Images of Refuge

By Margaret Jane Kling, CSJP

This collection of letters and documents records the period of time that Sister Margaret Jane Kling, Sister Andrea Nenzel, and others served in El Salvador with the Jesuit Refugee Service, living and working with refugees in San José Calle Real. Sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Salvador, the camp initially served about 100 refugees, the population later swelling to over 700 during its peak. A remarkable historical record, it also highlights how little has changed for refugees in war-torn countries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781458391551

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Copyright

© 2022 by Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

The Long Trip Home: Lessons from the War Zone used with the permission of Gene Palumbo.

Cover photo: Claire Horrell

Cover design and print book layout: Cristina Turino

First Printing: 2022

ISBN: 978-1-6781-5752-4

eISBN: 978-1-4583-9155-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022904194

Kenmare Press

399 Hudson Terrace

Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632

www.csjp.org/kenmarepress

Dedication

For the valiant, beloved people

of the refuge San Jose, Calle Real –

bruised, but not broken

Contents

Images of Refuge

Introduction

A Case Study: Women and Health

1985

Welcome Home

Getting Acquainted

The Story of the Massacre at El Despertar

Setting Up Camp

A Visit from the Air Force

If Journals Were Kept

A Sudden Departure and New Arrivals

1986

Operation Phoenix

Sister Andrea Writes: The Hard Reality

Heartsick: Illness and Infant Deaths at Calle Real

Rainy Season and a Reconstruction Plan

¡Terremoto! Earthquake!

Earthquake

1987

Merry Christmas!

Never a Dull Moment

Bringing Health Care to Remote Villages

A Sad Despedida (Farewell)

Gene Palumbo: The Long Trip Home

Situation Update

Changes and Adjustments

1988

San Carlos Lempa and Chaos at Calle Real

Sister Andrea Writes: Emergency Delegation

Phone Tree for Crisis

San Carlos Lempa and First Arrest

Sister Jo-Anne Writes: El Salvador Experience

Sister Mindy Writes: Images of El Salvador

Thoughts from Andrea

Sister Visitors and Geneva Plans

Geneva Meeting and Then on to England

1989

Letter from Jesuit Refugee Service Rome

Urgent Update

Santa Marta Visit; Second Arrest

JRS Report: Deportation of Sister Margaret Jane Kling

New Assignment: San Jose Changallo

Sister Andrea Reports: Salvador Visit

Sister Eleanor Writes: Plans and Changes

My Farewell and Eleanor’s Arrest

1990

Back in New Jersey

Address to the Graduates, Loyola School, New York

Afterword

Discovery

Acknowledgements

About the Author

About Kenmare Press

Images of Refuge

What did you come to the camp to see?

Tall palm trees,

Corn waving in the breeze?

Or gaunt, weary faces

Lined with patience, old with suffering,

Saddened by unforgettable sights

Of bombing, burning, raping, tearing.

Tell me, what did you come to see?

The children, perhaps,

Smiling with pale faces and solemn eyes,

Those silent witnesses of horrors

Too vile to speak

Whose runted bodies shout

Of foodless days and sleepless nights.

But what did you come to see–a people?

Yes, and something more:

A community striving to survive,

Healing, listening, learning to read,

Renewing their hearts, and the struggle,

Living in the hope of prompt return

To bombed-out homes, to ravished hills,

Living in the hope of peace to come.

Rejoice! The reed is but bruised, not broken!

Sister Margaret Jane Kling, csjp

The poem was first published in Maryknoll Magazine.

Sisters Margaret Jane and Andrea meeting with JRS representatives and Archbishop Rivera y Damas.

Introduction

You're going where? El Salvador? Why there? Why now? Are you out of your mind? These are some of the questions I was asked in 1984, and truthfully, I wondered about it myself! A Sister of St. Joseph of Peace for 30 years, 50 years old, and for the last 20 involved in hospital ministry, it was clear to me that I was ready for a change.

Two years prior, in 1982, when our CSJP leadership urged participation in a new, one-year program, known as the Congregation Experience, I had jumped at the chance. Because of her broad experience with marginalized individuals, Sister Andrea Nenzel, csjp, had been asked to create and facilitate this time of renewal. Focused on the charism and ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace (CSJP), this time was designed to help sisters move into more direct service and life with economically poor and marginalized people. (As Andrea described it, this radical reorientation would turn us upside down. As indeed it did!).

