Dear Friends of MASCP,
We would like to introduce ourselves. We are the newest MASCP core group members, Abi Degner and Marco Aguirre. Abi is originally from the Madison area and Marco is originally from San Salvador. We are excited to bring our enthusiasm, skills and energy to MASCP. We have a very unique connection to Arcatao.
Marco’s dad, also named Marco Aguirre, is originally from Arcatao! Marco Sr. lives in San Salvador but he goes back to Arcatao every month or two to visit aunts and uncles and all the folks that were there before the 1990s. We go along whenever we are in El Salvador. Marco says it is hard to walk around Arcatao with his dad because he will chat with everyone in his path.
We found out about MASCP in 2015 on one of those visits back to Arcatao when visiting the Historical Memory Museum. We were surprised to see an old photo there with a banner that read, “Arcatao y Madison en Solidaridad.” It was there that we formed the plan to get involved with MASCP as soon as we got back to Madison.
MASCP provides such a great education about the history of El Salvador and the U.S. involvement in the civil war. Being part of an MASCP delegation was one of the most eye opening experiences we have ever had. It is important to know about El Salvador, because even though there isn't a civil war right now, it was the U.S. backed civil war that is causing a lot of the current migration issues.
We hope that the people of Arcatao never lose their fearless commitment to being an organized community working for justice. They so often inspire us - their knowledge of current events, their action on climate change, environmental protections, women's leadership, and other initiatives are so far beyond ours. We hope that we can continue to learn from them and we can be of mutual benefit to each other.
This holiday season, we have an incredible opportunity to continue supporting this important work in Arcatao. A generous member of our community has offered to MATCH ALL donations to MASCP up to $5,000. We hope that you will all consider contributing even a little - $25 can make a big difference if enough people give. This is a huge boost to MASCP’s ability to support our friends in El Salvador as we start a new decade of solidarity finding grassroots solutions to some of the biggest challenges our world is facing.
We wish you happy holidays and our best wishes for the New Year.
In Solidarity,
Abi and Marco
