At our 2019 annual meeting, our congregation voted to establish a “sibling” relationship with the community of Plazuelas, El Salvador, and the Plazuelas-Parker Project was born. We see PPP as part of our shared commitment to global citizenship based on the shared values and beliefs of Unitarian Universalism, and committed ourselves to a multi-faceted partnership of mutual learning and solidarity between our two communities.

Plazuelas is a tiny community of about 200 people located within walking distance of both the El Salvador-Honduras border and Central America’s longest river, the Lempa. The community was abandoned for a time in the 1980s during the country’s civil war but was resettled just prior to the Peace Accords ending that war in 1992.

Since then, Plazuelas has struggled mightily to re-establish itself as a viable community, despite the absence of economic opportunities for its residents. As is the case in much of rural El Salvador, many residents of Plazuelas have identified migration to the United States as the only answer to the lack of opportunity. At this point, more members of the community live in the United States than in Plazuelas. The community’s reliance on remittances from community members in the U.S. creates a tremendous sense of vulnerability in the community, given the current climate in this country.

The COVID pandemic created impressive obstacles to the growth of PPP, but it did not stop it. Members of our congregation have established strong relationships with both the Community Development Association and the Social Committee of the community’s Roman Catholic Church. TPC members have visited the community on four occasions.

In late 2024, both local organizations made a formal appeal to TPC for financial support to help the community complete the construction of a church building. Under the leadership of our PPP committee, the congregation has taken up this challenge and is in the process of raising funds to provide building materials for the construction of the church floor.

In addition to the construction campaign, we are exploring the idea of facilitating “pen-pal” relationships between children and young people in the two communities and creating relationships through which PPP can support the efforts of young people in Plazuelas to continue their education beyond the six grades currently available in the community school.

We plan to organize another trip to Plazuelas in December 2025.

For more information about PPP or to join our activities, contact PPP by talking to co-chairs Kit Shaw or Kevin Murray, or by e-mail at plazuelasparker@gmail.com.