El Salvador

Created in 2009 for the 20th anniversary of Infiniti and the 25th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil^®, the Infiniti G37 car was auctioned on November 12 in order to raise money for ONE DROP. Montreal artist Heidi Taillefer spent over 300 hours to paint by hand the outside of the vehicle. An anonymous buyer has purchased the work for the sum of $ 55 000, which will go to projects in developing countries.

"We are thrilled to have the support of Infiniti, especially since the proceeds from this auction will go directly to the organization’ Project El Salvador," said Lili-Anna Pereša, executive director of ONE DROP. More specifically, through its Project El Salvador, ONE DROP seeks to improve the quality of life and earning power of the inhabitants of Cacaopera and Corinto in the Morazàn department—the country’s poorest region. This initiative will directly impact some 12,000 men, women and children. It will furthermore affect the lives of more than 22,000 individuals indirectly through the project’s social art and popular education program.

In January 2011, ONE DROP begins working in El Salvador’s department of Morazán, to improve living conditions and access to water, and promote responsible water management through social arts and popular education activities. Accompanied by representatives from ONE DROP’s Canadian partners in the arts and education component of this project—Yvan Côté of Théâtre de l’Aubergine and Hélène Desperrier of Théâtre Parminou—ONE DROP project manager, Tania Vachon, went to El Salvador at the end of October 2010 to prepare implementation plans.

"Our start-up is aimed at organizing and structuring the project in terms of short-, medium- and long-term results, as well as studying ways to measure our progress," explains Tania. "To get the project firmly under way, funds will also be required. During October’s three-day trip, our group was also able to discuss our partners’ role in creating educational shows and activities for the three-year project."

Since ONE DROP’s last newsletter, Project El Salvador’s scope has been re-assessed so as to maximize its impact. While maintaining the number of families who will benefit from this project, ONE DROP and its partners are now concentrating on two rural municipalities whose survival is crucial, Cacaopera and Corinto, where the need for support is tremendous.

Work on Project Salvador began on September 1, 2010. Until the end of December, ONE DROP, along with OXFAM and partners in El Salvador, will ascertain the physical and socio-cultural aspects of the project that will be put into action in January 2011. ONE DROP’s support efforts, which include the innovative “tripod” approach, will focus on the department of Morazán—the poorest and driest department within this Central American country. And it’s not hard to see why.

El Salvador’s 7 million inhabitants make this Pacific Rim nation the most densely populated among Latin American countries, with 330 people/km². Almost half its territory is composed of a volcanic-type soil (i.e., with relatively weak agricultural potential), while 75% of the country’s land sits on slopes of 12 degrees or more (facilitating soil erosion). In the department of Morazán, such geographic and agricultural challenges are compounded by desertification.

ONE DROP and its partners will work with three municipalities within Morazán (Arambala, Joateca and Cacaopera) to improve living conditions and access to water, and promote responsible water management through the social arts and popular education component of its projects.

A new project will be implemented in El Salvador in September. In anticipation of this launch, a delegation from ONE DROP gathered in the intervention zone to meet up with future partners of the social arts and popular education component.

These partners are Equipo Maíz (who will produce educational publications on the topic of water), Escena X Teatro (who will give art and teaching workshops to youth in the intervention zone) and Asociación de Arte Dramático (who will create two multidisciplinary, interactive touring shows on the topic of water).

The purpose of the meeting was to gain a better understanding of the conditions for carrying out activities in the selected zone, allow partners to present planned activities to other participants in the component, develop a work methodology, define information-sharing mechanisms and plan the work schedule for the first quarter.

The next step will be to enable partners in El Salvador to team up with their Honduran counterparts to get insight into their field experience and to maximize the efficiency of their actions.

After Nicaragua and Honduras, it’s El Salvador’s turn to welcome ONE DROP. The groundwork has been laid and, already, talks with partners are under way. Carried out mostly in the Francisco Morazán department, the project is scheduled to start in July 2010.

As with its other projects, ONE DROP will work in cooperation with Oxfam-Québec to introduce its tripod approach. The microcredit unit will be implemented in cooperation with local organization Adel Morazán, in charge of managing the microcredit funds. Supported by Canadian partners Théâtre Parminou and Théâtre de l’Aubergine, local associations Equipo Maíz (instructional publications and material), Teatro Escena X and Asociación de Arte Dramático, will contribute their expertise to the social art unit. Finally, for the technical unit, ONE DROP will be able to count on the cooperation of Oxfam and other local organizations such as Fundesa, an association for the economic and social development of El Salvador, and AMS, an association that promotes the autonomy and fulfillment of Salvadoran women. AMS will support beneficiary families during the implementation stages of the new agricultural infrastructures.

ONE DROP is very proud to have initiated this project. We will keep you informed of future developments.