Dear Sir:
We apologize for any perceived, and truly unintentional, slight. We used copy that was only slightly re-edited as provided by the VVS school. We applaud your accomplishments and thank you for bringing the “information lack thereof” to our attention. We immediately edited your comment to also include the aforementioned oversight, and appreciate the additional and necessary information to do so.
Kind regards,
sedonaeye.com Editor

At a time when xenophobia, and resentment, is rampant, an inexpensive and achievable model which builds bridges between a Latin American example and a local need, should be applauded. Isn´t self sufficiency, respect, accomplishment, (all with very little Government money involved), isn’t THAT, what we should all strive for?

Why don’t you come and experience the 10 minute movie, and Ambassador Altschul, and THEN opine….I promise it will be worth your while……A.R.G.

Dear Editor: I am curious: you wrote a nice piece on Ambassador Altschul’s visit, and the presentation of my film Teaching to Live, yet you neglected to mention that I am a resident in the area, a V.V.S. grad, class of 1964, and a Salvadoran film maker, who is also an Oscar winner… I moved here when I brought my son Sascha to V.V.S. (class of 2006) and was an active member of the local Restorative Justice Partnership for five years, and am active in the Cultural Diversity Committee. I can understand not mentioning all of that, but NONE of it? sincerely, and feeling only slightly slighted…..A.R.G.

2) This is not just a vacation for the VVS students. They will be working at the school building a basketball court, building partitions and painting a health clinic, etc., and will be housed with local families to learn how other people live. Cooperation arises from knowledge.

3)The “others” at whose expense the VVS students will be going to El Salvador are their parents.

4) Rick, you might want to attend the “Building Communication…” talk at the library on Saturday night. The whole point will be addressing the poverty and other problems in El Salvador in order that its citizens won’t feel the need to emigrate to the States to survive and support their families.

Ambassador Francisco Altschul, El Salvador’s first liberal ambassador to the United States, is visiting Sedona to talk about sustainability and education. He will present “Teaching to Live” a short documentary by Oscar winning El Salvadoran filmmaker Andre Guttfreund. This touching film describes a teacher from El Salvador, who trains children to be self-sufficient environmentalists.

Please visit http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=Hector_Morales_2009
for additional information.

From Highway 179 in the Village of Oak Creek take Verde Valley School Road to the end of the pavement (3.5 miles) and turn left onto the school grounds.

The Cultural Diversity Council is sponsoring Ambassador Altschul’s talk at the Sedona library on Saturday October 9 at 6 PM. His talk is entitled “Building Cooperation and Communication Across the Americas” and will focus on ways El Salvador can meet the needs of its citizens.