Catalysts of peace.

• Author: Darsie, Jann
• Position: El Salvador

After twelve years of civil war, El Salvador is on the road to national reconciliation. With the 1992 Peace Accords paving the way, years of armed conflict are yielding to the reconstruction of a nation. Now, citizens, together with government agencies and a host of international and nongovernmental organizations are writing for the purposes of rebuilding and peace.

Part of the good news in this small, but resilient country is that there are 101 Casas de la Cultura, or Houses of Culture, in almost 40 percent of the municipalities. These are key to the postwar healing process. "We immediately recognized their role in the peace process, the so-called culture of peace, and cultural policies were quickly established," explains architect Claudia de Mata, the former president of CONCULTURA (Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y el Arte), the government arts agency. She adds: "Contributing to the development and promotion of our national patrimony, as well as to individual and collective creativity, and disseminating our own cultural manifestations became our mission."

Twenty-one years ago, a network of community-based cultural centers was launched by El Salvador's Ministry of Education, with the dual goals of establishing local libraries and supporting local culture. From the original ten, located mostly in departmental seats of government, the number has grown to the current total of 101. The Casas de la Cultura service areas range from the country's second largest city, Santa Ana, with a population of over 200,000, to San Francisco Lempa, in north-central Chalatenango, with 942 residents.

And, the number keeps on growing. According to Jose Manuel Bonilla, the director of the Network of the Casas de la Cultura, his office receives between ten and fifteen requests annually for new Casas de la Cultura. "In the next five years,' says Bonilla, "we expect to establish 64 new Casas de la Cultura. Then we will have these important centers of activity in nearly 60 percent of the municipalities."

What does a municipality and its citizens get with a Casa de la Cultura? For one thing, a library. And, in almost 90 percert of the cases, it is the only public library in town. Salvadoran students attend school in either a morning or afternoon shift. So, because it is always someone's turn not to be in school, the Casas de la Cultura do a brisk library business all day. Often, the library space is used for art classes, rehearsal space, and music lessons, as well.

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