Trudy Reagan became a Friend in high school in 1951. In 1982, the Palo Alto Friends Joined "sanctuary" churches around the United States to aid Central Americans fleeing oppression, and in 1984 Trudy met her first friends from El Salvador. She is an artist, working under the name "Myrrh" (Mirra). When she didn't see their terrible stories of oppression in the media, she undertook a booklet of drawings, "No Puedo Decir lo Peor" in 1986 to tell others what refugees had told her. She has donated a copy to the Museo de la Revolución in Perquin. She and Paul Engstrom joined three other people in a delegation to El Salvador in 1988 to bring material aid and hear testimony from community groups. They also spent several days in the Colomoncagua, Honduras refugee camp. She was so moved by this that she painted a series of paintings on wood she calls "The Resilient Spirit," several of which are now at the Centro de Arte para la Paz in Suchitoto. Meanwhile, Carmen Broz was accompanying campaisinos in 1986 to El Barío, and came to San Salvador again in 1989 to begin education projects as the spirit directed her. Trudy became active on the committee to support these projects in about 1996, and visited them in 1999. She visited again with Lynn Mitchell in 2000-2001. They had just gotten home when the January 2001 earthquake struck! Trudy did a series of portraits and two sweatshirt designs to sell to raise money for reconstruction. Now, she is head of the committee that supports the Friends El Salvador Projects, and is looking forward to another visit.

 

Bill Bauriedel recently retired from a 38 year career in Information Systems work. The last 33 years were all spent working on various infrastructure projects for Stanford University. He is married to Marilyn who has also recently retired as an attorney. They have two children, Tanya and Gabriel. Tanya is married and has two children. Gabriel is also married and is expecting a child in October, 2007. Bill stated attending the Palo Alto Friends Meeting in about 1972 and joined the Meeting in about 1987. He listened to Carmen Broz' vision of her passion for the people of El Salvador and became involved in helping her realize her dreams. He began by managing the mailing list for the various newsletters and the donor list. He was clerk of the committee for one year and more recently is managing all the accounting for the committee and keeping track of the student/sponsor relations for the university loan program.

Barbara Babin was a member of the original support committee for Carmen Broz's leading to return to El Salvador and she also worked with the Meeting's efforts to provide sanctuary to Salvadoran refugees. She has recently returned to the committee after several years of involvement with Quaker youth groups. Barbara currently serves as a principal organizer of the teen service-learning trips which acquaint youth from the U.S. with the realities of every day life in El Salvador (for more information click on "teen trips".) In her work life Barbara has spent the past twenty years as a bilingual educator and administrator, and currently serves as a teacher coach. In her free time Barbara enjoys playing music with her husband, Jim, and facilitating Alternatives to Violence Workshops.

 

Jamie and Marion Newton have been supporters of the el Salvador Projects since Carmen Broz began them in the mid-1980’s, through the Palo Alto Friends Meeting in California, where Jamie is a member, and the Gila Friends Meeting in New Mexico, where Marion is a member. Their families and the Broz family became close friends when all were members of the Phoenix Friends Meeting in Arizona in the 1950’s, when Marion and Jamie were young children. Both Jamie and Marion are teachers – Jamie is a Professor of Psychology at San Francisco State University, and Marion teaches kindergarten at Peninsula School in Menlo Park. They spend the academic year in California and the summer in New Mexico, where their family members include two grandchildren. Both Marion and Jamie are fluent in Spanish. They visited the projects in El Salvador together in 2004, as part of the first delegation of project supporters, and Jamie returned for a second visit in 2006.

Paul Engstrom
I am a retired Social Worker, 90 years of age, having retired in 1983 after having had past employment for 30 years in the Mental Hygiene Departments of the State of California, of the Borough of Romford, Essex, England and of the Santa Clara County of California.
Since the early 1950´s, I have attended Society of Friends Meetings in Hayward Ca., Romford, England and Palo Alto, Ca. where I presently attend. During the years, I have been mainly active as member of Peace and Social Action Committee.
After retiring, I talked with Carmen Broz, of Palo Alto Friends Meeting who was a founding member of South Bay Sanctuary Covenant, an organization of churches and individuals which was giving sanctuary and assisting refugees from the civil war in El Salvador in their becoming members of Palo Alto community. I admired Carmen's energy, dedication and busy activities on behalf of the El Salvador people and agreed to become a member of the Steering Committee of South Bay Sanctuary Covenant and have continued as an individual committee member ever since.
In 1988 I went on a delegation visiting Human Rights groups struggling under the repressive regime and war in El Salvador, Impressed with the courage and their needs led me to volunteer as a vehicle driver in truck caravans in 1990 and 1993 delivering donated trucks and their material aid cargoes to the people of El Salvador. My last visit to El Salvador was volunteering as a National Election Observer in the national election of 1994.
I regret I am unable to further visit people and projects in El Salvador but ever since Carmen Broz developed the El Salvador Committee, of Palo Alto Friends Meeting I have been a member of the Committee and continue with faith in the success of our projects there.
In peace and solidarity Paul Engstrom