New hope in El Salvador

Ketxu Amezua, CAFOD Programme Accompanier in El Salvador [Kate Stanworth]

Following the devastating earthquakes of 2001, local communities were involved at every stage of planning and reconstruction - helping to renew their spirit and energy

More than one million people were left homeless by a series of powerful earthquakes that rocked El Salvador in 2001.

Many houses had been reduced to rubble and thousands of families were reliant on emergency shelter and food. More than 1,000 had lost their lives.

The immediate task was to start rebuilding permanent homes in three rural areas of El Salvador where 700 families were living in emergency shelters.

It was vital that local communities participated at every stage of planning and reconstruction. This formed part of the process of renewing their spirit and energy.

The project team helped the communities to organise themselves and to assess which families most needed help. Groups received training in building and learnt to reconstruct their own homes with technical supervision.

Ketxu Amezua was sent to El Salvador by the John XIII Institute, a Jesuit organisation based in Nicaragua, as a gesture of support and solidarity after the 2001 earthquake.

Ketxu's experience of relief and reconstruction projects in Nicaragua following Hurricane Mitch gave her valuable experience to support the El Salvador Jesuit Development Service in their post-earthquake programme.

"Working together with your hands is the best way of dealing with trauma," she says. "It makes you feel that you're able to overcome your own difficulties. By being part of the solution, the relationship of receiving is more dignified.

"When I arrived in El Salvador, it was at the stage when people were starting to come to terms with the pain and the trauma and wondering how to deal with the future."

The Jesuit Development Service helped villagers to rebuild 493 homes with special earthquake-proof reinforcements.

Securing the rights to land

As well as rebuilding homes, the reconstruction project is helped to train local people – particularly women - how to secure the legal rights to their own land.

"Historically, much of the agricultural land owned by peasant farmers in Central America does not have a legal title," explains Ketxu, who is originally from Spain and has lived in Central America for over 30 years.

"This is another aspect of people's vulnerability. If they don't have titles for their land, they have less security and can find themselves under threat of eviction."

For each new home that was built, the Jesuit Development Service made sure that the land rights were legally recognised – and that the tenure was equally shared between men and women.

"Our legal teams trained people in each community to do this for themselves so they can help more families in the future," says Ketxu.

Ketxu is confident that the Jesuit Development Service will leave behind a lasting legacy, thanks to the generous donations that have flooded in from CAFOD supporters.

"This has a long-term lasting impact because it's something that will be left in the community," she says.

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