Advancing Human Rights in Central America: The Work of Cristosal
St Margaret’s Adult Forum 5/28 from 9 until 9:45 am
On Sunday, May 28 at the 9 am Adult Forum, Noah Bullock, Executive Director of Cristosal, will join the forum via Skype from El Salvador to talk about the work of Cristosal and a possible partnership with St. Margaret’s.
Cristosal (www.cristosal.org) is a nongovernmental organization based in El Salvador advancing human rights in Central America through rights-based programming, research, and learning.
They take a human rights-based approach to community development and poverty reduction that recognizes at its core the inherent dignity, equality and inalienable rights of every human being. This principle repositions the poor in the development enterprise from beneficiaries of charity to citizen partners, architects and owners of their own development process.
Cristosal was born in 2000 as a collaboration between The Very Reverend Richard Bower, then recently retired Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Syracuse, and The Right Reverend Martin Barahona, consecrated that year as the first Salvadoran bishop of the Anglican Episcopal Church of El Salvador. The organization began as an avenue for individuals and churches from North America to accompany the Church of El Salvador through the sharing of relationships and resources. Through the Church’s focus on justice and rights in post-civil war El Salvador, Cristosal opened a human rights office, and also facilitated communication as the Church developed a voice on national issues.
In 2010 Noah Bullock took over from Richard Bower and became the first in-country Executive Director of Foundation Cristosal. Since that time, Cristosal has grown from two to over seventy-two employees in El Salvador, gained nonprofit status independent of the Church, pioneered models for cross-cultural learning, and become a leader in human rights-based development and a resource for policy-makers world-wide.
Fr Tommy has been a friend and supporter of Cristosal from its founding, and he has led numerous groups over the years to El Salvador from the Episcopal Dioceses of Louisiana and California. We hope to have a delegation from St. Margaret’s to participate in one of Cristobal’s Global Schools in the future. All are welcome to join us!
