CRISPAZ El Salvador e-Encounter

El Salvador e-Encounter
One of the major focuses of e-Encounter is to reflect on the meaning of working for justice rather than working for charity, understanding one’s role as a global citizen, and humanizing the different issues present in our societies.
The El Salvador e-Encounter is an in-depth learning experience for anyone wanting to learn about El Salvador. A typical e-Encounter is five days long with three sessions every day, and offer participants the opportunity to have conversations with different speakers, grassroots organization leaders, rural community members, and youth groups, to learn and humanize about:
- immigration and its root causes
- climate change and the impact it is having in the Central American region
- economic and social inequalities
- women’s rights
- human rights
- historic memory
- the civil war and post-war era
- nonviolence and its importance in how one carries out dialogues and actions about issues affecting our societies
The e-Encounter gives particular emphasis to the voice and experience of the poor and marginalized communities of El Salvador. Participants learn directly from the Salvadoran people and engage in reflections at the end of each day. Taking our inspiration from St. Oscar Romero, we want to give voice to the voiceless. This emphasis will form the core of the experience.
These experiences promote faith, solidarity, justice, dignity, and personal, spiritual, and social transformation through mutual accompaniment.
It is our conviction that needed social and political change can best be achieved through intercultural understanding and cooperation.

Due to COVID-19, we had to move our traditional way of in-person accompaniment to new, online channels, so we developed the CRISPAZ e-Encounter program – we could not stay socially distant from the people of El Salvador and our commitment and values of solidarity and mutual accompaniment. We were fortunate enough to have all our partners respond in turn.
We are positive that this pandemic is something we will get through. Yet, we have to face the fact that it has dramatically changed our lives. The challenge and we believe the opportunity, is now to start thinking of new ways of accompaniment. This new normal may certainly be a different normal, but one that offers new ways of being in solidarity.
Though we will resume our in-country experience once we return to a “new normal” we will continue holding synchronous e-Encounters as an alternative.
One thing is certain:
SOLIDARITY CAN’T WAIT!
VIDEO TESTIMONIALS
2021 e-Encounters
- DePaul University (Winter Break)
- Loyola Marymount University
- John Carroll University
- University of Dayton
- University of Scranton
- Santa Clara University
- Fordham University
- Salesianum School
- Loyola University Chicago School of Medicine
- Cristo Rey Baltimore
- DePaul University (Spring Break)
- Fontbonne Hall Academy
- Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School
- St. John The Baptist Church
- St. Francis High School
- Jesuit High School Portland
- Carroll High School
- St. Peter’s High School New Jersey
Contact us for more information about our e-Encounter.
STAY CONNECTED:
CONTACT:
ABOUT:
🇺🇸USA Office:
808 Brookhill Road
Louisville, Kentucky 40223
(502) 592-5295
🇸🇻 El Salvador Office:
Apdo. Postal 2944
Centro de Gobierno
San Salvador
(503) 2225 9031
CRISPAZ is a faith-based organization dedicated to building bridges of solidarity between the Church of the Poor and marginalized communities in El Salvador and communities in the US, Canada, Australia, and other countries through mutual accompaniment.
CRISPAZ was founded in 1984 and is a lay-led 501(c)(3) organization.