Profile - Larry Parr - Maryknoll Lay Missioners
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Larry Parr

 

Year Joined MKLM: 2007

Country: EL Salvador

Town: Las Delicias

Ministry: Community Development Las Delicias, FUDESCA (Fundacion para El Desarrollo y La Solidaridad Castulo Antonio)

Ministry Area: Justice & Peace – educational support and community development

Goals of Ministry: Accompany people in their journey to work together as leaders for change and create and improve self-sustainable projects to better themselves and their community.

Nonviolence Focus:

Prevention, intervention and reconciliation/restoration.

The ministry in Las Delicias strives to provide safe spaces, formation and opportunities for young people who live in an environment of violence. We also directly intervene in situations of gang violence and work with community members in their process of living with traumas caused by violence.

 

Ministry Context:

Las Delicias is a rural town, located 45 minutes from the capital city of San Salvador. The community of 600 families originally relied on income from the coffee picking industry. In recent years, the work diminished and residents have been left without means to support themselves.

In search of jobs, primary income-earners emigrate to the United States. Families are broken and feel its painful effects. Children left without a father frequently turn to gangs, which give them a false sense of security and bad role modeling. Families wonder where they will obtain their next meal. Stress often leads to alcoholism, domestic abuse and family dysfunction. Many residents suffer from lack of education, poor health and nutrition, and unemployment. Some have found factory jobs while others seek agricultural or domestic work, where they generally make less than $4 a day. Others cannot find work and struggle to provide their children’s basic school needs and food for their families.

Children are malnourished and many students drop out of school for financial reasons. There is a water shortage and during the dry season each family receives water only once per week.

 

Current Ministry:

Larry works with FUDESCA, a foundation started by Las Delicias Catholic Church members to strengthen the community through development and education. Together with local leaders, he helps others to cultivate their leadership skills and work on projects to better the community. Each project’s focus is to enhance team skills and promote financial and social independence. The community has built a well-used library where they have computer, art, music, and dance classes, as well as tutoring and an agriculture program.

Larry coordinates the scholarship program, which provides $30 a month for transportation costs to university and high school students. The program supports and accompanies the youth in their journeys to reach their goals and construct a better life for their families and community. The students participate in monthly prayer and reflection meetings, leadership training and social hours.

Another element of the educational programs in the community is the Father Dean Brackley tutoring program. This program sends more than 30 students from Las Delicias to the University of Central America every Saturday to receive tutoring to help them reach their potential and prepare them academically to compete for scholarships to attend the university.

Due to impoverished conditions, there is a lack of safe places for children to play. This results in unstructured, unsafe activities that lead to potential gang members’ influence on children and youth. Playing for Peace is a community-wide initiative that is geared toward gang prevention. The goal is to help children and youth develop into well-rounded adults. Playing for Peace has grown to include adult-supervised soccer teams. The coaches — local young men who play soccer and study or work — are positive role models for the children. More than 60 boys and girls, aged 6 to 24, play and learn team-building skills in a fun, safe and structured environment and participate in prayer and peace formation events together.

Larry says, “Our motto is ‘God, Academics, Sports,’ because we believe that focusing on these three elements can help young people change their negative views and work to build a new culture of solidarity and love for others.”

Larry is involved with the Alternatives to Violence Program (AVP) and conducts training workshops for at-risk youth and other groups. AVP is a volunteer-run conflict transformation program. Trained AVP facilitators conduct experiential workshops to develop participants’ abilities to resolve conflicts without resorting to manipulation, coercion or violence. In El Salvador, AVP has completed workshops with local communities, schools, juvenile detention centers and parishes. These workshops help to create a culture of peace and compassion throughout the country.

 

Personal Data:

Larry is from Baltimore. He has a bachelor’s degree in international studies and political science, minors in Spanish & Latin American studies from Loyola University Chicago, and a master’s degree in Latin American theology from the University of Central America in San Salvador. During undergraduate studies, Larry attended the Universidad Alberto Hurtado in Santiago, Chile, where he volunteered at the Hogar De Christo, a homeless men’s shelter.

Larry previously worked with Spanish-speaking immigrants and taught English and citizenship classes. With Chicago Interfaith Worker Justice, Larry advised Spanish-speaking workers of their legal rights and options and was a workers’ rights advocate to improve their benefits, conditions and wages. He was a member of Saint Pius X Parish in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. He and his wife, Liliana, are the proud parents of twins, Frederick and Violeta.