Dear Ladies,

I am sending this to you to give you a little background on Coach Flewelling (she coaches/runs the field hockey program at Capitalland) as well as to share with you the impact that each and every one of you can have in your lifetime. Flew goes on two missions trips a year, in the fall to South America, and in the spring, Africa.

I have known Flew for probably 35 years through field hockey and found out about her trips several years ago when Shelby and I went to England with her on a Hockey trip. She is a very unique and special person who has a huge heart and a gift for sharing. She is also one of the best and most knowledgable coaches that I have known during my time in Field Hockey.

During our 2009 season, we were able to have Coach Flew at a Varsity practice for a "clinic". Coach D and I both gave her a donation towards her well project in El Salvatore which is headed up by her church in Saratoga. Today, Flew came by to see how the team was doing and sent us this email to let us know of the success of her trip.

My hope is for all of you to be able to attend Capitalland at some point in your FH careers. The earlier the better, but also for those of you who have been to see a different side to Coach Flew. Enjoy!!

Coach Snyder

EL SALVADOR

SEPTEMBER 2009

We have donated to the funding of one well in the Village of Los Lotes. Matching funds=2 0from Rotary International plus $500 from the Villagers helped us make this well possible. The villagers will also be responsible for the maintainence of the well. The Village has been without water since November of 2008. There are about 90 families with a total of over 300 people living there. They have been buying water to drink, wash their clothes, and bathe. The cost per barrel is $2, and the water is not potable. Most of these families make $3 per day so $2 is a lot of money to them. In fact some of their children have had to drop out of school because they now have no money for school uniforms or materials. How sad!

Engineers without Borders from Tufts University accessed the situation earlier this summer. They decided to drill a new 540 foot deep well and put in 2 pumps as well as steel piping. The Village is located in an earthquake zone, and they feel that steel piping, rather than PVC, will be bett er able to handle the tremors. An El Salvadoran driller is overseeing the drilling. You can chart the progress at Epilogos.org.

My liaisons, Mike and Susie Jenkins, took me to a meeting in the Village. I knew the drilling rig was there and ready to go so I expected a few people to attend the meeting. I was totally surprised by the turnout. Most of the men were still at work, but there were over 100 people waiting for us at the site. There were grandparents, mother’s breast feeding, adolescents itching to be someplace else, toddlers exploring, and parents eager to hear news. It was a happy event. They held signs thanking me and my friends for the well. The leader of the Village gave a speech, as did a representative from the Mayor’s office. After the ceremony I was presented with a thank you letter from the people. If they could not write their name, they p ut their thumb print. It was very moving.

If you could see where these people live, you would be amazed. A family lives in 1 or 2 rooms with dirt floors, and few have electricity. Some have beds, some sleep on the floor, and some sleep in hammocks. They have a barrel in the yard for the water. And yet, they always look clean and neat. Those going to school walk 6 miles one way to get an education. Can you imagine our children walking 12 miles in one day to go to school? On my walk one morning I met a first grade girl walking to school alone. I walked 2 miles with her, but I know she had been on the road longer than that. She talked and talked and talked, and showed me the good grades she got from her teacher. She was a charmer!

I bought soccer balls to give to the young men who live to play. I target the 18 to 21 year olds because I know it helps to keep them off the streets, and hopefully keep them from joining a gang. On Sunday we went looking for games so I could give out the balls. We went near the area where we funded the well. There were no cars, but lots of people. One team is from the area, but the other team had to walk probably 3 miles just to play the game. We met with the Captains and the Teams and presented 2 new soccer balls. They were smiling from ear to ear. I asked them to pose for a picture. It was funny because they immediately got in formation. Apparently they have posed for the newspaper before. As they started the game, the captain of the home team threw out the new ball to use. We left with everyone thanking me over and over. I was as happy as they were.

It was halftime when we found the next game. One of the teams had come from 60 miles away. I looked around for vehicles. There was one pick up with sides on it. Apparently they all rode in this pickup, holding on to the bars. And our players think buses are bad. They also posed to receive the 2 soccer balls. The ball they had been using was in poor condition so they also immediately threw out one of the new balls to use in the game. Sometimes the simplest things make people happy. I bought notebooks to give to one of the Literacy Schools that Mike and Susie have started. The students are ages 6 to 15 and cannot read or write. Thei r families have no money to buy uniforms so they cannot go to the public school. Plus they are poor and embarrassed by it. We went to the School, and I gave them the notebooks, pencils, sharpeners, rulers, and posters for math and English. The children were eager to take ownership of each gift. Pencils and notebooks are like gold to these children who really have nothing of their own. They will leave them in the School for their use each day.

We have bought 4 smokeless stoves to donate to two local schools. The children are malnourished so the government donates the food, and mothers donate their time to cook and serve. This meal at school is the one good meal the children will get for the day. The women normally cook over wood fires that give off a great deal of smoke. The smoke effects everyone’s breathing, and certainly the environment. Plus they are cutting down t rees to get the wood. The smokeless stoves are 90% smoke free, and they are made by a co-operative here in El Salvador. So we will help a large number of people with this donation.

I traveled to Pasaquina, a town on the eastern border of El Salvador. Through the efforts of a woman from CCCS, I was able to visit one school and three villages. The school will eventually need a new roof which will cost over $7000. The cost will be high because it is made of light weight zinc/aluminum. It reflects the sun so the classrooms should be cooler than they are now. This is in the beginning stages as the school has not even gotten an estimate of the actual cost. We donated $100 to get this project off the ground. That should pay for an architect to access the situation.

My contact in this area asked for beans, rice, sugar and vitamins for 150 children in 3 villages. And that is what we gave. We depleted these items at the small grocery store. At each village the people were singing to me as we arrived with the food. Children were mostly barefoot and eager to get their portion for their families. As usual they were extremely thankful. I left feeling I was not doing enough. I suggested to the woman that I was working with that in the future we need to “teach them to fish”. Giving goats, pigs and chickens could give them a continuous supply of food. She was receptive to my idea and said she would consider it in the future.

My thanks to all of you who have helped these people of El Salvador. The most important gift was the well. Water is so precious all over the world. Without water we cannot live.