The Nueva Esperanza (New Hope) Community Action Program was founded in 2013. The program is designed to support young Salvadoran community leaders in enriching the grass-roots community initiatives they have begun, by offering pathways for continued purpose-based learning, trauma healing, and community leadership. Nueva Esperanza recognizes the power of youth change agents working in the context of their own communities, doing the work that they are uniquely positioned to do as community members themselves, and seeks to ally with and support them in deepening this work.
Paradigmatic
They tackle systemic injustice and structural oppression, and aim to support ‘heal[ing] from the myth of our separateness’: that is, a paradigmatic shift towards “sensing our true interconnectedness with and responsibility towards the well-being of all life”.
Integrated
Evident in their “trauma healing for personal and collective liberation” work. This includes somatic therapy and practices such as NVC, IFS, co-counselling, grief rituals, and transforming conflict. Individual and collective emotional wellbeing are part of their work on community leadership for deepening connection and resilience”
Pragmatic
Evident in the “Purpose-Based Education for healing and transformation” strand of their work: “Members of the Nueva Esperanza sisterhood take part in both formal and informal educational opportunities to build their power and social consciousness as effective community leaders and healers.” Practical educational activities include: “1. Pursuing university degrees that can enhance their work of community healing and liberation; 2. Participating in workshops on topics such as: healthy sexuality, group facilitation techniques, sociocratic decision-making, etc.; 3. Participating in trips to historical memory sites, exchanges with other organized youth, and trips to support social justice movements”