Posted by Maureen McManus
In April 2018, High River Rotarians Paul Tarrant and Maureen McManus visited the Art Centre for Peace in Suchitoto, El Salvador to see the progress being made on the restoration of an old chapel. There, a media library is being built as an extension to a museum. The Rotary Club of High River is donating $30,000 over three years to outfit the media centre, including touch computers for various themes so that young people can know their own stories and their origins.
 
The woman with the vision for the Art Centre for Peace is Sister of Charity Peggy O’Neill, originally from New Jersey, USA. She has worked and lived in El Salvador for 30 years, helping the poor and marginalized with the trauma of the country’s civil war of 1979-1992.
 
Paul visited the centre a few years ago while on a trip to Central America. He was so inspired by Sister Peggy’s work that he invited her to visit High River in October 2015 when she spoke at his Rotary club.
 
“The centre is a means for youth to resist the surging wave of gang violence crippling El Salvador,” Sister Peggy said.
 
It provides programs, scholarships and skills required for youth to be productive and contributing members of the community.
 

High River Rotarian Maureen McManus, right, with Sister of Charity Peggy O'Neill in the grounds of the Art Centre for Peace, Suchitoto, El Salvador.

Work in progress: the Rotary Club of High River is funding a media library in part of an old chapel that is being restored at Suchitoto, El Salvador.