by Whitney Merrill

Islanders and Mariners worked side-by-side to build a greenhouse. Photo courtesy of Jim Stanchfield.

February 2011 — The Mariner’s Church in Half Moon Bay has a 10-year mission plan for the island of La Calzada in the department of La Paz, El Salvador. Kevin Palmer and his 12-year-old son Colton recently returned from the latest group trip, from Christmas to New Year’s Day. Palmer said, “It was amazing. It was literally like walking back in time 250 years — they actually use oxen that pull a cart with wooden wheels for transportation.” The look in Palmer’s eyes as he told me his story included a spark of newfound purpose as well as a sense of amazement from what he described as a “trip of a lifetime.”

The primary intention of the mission, Palmer said, was to “go to the island, explore it, see what the people need and what we can do to help.” On this last trip the primary project was to replace a portion of the asbestos tile roof on the school that was built in the 1940s for the 300 schoolchildren on the island of 2,000 inhabitants. The school has only one power plug; the island consists primarily of mud huts with no running water, toilets or sewers. The group of 10 from the church — the two Palmers, Susan and Jim Stanchfield, Lee Engdahl, Jeff Bovero, and Mike Sr., Mike, Rebecca and Jeff Seaton — spent two months preparing for the trip. Palmer, who owns Premier Termite and Construction in Half Moon Bay and is well acquainted with building projects, said, “As there are no supplies on the island we had to carry and anticipate every little thing including ropes, knives, plastic sheets, screw guns and tools. Then we stuffed our bags and got over there.”

Ggroup picture of the 2020 Vision Team leaving for El Salvador, taken December 25, 2010. Courtesy of Susan Stanchfield.

The island is accessed from the mainland of El Salvador by a boat that costs $1 each way — but as Palmer describes things, it may as well be a million miles away. The island has little economy and the island’s inhabitants have few sources of income; the islanders are isolated, extremely poor and “they’re always just sitting around — there’s nothing to do,” Palmer said. One of the group’s other projects was to scout the island and see how they could assist with basic needs. “The goal was not to give them things, but teach them things — with an emphasis on building, producing and exchange.”

Upon arrival, the church team was greeted by the elders of the island; the two groups had what the elders called a “heart to heart” meeting where the elders shared their issues, such as childhood malnutrition and the need for medicine. The elders also told the team that it was the first group to come help the islanders.

View of greenhouse. Photo courtesy of Kevin Palmer.

Based on this meeting and their own assessment, the team members decided to build the islanders a greenhouse, which would allow them to grow fruits and vegetables year round by providing protection from the abundant rainfall. They got 10 locals to help in the project, and by using plastic sheets and poles from the forest with a gravity feed drip and irrigation system, they built a greenhouse and planted tomatoes brought from the mainland. (There were none on the island.) Describing the locals who assisted the group, Palmer said, “There’s always one guy who steps up to things” – and in this case it was a man named Victor. “I wish I had him as an employee here,” Palmer said. He noted that the group was planning on returning in five months. “It will be interesting to see what they have done,” said Palmer.

Kevin and Colton Palmer. Photo courtesy of Kevin Palmer.

Summing up the trip, Palmer said, “All the hard times when we feel like we’re suffering are nothing compared to the lifestyle these people are living. If you were homeless and went to live at Kelly Beach in an RV you would be 1,000 times better off than these folks. If every person would spend a week or a month in a place like that, I think our perspective as a nation would change. I don’t think we’d be so selfish, self-centered and self-righteous.”