.: CURRENT PROJECTS

WHO WE ARE

FUDESCA is a public, not-for-profit organization with no political or religious affiliation located in the canton Las Delicias, La Libertad, El Salvador. FUDESCA works to promote the human welfare of the most vulnerable members of its community.

VISION

To contribute to the creation of a state where basic human rights are guaranteed and where men and women enjoy equal relations and live in harmony with the ecosystem.

MISSION

To promote human development through sustainable projects and programs made possible by alliances with or donations from public or private organizations and implemented under the principals of quality, competitiveness, and productivity.

HISTORY

Like many communities in El Salvador, the canton Las Delicias has lacked the basic conditions for dignified living: healthcare, housing, and education are scarcely available or not at all. Over a decade ago, this situation prompted a group of youths and adults from Las Delicias to create a group to respond to these needs.

The distress over conditions of living became more pronounced after the earthquakes in 2001, when the community was faced with the necessity of organizing to ensure that national and international aid would be delivered to those impacted most. After successfully organizing the distribution of supplies, clothing, and medicine, the group continued aiding the community by constructing houses and performing other works.

Then, in 2004, with the initiative of Cristina Quintanilla, a community-wide meeting was held to plant the seeds for the creation of an NGO. By 2006, the group initiated legalization of FUDESCA and the 12 socios signed the "Constitution of the Foundation" on February 18th of that year.

Since then, FUDESCA has collaborated with many individuals and organizations to implement programs and projects to improve the quality of life in Las Delicias.

About the President of FUDESCA

Born in 1964 in the canton Las Delicias, to Marta Ortiz and Pedro Claver Quitanilla, Cristina is the second of eleven children. Her family worked harvesting corn, beans, tomatoes, chiles, and coffee. She attended primary and secondary school locally, graduating in 1983.

She graduated from the University of El Salvador with a degree in Economics before travelling to Guatemala City to join the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. She stayed there for five years working with the indigenous people in marginalized areas.

She returned to El Salvador to work in the Santa Sofia Primary School in San Miguel and then in a children’s home in San Salvador before setting off for Nicaragua, where she worked giving Nutrition Education classes to children. From there she was moved to San Jose, Costa Rica, where she worked in an orphanage, and again, she was re-positioned in Honduras where she worked in community development in poor areas.

Finally, Cristina returned to El Salvador as a social worker at Santa Luisa Marillac de San Salvador, located in Tepecoyo. After the 2001 earthquakes, Cristina was in charge of organizing 20 cantones to form committees to attend to the emergency. From this effort arose FUDESCA – Fundacion para El Desarrollo y La Solidaridad Castulo Antonio.

Cristina also completed her doctoral studies in Theology at the University of Central America, Jose Simeon Canas, where she also teaches. She later received a masters in Methods and Techniques of Social Investigation from the University of El Salvador in 2007.

She is president of FUDESCA, and also of the Association of Communal Development of Las Delicias, and has held many other leadership positions.

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Nuestro Blog en Espanol

Oct 6, 2010

CURRENT PROJECTS