Newsletter – Web

May Day Intramural Day

The little ones dress for fun

Always a Procession We have featured many of the processions/parades (it is a blended concept) that occur at COAR every May: celebrating Jesus’ mother Mary (including the May Crowning, the feast days of Our Lady of Fatima, Mary the Mother of the Church, the Visitation),  Mother’s Day (usually celebrated at COAR as Dia de la […]

Holy Week Rituals

Palm Sunday & Holy Thursday: The Last Supper Learning * Service * Humility * Compassion El Salvador is most famous for its Good Friday re-enactments of Jesus’ crucifixion, “the Living Stations of the Cross”. However, all of Holy Week is also celebrated. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, when crowds threw palms down on the […]

March 2024 – Executive Director’s Reflections & News from El Salvador

Watercolor original by: Marie Spaeder Haas

Executive Director’s Reflections Teaching Dignity, Pride, Compassion Can you imagine teaching a kid to do chores who has only everbeen forced to clean with beatings or abuse? Can you imagine how a child learnstenderness and compassion when any vulnerability was exploited, seen as aninvitation to abuse? Well, at COAR the ritual of Holy Thursday, the […]

February Charm

Our littles and our tallest

Charming pictures to brighten your February In case your browser doesn’t show our captions: Susan, our Programs Director, the tallest by far, with our two littlest at our February visit. After school, waiting for pickup, the girl in the green backpack asked Teacher Marta, “Do you know Dinora who lives at COAR? She is tremendous.” […]

Who The Children Say That They Are

Gathered from various activities this past year, these are the way that the COAR children and teens see themselves. This is their culture, these are their triumphs and their goals. SUCCESSES OF 2023 Arrayed on the left side, photos labeled: ACTIVITIES TRAINING RECREATION SPIRITUALITY FÁTIMA (our interna with Down syndrome who brings out the tenderness in […]

COAR in the Community

Bendición de Dios ~ Blessing of God COAR’s parish pastor, Fr. Vladimir, says mass at the big parish in town (see our town’s fiesta, click here), of course, and at the COAR chapel of St. Joseph, on our campus. But as with most parish priests in El Salvador he also has a circuit of small […]

December 2023 – Executive Director’s Reflections & News from El Salvador

Watercolor original by: Marie Spaeder Haas

Executive Director’s Reflections Dignifying lives & healing hearts; WE ARE ALL called to be builders of peace I was moved to tears, proud and happy tears, when they rushed up to me with the new shirts emblazoned with their new motto: WE ARE ALL called to be builders of peace (on the front); Dignifying lives […]