Service

COAR welcomes groups wishing to be of service to the impoverished community that we serve.

Child Care . . . The most under-rated service in the world . . .
The children who live at COAR, like children everywhere, never get enough attention! They love having stories read to them, playing soccer, and dancing. They love showing off their homework, school projects, and bunk beds. Visitors are assigned to a foster-care house where they can get to know the children and help take the load off the housemothers. Caring for the infants or just playing with the older children is a tremendous service to us!

Teaching English . . .
Knowing English is not only no barrier - it is a plus! Any amount of conversation in English helps the children learn a valuable skill. We can help you with materials, like learning the same song in English and Spanish and then having a simple conversation with the vocabulary learned. Bring your own ideas - the more fun and creative the better! Any conversation, on any level is a service.

Manual labor . . .
There is always the need to clean, repair, and paint. Your group can give the added service of raising the funds for the materials needed, too. Working with Salvadorans, who desperately need unskilled jobs, will add "solidarity" to your service.

"When we speak for the poor, please note that we do not take sides with one social class. What we do is invite all social classes, rich and poor, without distinction, saying to everyone let us take seriously the cause of the poor as though it were our own." - Monseñor Romero, 9/9/1979

Visiting COAR . . .
Any visit to El Salvador will confront you with poverty. A visit to COAR will bring the poor into your heart. Our children have few "things" like toys or clothes, but they have the most important things: nutritious food, safety, education. As you get to know the circumstances of the individual children who touch your heart, poverty takes on a deeper reality.

We have simple guest quarters that usually have running water, but when they don't there is always a bucket. You can wash your clothes as the children do, by hand. Keeping the experience simple and focussed by leaving games and electronic devices behind increases awareness, and . . . a great bonding experience will be had by all!

COAR-inspired activities at "home" . . .
Feeling poverty through sacrificing a meal, a purchase, or some entertainment experience (a movie, television, video game) takes on a new meaning when you can associate it with a particular child.

Read an article on U.S. students reaching for solidarity in El Salvador.