Steve Barrett, Loren & Daniel Dynneson.
From Trinity Presbyterian, Santa Cruz: Pastor Karla Norton, Dave Gomez.
Our translator and in-country organizer was again Brenda Hubbard, who has been our guide since 1998 and has become a dear friend.

The Activities

Prayer Sponsors: this continues to be very exciting. Each of the 82 scholarship recipients has been partnered with a family, who prays for that child during the year and contributes the cost of the child’s scholarship (average is $55) if they are financially able. Every year more families are sending letters/cards and we continue to bring back a photo of the child and many letters. It really feels to us that the connection – pictures, cards, etc. – is as exciting to them as the scholarship. Keeping a current list continues to be the primary challenge; we receive changes to the list just days before the scholarship program. Our goal is to receive an updated list prior to our visit. We feel that this will soon be possible due to increased access to the internet.
Scholarships: There is a new director for the school, Dora Maria Ventura. She has been a teacher at the school for over 5 years. The former director, Noel Humberto Guerrero (known as ‘Don Fito’) is retired but staying on as a mentor for Dora and will remain as administrator for the scholarship program per the request of the parents. The scholarship committee has consisted of Fito and the president of the parent-teacher organization (ACE), with input from the leaders of each of the communities. We suggested, in the presence of the teachers and the new president of ACE (Sandra Guatemala) that (1) they increase the size of the scholarship committee to assure greater representation of the various communities, (2) they make the scholarship process more transparent so that parents of children who are not receiving a scholarship know who to approach to apply for one, and (3) increase the number of scholarships to 120 for next year.
University scholarships: Started in 2005, university scholarships have had successes as well as disappointments. There were 3 recipients for 2007: (1) Maria Norma Cuellar, who has completed the first phase of her goal to become a nurse. She has a diploma as a technical nurse. (2) Alcides –studying mathematics at the National University- did well in all classes except one. He is getting some academic counseling. (3) Maria Angel, going to the National University to study psychology. Her grades were not yet available for us.
It has been our strong policy that funds are administered through a local non-government organization (Funsalprodese – see below) and that the local scholarship committee selects the recipients for both scholarships. This has proven to be a very good policy, as we get many personal requests.
Craft project with the children: Children of all ages seem to enjoy this- including some adults.
Youth group: The 7 youth (and some of the adults) joined several Salvadoran youth in painting the outside of the school. They did a great job!

Peace Pole: Organized by Lisa Johnson, a Peace Pole was erected in the school courtyard, with the words “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in English, Spanish, and German. There was a beautiful ceremony to dedicate this pole with the words of the prayer of St. Francis spoken in English and Spanish.
AMUDESCO: the women’s group, which includes the health promoters, as well as women who focus on the environment and family violence. Funding for the doctor and the Health Promoters remains a major challenge. We remain the only financial support. Several members worked in the clinic one day, including Mitch Ronning, a physical therapist, who did some teaching and Jill Adachi, a pharmacist, who helped organize the meds we brought down. Jill will be able to provide us with better direction of supplies to bring down next year.
The Lutheran Church of El Salvador: Martir Vigil is a theology student who is providing a regular pastoral presence to the communities. He led worship our first day in the community, and met with us in San Salvador, along with Bishop Gomez, at our guest house. The greatest challenge, right now, is salaries for pastors, including Martir. Our goal – enlist help from other Lutheran churches to help Martir with his schooling by providing a scholarship and/or a salary for him.

Action Items

We had a very successful fund raising effort in 2007. $20,000 was raised - well over our goal of $18,000! Gracias a Dios! Gracias to all who helped with all the fundraising activities. A complete financial report is available on request from Ruth Cruddas, treasurer. Our goal for 2008: $21,000.
The following decisions were made by unanimous vote of the members of the board of Santa Cruz al Salvador while in El Salvador:

Funsalprodese (the NGO helping to administer scholarship money): We met again with Americo Mauro Araujo, the Director, Ryna Garay, executive director, and Margarita López, who is in charge of educational projects and is the liaison to Ungo for us. For the GU scholarships, there is a balance of $2500 that Fito did not spend. That was the money we left last January, so we decided to send all money in the fall in the future. We asked that immediately another 11 students be added to the scholarship list (for 2008), and that Fito use $500 to buy school supplies for all the students. $4,500 was left for University scholarships. A 5% administration fee is included in the money left.
IMU (the NGO that works with AMUDESCO): The group met with the executive director Deysi Cheyne. $10,500 was left for the clinic ($4,225 had been designated). This will fund the doctor and pay health promoters $10/day (an increase from $8/day) for the year!!
The Lutheran Church in El Salvador: we left $600 with Bishop Gomez for the Lutheran church.

This visit was a very busy and exciting one, as you can see. We thank you for your support of prayers, money, and supplies. Our Salvadoran Brothers and Sisters continually give thanks for your love and accompaniment.

Dios bendiga (God’s blessing to you)
Christine Madsen, Secretary, Santa Cruz al Salvador

Added by admin February 6, 2009 (12:28AM)

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