A Tri S Journey to El Salvador

Junior Keren Berrios was born in the middle of a war. The jagged teeth of violence had shredded her home country of El Salvador for over two decades. Political factions fought and destabilized the country until 1992, when a peace treaty was signed. Berrios’ own family was affected by the war when her grandmother sent her father to the capitol to study, for fear he would be pulled into the conflict. Although the violence has subsided, the tensions between those factions still exist.

Berrios began researching her country’s history last year and was fascinated to find it so rich and applicable. She decided she wanted to share her country’s story. “One day I was talking to a couple of my friends and how they were blessed by Tri-S… and how much they learned,” she explained. The idea clicked, and she went immediately to Student Life to pitch her idea of a trip to El Salvador, which was well-received. She worked with church and family back in El Salvador to organize the trip, and on March 10th, 12 AU students left for San Salvador, El Salvador.

The group, led by resident director of Smith Hall Dan Siefken, spent four days doing service work and three days studying the culture of the country. Berrios’ church, which supports her parents’ missionary work in Romania, needed their kitchen remodeled—and AU students pitched in to help. During their time helping the church, the AU group got to know the El Salvadoran work leaders very well. One night, a young man from the church asked to share his story with the students. They took an hour and listened as he recounted how God had saved him from the drugs and violence of the gangs of San Salvador. “That was a really powerful moment. It really summed up our work experience in that we really got to know the guys and had a lot of time to converse with them,” Siefken said. The group easily connected with the El Salvadoran nationals largely because of the cultural value of hospitality and relaxed sense of time. Few El Salvadorans wear watches, and the people were eager to build relationships with the American students, even as they worked side by side.

The last part of the trip enlightened the students to the tragic but hopeful history of the small, Central American country. They spent time conversing (on separate occasions) with both a right wing political leader and former leftist guerilla. Although the war was over, the conversations with the political thinkers revealed that El Salvador still had a lot of potential for growth. After talking with the two men, Siefken reflected: “I feel like there are still a lot of the same issues. There’s still a lot of poverty. There’s still a lot of injustice and inequality… They both recognize that there are still problems, but that fighting a war may not be the appropriate response to that, so now they’re working it out politically… They both know there’s a lot of room for growth, but there’s a better way than fighting.” The cultural aspect of the trip ended with a final night at a beach resort where the AU students celebrated the bond they had built over the week, working and learning together in a new place.

The experience of the trip gave Berrios a chance to share her country, but also to grow in her own understanding of her home. Visiting a different part of the city than where she grew up came as a bit of a shock to her. She also found that of all the people in the AU group, she was the least relaxed about time. Her experience living in El Salvador, Romania, and now Indiana has made her perspective and values unique. In turn, all of the students also got a taste for a different country and different way of life, and will carry the memories of their experience with them. “It was good to share the story of my country… and what we’ve gone through and how that has shaped my life and the rest of the world,” Berrios said.