During this time, the civil war in El Salvador (1979-92) was dragging on, even though the 1980 murders of Archbishop Óscar Romero and the four American women had shocked the world. As a result of the violence and oppression, thousands of people had fled to the churches for sanctuary. The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) responded to the situation by extending its work to El Salvador and appointed Michael Campbell-Johnston, sj, as Director.

Our own Congregation was founded in Nottingham, England, in 1884, to promote the peace of the Church by word and work. And so, at our centennial General Chapter meeting in 1984, after prayer and discussion, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace made a formal commitment to Central America and Northern Ireland:

In keeping with our documents which call us to solidarity with poor, powerless and oppressed peoples, as a congregation we specifically commit ourselves during the next six years to give special attention to critical needs in Central America and Northern Ireland. This shall involve direct solidarity with the peoples of these areas, various actions promoting systemic change, and continued education for our membership. Sisters who feel called to be a presence in either of those areas shall be encouraged to discern the call.

After the Chapter, Andrea began studying Spanish and searching out ministry possibilities in Guatemala and El Salvador. I was not quite there; a real New Jersey girl, I could not begin to imagine life in a refugee camp. Then, one day I spotted a brief ad – the Jesuit Refugee Service was looking for volunteers to accompany the people. The word accompany jumped off the page! My immediate response was Wow! I think maybe I could do that! And so, I jumped on board.

After further investigation and prayer, Andrea and I both completed applications for service with JRS, just being established in El Salvador. Several months later, in December, we were invited to come down to San Salvador to meet with Michael Campbell-Johnston and representatives of the Jesuit community, and with Archbishop Rivera y Damas, successor to Romero. The archbishop, under great pressure to open the new 50-acre sanctuary, which was already under construction, strongly urged us to come in January. It seemed that the people had made it clear that they would not feel safe and would not move without the presence of international sisters. The Jesuits agreed. We did not expect this very short timeframe but, convinced of the necessity, went back home to meet with our Congregation leaders, explain the situation, and request permission to go. After several meetings, approval was given. We packed our suitcases, and, on January 7, 1985, flew to San Salvador to begin this new mission adventure.

Once we arrived, we wanted to tell the folks back home all about it! This was not easily done, as there was no phone, computer, e-mail or Wi-Fi! We needed to stay connected, though, and so we regularly wrote letters to describe day-to-day life in the camp as well as extraordinary events. Due to the tenuous situation, we had to be careful and self-censored all our communications. Fortunately, many of the international news organizations had offices in San Salvador, and they often included our letters in their mail pouches.

While in El Salvador, we kept no diaries or notes. After I returned home, though, several people, including Sister Ann Taylor, csjp, Sister Terry Donohue, csjp, and my sister Kathy Surgett, returned letters they had received from me. These, along with others from our Congregation archives, form the basis of this collection. The 1990 address to the Loyola School graduates represents my only public speaking engagement after returning home. The 1989 murders of members of the Jesuit community were so personally devastating that I had turned down several invitations to speak. However, I could not say no to a very dear friend, Jim Fox, sj, who served as President of the school. I'm pleased to include it here.

The entries are chronological, interspersed occasionally with letters or reports from other sources. One exception is the report on Calle Real requested by JRS, which I presented in Geneva, Switzerland, in November 1988. A case study on women and health, it is placed at the beginning to provide background and history of the refuge.

Letters addressed Dear Ann refer to Sister Ann Taylor, csjp, the Eastern Region Provincial at that time. She was succeeded by Sister Ann Rutan, csjp.

A Case Study: Women and Health

This report was presented by Sister Margaret Jane Kling at the International Consultation on Refugee Women sponsored by the NGO Working Group on Refugee Women, Geneva, Switzerland.

San José, Calle Real, El Salvador

August 1988

San José, Calle Real, served for three years as a political sanctuary for displaced Salvadorans, and was operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador. The Jesuit Refugee Service cooperated to provide a team of international volunteers, who lived and worked with the people. The camp is situated on a hilly, 50-acre