La Javilla, Tepecoyo is a rural community in El Salvador located about an hour away from San Salvador. The area has historically been an agricultural one, with coffee as its primary crop. The people living there have dedicated themselves to its cultivation, but with the fall in world coffee prices, most people have been left without work or any source of income. As a result many families cannot afford the costs of education or proper nutrition. Children are affected most by inadequate nutrition, as they suffer the effects of malnutrition, which include impairment of physical growth, frequent illness, changes in brain development, dizziness and inability to concentrate.
History of the Comedor
Years ago, Angelica, a mother and community leader in La Javilla, with the financial support of the Sisters of Charity, established a community nutrition initiative out of her home. Every Monday through Friday, mothers in the community gathered to prepare and serve plates of healthy food to dozens of children in need.
The effects of the center, or comedor, on children of the community were overwhelmingly positive. Many entered the program underweight, but after only a few months were healthier and stronger. Additionally, children who had struggled to concentrate in school gained the strength to dedicate themselves to their studies. The comedor was not only a success as far as providing necessary nutrition, but it also became a community center where women in the community were empowered to gather monthly to discuss issues of education, nutrition, and familial development.
Unfortunately, four years ago Angelica was forced to close the comedor due to a lack of sufficient funds. The Sisters of Charity were unable to continue funding the project, and thus the comedor, which had provided so much to the community, could not support further development.
In recent years the situation in La Javilla has only worsened. Unemployment has increased and proper nutrition for families is more critical an issue than ever. The children of the community are now already a month into their school year, but often return from school to a lunch of nothing more than a single tortilla. They are again suffering the affects of malnutrition.
What the Comedor Provides
Angelica has been working enthusiastically in recent months to combat this severe and preventable problem by starting a new comedor. The new comedor provides developmental alternatives for families in La Javilla. 28 children in the community receive plates of balanced and healthy lunches every school day. Women and children again have a center to invest in. Finally, Angelica and other mothers directly oversee the development and implementation of the project, without the possibility of having their funding pulled by an outside source.
Comedor Fundraising Goals
The necessities for furnishing the comedor have been purchased, at a cost of $862. We are very grateful to all of our donors who helped us reach our initial fund raising goal and made the furnishing of the comedor possible!
Now, much help is needed in sustaining the monthly food costs. Please help meet the immediate needs of the community by making a one-time donation in any denomination, or subscribe with a monthly donation in order to sustain the comedor’s food costs.
Monthly Food Costs: $500
Please spread the word about La Javilla. Your greatly-needed donations are deeply appreciated!
Your gift will have significant impact on the health and success of the children of La Javilla. Thank you for your generosity in partnering with us.
Who We Are
Emory Lynch
I first met Angelica in 2005, and helped prepare and serve food to children of the community when the old comedor was still in operation. I was studying abroad in El Salvador and was deeply impacted by my time with Angelica and the children I ate with, played with and tutored. I saw firsthand the need for nutritional development in the community, as many parents struggled to provide any food at all, and certainly not that which would properly sustain healthy development and growth. After I graduated from Santa Clara University in 2007 I returned to El Salvador, and have been fortunate enough to work with Angelica in the founding of a new comedor. I now live in the Boston area, and communicate with Angelica regularly about the comedor's development and the situation of the families in La Javilla. Angelica and the women of La Javilla are enthusiastically dedicated to this endeavor, which I see as an incredible opportunity for the empowerment, health, and sustainable development of this community.
Angelica and IJeff "Chico" Staples
Like Emory, I have been blessed and inspired by Angelica's tireless efforts on behalf of the community she loves. A student with the Casa de la Solidaridad in 2006, I grew to know and love both Angelica and the people of La Javilla. I graduated from Boston College in 2008 and spent a year in El Salvador working on a variety of projects, including the comedor in Tepecoyo. Currently I am studying law back in the U.S. I am excited that, with your support, a meaningful and sustainable project will positively impact a community that has become very precious to me.
Chico entertaining the kids