posted October 9, 2008
Area educators and others in the community are invited to attend a presentation by human rights activist José "Chencho" Alas in Baylor School's alumni chapel, Monday, Oct. 20, at 7 p.m.
The executive director of the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America, Chencho will speak about his long history defending human rights of the poor in El Salvador and Central America, the current food crisis and how it affects the poor in developing countries, and his work in sustainable development with non-profit organizations in Central America.
A community organizer and former Catholic priest who currently lives in El Salvador, "Chencho," as he is affectionately known, began his career by promoting education and land reform for the peasants in his parish. While his nonviolent activism gained support in the countryside, he became unpopular among landowners who feared his influence. In 1970 he was abducted, beaten, and drugged, before being thrown out of a moving car. In 1976, after bombings to his house and multiple unwarranted arrests, he was forced to flee the country to preserve his life.
In spite of this hardship, he continued his work, and when he returned to El Salvador, he helped establish the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America, which today supports a wide variety of programs for low-income communities. He also launched an ambitious initiative to declare El Salvador's Lower Lempa region a "Zone of Peace" – an area committed to changing the culture of violence to one of collaboration, mutual problem solving, and peace.
There is no cost for the event.
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