Serving the Kids at COAR: A Letter of Introduction From the Congregation: Our Lady of the Pillar of Zaragoza
Three years ago, a missionary community from Spain contacted Archbishop Escobar to ask if they could be of service to children in El Salvador. The Archbishop welcomed them and suggested that they contact COAR Children’s Village. Since then, COAR has been home to four wonderful Catholic nuns who tutor our children, organize religious formation, lead […]
The Next Generation: Facing Reality with a SMILE
Did you know that 53% of all Salvadorans are under the age of 25. One half of the population is college aged or younger. That is a huge population beginning to enter the work force but with little life experience to guide them and a society in which “home” may be a cinder block house […]
Blessed Romero’s Relics Visit COAR’s Chapel & Zaragoza
The Relics of Blessed Romero are traveling across El Salvador and visiting parishes and cathedrals throughout the country. As they pass through La Libertad, COAR Children’s Village was honored to welcome the procession to the COAR Chapel (June 2017). The relics continued through Zaragoza, in a procession in which the entire 900+ students in the […]
The Day of the Cross: May 3rd each year
El Salvador is a land of wonderful traditions and great artistic celebration. Like most of Latin America and the Caribbean, it is also a land of great and rich religious and cultural syncretism (blending of traditions). The Day of the Cross is an old tradition in El Salvador where the people offer God the […]
COAR Kids Volunteer at Cancer Hospital: Divina Providencia
On Sunday, April 2nd, a group of COAR teenagers visited the Divina Providencia Cancer Hospital to visit with the patients and learn the value of volunteering and serving others in need. The hospital was opened in 1969 by the Carmelite Missionary Sisters of Santa Teresa who wanted to give poor Salvadorans a place to stay […]
Salvadoran Businesses Donate Supplies & Encourage Employees to Volunteer @ COAR
For most US-based international charities, it is always our hope that faith and trust in the project can lead to the genesis of local-born support for the charity. The Board at COAR Peace Mission has always hoped that we could lead by example and one day build a volunteer or donor base within El […]
25 Years After the Peace Accords: Catholic Church Still Planting Seeds of Hope
The banners on several online Salvadoran newspapers have recently proclaimed that it is the “25th Anniversary of the Peace Accords”. In an act of national reflection, online papers have begun to dedicate space to a societal discussion of what has changed in El Salvador since the Peace Treaty. Surprisingly, most of the discussion refers […]
1st time ever: COAR WINNER: Scholarship to the Jesuit University (UCA)
COAR had a simple beginning. War was raging in the countryside and displaced families, women and children were fleeing to the outskirts of San Salvador for safety. A Cleveland priest working in the parish of Zaragoza in El Salvador noticed the growth in child war refugees and decided to do something about it. Through the […]
Religious Retreats at COAR: Love of God, Dialog and Reflection
Besides weekly masses, religion classes, catechism classes, 1st Communion, Confirmation, and baptisms, COAR is working in partnership with the Sisters of Our Lady of the Pillar of Zaragoza to offer our teens religious retreats where they can be open, honest and reflective about God, spirituality, moral decision making and their own self reflection, fears, and […]