There has been a lot to despair about in 2025, and it can feel like there is nothing to be done about it. It feels like powerful people continue to abuse their power, and everyone else is becoming disenfranchised, isolated, and powerless.

Cesar and I have been trying to challenge this narrative by reconnecting with the communities and people who have inspired us before. Now more than ever is a time for building connection, healing, and positive action.

We are working to bring a series of women's workshops to the rural communities in San Esteban Catarina, San Vicente, El Salvador. In the fall of 2024, with the help of our friends in El Salvador, as well as the support of generous donors in our US-based community, we were able to hold two initial workshops. These events, two weeks apart, brought together a multigenerational group of women to work on techniques for internal healing and reflections with the purpose of engaging more with each other to serve and improve their community.

We had first connected with community members in San Vicente in 2009, when Cesar started working to organize a youth group that focused on implementing positive changes in their communities. Our relationship with those youth has endured over the years. Now, as young adults and community leaders, many of them want to continue to serve their community by offering the same type of leadership initiatives that had such a big impact on them. In 2024, a small group of us began to brainstorm how we could continue to strengthen community leadership on a very grassroots level.

Those initial women's workshops that we held in 2024 were a success. Women were able to open up and talk about how they had been impacted by war, family and community violence, family separation, and loss. They listened to and supported each other. Our facilitator engaged them in somatic activities that they could practice to continue with healing. As a group, they brainstormed how they could continue to support each other and contribute to the common good of their community. When asked if they wanted to continue this work in 2025, the answer was yes.

We believe that healing and growth happen on the personal and communal level. We think that it is crucial to create spaces where this change is possible.

Anyone who has participated in a retreat or a workshop that has impacted them can understand the importance of this work. We want to make these types of learning opportunities accessible to women who might not access them otherwise. We invite you to be part of this work with us.

Gracias!

-Laura