Since 2007, the Moakley Institute has co-sponsored trips to El Salvador to retrace Moakley's steps and continue his legacy of helping the Salvadoran people.  The Moakley Institute has co-sponsored these delegations with Suffolk's Organization for Uplifting Lives Through Service, or S.O.U.L.S., through their Alternative Winter Break and Alternative Spring Break programs.  These trips are designed to provide Suffolk students with a unique opportunity to live and work in the communities that Moakley visited and to learn about the lasting effects of his work there. 

Students prepare for the trips by taking courses in Suffolk's History and Government departments, in which they learn about the political, social, and economic context of the civil war in El Salvador. Once students arrive in El Salvador they have the opportunity to interact with local families, attend presentations, and participate in community service projects that allow them to contribute directly to making El Salvador's rebuilding efforts.The delegations have been coordinated by the Centro Arte para La Paz,  Habitat for Humanity International, and Companion Community Development Alternatives, or CoCoDA.

2012 Trip

Following in the footsteps of Congressman Moakley, Suffolk students will experience two weeks of study, travel and service as part of Suffolk’s 6th annual Alternative Winter Break trip to El Salvador in January 2012. Throughout the semester, students learned about the civil war and the political, social, and economic issues facing the Central American nation in a history course taught by Professor Christopher Rodriguez. Students also volunteered at the Local Boston Food Festival and learned about El Salvador’s civil war and rebuilding efforts at several campus events that included the following guest speakers: Sister Peggy O’Neill, Dr. Charlie Clements, and filmmaker Frank Christopher.

2011 Trip

Students, faculty, and staff helped build two homes in El Salvador during the winter break service-learning expedition in Jnauary 2011.They also learned about political, social, and economic issues in the Central American nation during their two weeks of travel, study, and service

The delegation followed in the footsteps of Congressman Moakley to learn firsthand about the political, social, and economic issues facing the Central American nation. Students met with a variety of government officials, ex-combatants, representatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and human rights activists. The group also had the opportunity to stay at an arts education center, Centro Arte para La Paz, created by Sister Peggy O’Neill. The Center helps communities confront conflict and build a culture of peace.

At the University of Central America, students toured the site where six priests, a housekeeper and her daughter were assassinated, a transgression that triggered a congressional investigation led by the late Congressman John Joseph “Joe” Moakley. The armed forces were implicated, and the United States cut off military aid, leading to an eventual peace.

Trip highlights included staying with host families in a rural village and working with Habitat for Humanity on the construction of two houses nearby. The delegation worked side by side with the families who would be moving into the new homes.

2010 Trip

Students, faculty, and staff helped build two homes in El Salvador during a winter break service-learning expedition.

They also learned about political, social, and economic issues in the Central American nation during their two weeks of travel, study, and service.

Encounters with former guerrillas and military combatants in the civil war of the ’80s gave participants a firsthand look at what was at stake, and they traveled to sites significant to the 12-year conflict.

At the University of Central America, students toured the site where six priests, a housekeeper and her daughter were assassinated, a transgression that triggered a congressional investigation led by the late Congressman John Joseph “Joe” Moakley. The armed forces were implicated, and the United States cut off military aid, leading to an eventual peace.

Working through Habitat for Humanity, the delegation worked on the construction of two houses in the village of San Vicente. There they met the families who would be moving into the new homes.

From the El Salvador blog:

“Our host community, San Vicente, was among the most hard-hit by the landslides in November. Just days before the horrific news out of Haiti, we were touring (Salvadoran) neighborhoods reduced to a pile of boulders. It was hard to digest the fact that, over the span of three hours, a severe rainstorm resulted in over 300 people dead and thousands more homeless in just the San Vicente area. Relief efforts were still under way when we arrived, and rebuilding will surely take several years.”

Alternative Winter Break trips to El Salvador have occurred annually since 2007 through the efforts of the Moakley Institute and S.O.U.L.S., Suffolk’s Organization for Uplifting Lives through Service.

2009 Trip

The 2009 trip to El Salvador took place from December 28, 2008, to January 9, 2009. The delegation was comprised of 15 Suffolk students and 5 Suffolk faculty, staff, and administrators.  Trip guides were Iván Villasbôa and Marta Mihango of CoCoDA. For the second year, delegation members made improvements to a cultural center, known as La Concha Acústica (Acoustic Shell), in the community of La Hacienda El Sitio.  The work at the cultural center involved hands-on construction of restroom and changing room facilities in preparation for the annual Festival for Peace and Social Justice, which commemorates the signing of the peace accords that put an end to El Salvador’s civil war in 1992. 

2008 Trip

From January 1-13, 2008, a group of eighteen Suffolk University students, faculty, and staff traveled to El Salvador for an Alternative Winter Break service learning trip.  Organized by Suffolk’s Organization for Uplifting Lives through Service (S.O.U.L.S.), this delegation lived with local families, attended presentations, and worked on improvements to a cultural center in the community of La Hacienda El Sitio – La Mora. 

The work at the cultural center, known as Concha Acústica (Acoustic Shell), involved hands-on construction of restroom and changing room facilities in preparation for the annual Festival for Peace and Social Justice, which commemorates the signing of the peace accords that put an end to El Salvador’s civil war in 1992.  Through this work, delegation members not only learned about El Salvador, but they  experienced firsthand the impact that even one person can make in a country that is still struggling to recover from a devastating civil war.

The Moakley Institute was proud to support this trip as part of its mission to preserve the legacy of Congressman John Joseph Moakley.  Congressman Moakley’s connection to El Salvador dates to the early 1980s when he worked for Salvadoran immigration rights.  He later led an investigation into the 1989 murders of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter at the University of Central America in San Salvador. 

2007 Trip

The 2007 delegation to El Salvador took place from March 10 to March 17.  The delegation was comprised of 10 Suffolk students and 5 Suffolk staff, faculty, and administrators.  Trip guides were Ivan Villasboa and Kyle Ham of CoCoDA.  During the trip, delegation members volunteered at a medical clinic and helped to dig a pond as part of fish-farming project to bring bring revenue to the village of Santa Marta.