EL SALVADOR: : Solidarity and campaign news

Rural study visit to El Salvador

Easter 2008 – Approx £1,100 (all-inclusive)

The ex-refugee community of Nueva Esperanza (New Hope) – recipient of the U.N. Award for Sustainable Rural Development – invites you for an amazing two-week experience.

Ethical: You help fund local sustainable development.

Eco: You get to explore the stunning rural environment of the Bajo Lempa region, bustling with small-scale progressive development in health, education, music and dance, agriculture and liberation theology.

The fee includes a £150 donation to the community. Monies from last year’s ethical tourism trip have been invested in the community’s library service, sixth-form college and IT centre. Previous visits have inspired a number of solidarity initiatives, including filmmaking and fundraising.

Contact: Nueva Esperanza Support Group,
169 Newcombe Rd, Handsworth, Birmingham B21 8DB.

Email: mogstim [at] hotmail.com; Tel: 0121 523 4118

El Salvador scholarship scheme

A university scholarship scheme has been set up to help young people from Dimas Rodriguez, a small village north of San Salvador created at the end of the war by a group of FMLN guerillas and their families. The village council administers the scholarship fund and decides which young people receive support.

Contact Topsy Page if you can contribute £30 a month (or any other amount): topsypage [at] hotmail.com