Tortillas for Tepecoyo

“Y así es la vida…estamos luchando”

So this is life…we are fighting.

These are words we have heard spoken over and over again by Angelica Portillo. They refer to the poverty that she, her family, and the surrounding community face every day. They refer to the rebuilding that they had to do after heavy rains in October of 2011 destroyed their homes and town. They refer to the annual struggle to harvest enough beans and corn to get by. They also refer to the comedor that fights to give the children in La Javia, Tepecoyo the nutrition they need in order to grow into strong adults.

LA JAVIA, TEPECOYO

La Javia, Tepecoyo is a rural community in El Salvador located about an hour east of the capital of San Salvador. In the past the majority of the families in La Javia worked in agriculture. Families harvested crops for their own needs as well as sold crops in order to generate an income. However, prices for coffee, beans, and corn have been rising and falling in recent years leaving families without a stable income. In addition, heavy rains and overuse of the land have left crops throughout Tepecoyo destroyed leaving families without work. As a result, they cannot afford the proper education or nutrition for their children to grow. Children throughout La Javia suffer the effects of poor nutrition including frequent illness, dizziness, and changes in brain development which all affect their ability to succeed in school, something highly valued in the poor rural community.

HISTORY OF THE COMEDOR

Years ago, Angelica Portillo, a mother of two, began volunteering with the health promoter in La Javia. As she made her rounds throughout the community, she began to notice that many of the children were very undernourished and their mothers lacked the financial means to provide their children with more nutritious food. Angelica saw a great need in the community but she too lacked the financial resources to do much.

Luckily Angelica soon met the Sisters of Charity in the area. With their financial support, Angelica was able to establish a community nutrition initiative out of her home. Women from throughout the community met every Monday through Friday in order to prepare lunch for the children of La Javia. The positive effects of the comedor were overwhelming. Children began gaining weight, they were doing better in school, and the women of the community had a place where they could meet and discuss important issues facing the community. However, one day the Sisters of Charity decided they could no longer fund the comedor project. They packed up their pots, pans, tables, and benches leaving Angelica with dozens of hungry children she could no longer support. As agriculture failed and unemployment rates rose in Tepecoyo, many of the children came home from school to a single tortilla as their only meal of the day.

However, in 2007 Angelica and her comedor were given new life. A former Casa de la Solidaridad student by the name of Emory returned to El Salvador ready to help Angelica rebuild the comedor. Together they purchased new tables and pots and again began to provide the children in the community the food they needed to grow. Since then Angelica’s comedor has been running solely through outside donations. In the past few years the comedor has been forced to close multiple times due to insufficient funds, a risk that still exists today.

THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE COMEDOR

This past Fall the comedor served 26 children ranging in ages from five to eighteen. The comedor was able to operate until the end of the school year; however, Angelica chose to shut down the comedor for the holidays in order to save money for the upcoming school year. The average cost for food is $1 per day per child and the comedor is in constant need of funds. You can help in providing sustainable nutrition for the children of La Javia.

Your gift will have significant impact on the health and success of the children of La Javia. Thank you for your generosity in partnering with us.

Friday, April 3, 2015

New Website

We have a new website!
While the website is still being updated, for more recent information on the Comedor and Tortillas for Tepecoyo please visit http://tortillasfortepecoyo.wix.com/home

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Get to know Tepecoyo

I am currently a Senior at the University of San Diego, majoring in Ethnic Studies and Spanish with a minor in Peace and Justice Studies. This past fall I was lucky enough to spend many of my days in the community of La Javia accompanying two extremely strong women, Angelica and Ana. Their strength, determination, and open hearts taught me about the Salvadoran reality that they face every day. As Angelica said on the first day we met her, “somos familia” and from that day on I truly felt like I was part of the Portillo family.