Committee
Bajo Lempa
History
In its 422 kilometers of length—since it is born between the Sierra Madre and the Sierra del Merendón in Guatemala with the name of Olopa—, the Lempa River adopts that name from the moment it enters Honduran territory and then turns downward, passing through several departments. Salvadorans, from Chalatenango until it ends at the limit of the departments of San Vicente and Usulután.
Along its route it gives life to many communities that live from fishing and crops grown on the banks of the river, which have access to this important river resource, including families who live near the El Guayabal or 5 de Noviembre dams. , Cerrón Grande, Suchitlán and San Lorenzo, which produce large amounts of energy for the entire country.
One of these communities is Bajo Lempa, which belongs to the municipality of Tecoluca, in the Department of San Vicente, in the south east of Salvadoran territory - although there is another community of the same name - which belongs to the municipality of Jiquilisco, in Usulután.
The Bajo Lempa Tecoluca Committee has existed for more than ten years, made up of Salvadorans who reside in the metropolitan region of Washington, D.C. and who work to help the families that make up that community in their country.
Directive
The current board of directors is made up of:
President: Ciro Castro
Vice president: Sisis Estrella
Secretary: Lidia De León S.
Treasurer: Lucía Martínez
The Bajo Lempa Tecoluca Committee joined the Salvadoran American Transnational Communities (COTSA) in 2020.
One of the people who has been collaborating in different ways with that community for several years is Lucía Martínez, a resident of the metropolitan area of the US capital.
Works
Martínez well remembers that with the help of other people they repaired the roof of the Santa Marta Health Clinic, in Bajo Lempa itself, due to the damage caused by tropical storm E-12 in October 2011.
Shortly after, they began to celebrate the Children's Christmas Party every year, where they give the children toys and other entertainment.
They achieved this effort with the support of several people, when the Association of Salvadoran Women Abroad (AMUSE) was formed and the collaboration of Mr. Ciro Castro, owner of the Puente de Oro restaurant, located in the area of Langley Park, Maryland.
Thus, they managed to carry out various activities such as dinners and raffles, to raise funds and thus celebrate the Christmas Party with better things, for which they bought toys, piñatas, bread with chicken, sodas, live music, medical days. In this way the Bajo Lempa Tecoluca Committee was born.
This Committee has already been working for two years to send donations in the COTSA container, which leaves more or less once a year.
One of the donations sent was made in 2019 and consisted of 500 backpacks for children of all ages, among other educational materials.
