So, in February of 2010 I slipped from the breathless pulse of U.S. non-profit work into something a bit more sultry and thoughtfully paced: El Salvadoran village life with the Peace Corps.
I have an assignment called Community Organization and Economic Development, but my initial role is simply to fall into rhythm with my village and build relationships. As I do this, I aim to bend a few words into stories and essays on this site, with an emphasis more on the lyrical culture around me and less on my own comings and goings.
I do want to note that human development, culture, and words have been central to my journey since adolescence. I have spent the last decade wrapping myself into new communities and cultures, both domestically (living and working everywhere from the Flathead Reservation to Manhattan’s business district) and abroad, where I’ve had the blessing to break bread with local families on nearly every continent for months at a time. (Here are some photos from various adventures in the last few years.)
My education has mirrored this quest, with a self-crafted BA in the Human Developmental Process and a graduate degree in Intercultural Youth and Family Development. And I have sought out culturally relevant and respectful professions as well — for the last 2.5 years before coming here I lived and worked in the barrios of Albuquerque as a director of the community group ACORN. (Yes, that ACORN — here’s the true story. ..and an addendum.)
But the pure scale of this chapter in El Salvador is new. My assignment will nestle me into a rural Salvadoran village for over two years, until May of 2012. Between now and then I hope to develop an intimacy and kinship with the families in this village that both fulfills us and allows my narratives to swell with honesty and nuance.
Please do not hesitate with comments or notes to me directly: claykennedy@gmail.com, or to my snail mail postal address.
And hey — thank you. I am moved by your interest in these words and this tiny country on the Pacific!
