Since 2007, the Moakley Institute has co-sponsored trips to El Salvador to retrace Moakley’s steps and continue his legacy of helping the Salvadoran people.  The Moakley Institute has co-sponsored these delegations with Suffolk’s Organization for Uplifting Lives Through Service, or S.O.U.L.S., through their Alternative Winter Break and Alternative Spring Break programs.  Student delegation members have also taken courses in Suffolk’s History and Government departments, in which they learn about the political, social, and economic context of the civil war in El Salvador.  The delegations are coordinated by Companion Community Development Alternatives, or CoCoDA, a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1992 to cooperate in democratic, community-based economic and social development in Central America, and to promote awareness and social responsibility in the United States for more just relations with Latin America.  The delegations have received generous support from the John Joseph Moakley Charitable Foundation.

2010 Trip

The next trip to El Salvador will take place on Jan. 3-17, 2010. Applications are being accepted now.

2009 Trip

The 2009 trip to El Salvador took place from December 28, 2008, to January 9, 2009. The delegation was comprised of 15 Suffolk students and 5 Suffolk faculty, staff, and administrators.  Trip guides were Iván Villasbôa and Marta Mihango of CoCoDA. For the second year, delegation members made improvements to a cultural center, known as La Concha Acústica (Acoustic Shell), in the community of La Hacienda El Sitio.  The work at the cultural center involved hands-on construction of restroom and changing room facilities in preparation for the annual Festival for Peace and Social Justice, which commemorates the signing of the peace accords that put an end to El Salvador’s civil war in 1992. 

2008 Trip

The 2008 delegation to El Salvador took place from January 1 to January 13.  The delegation was comprised of 13 Suffolk students and 5 Suffolk faculty, staff, and administrators.  Trip guides were Tim Crouse and Marta Mihango of CoCoDA.   The delegation members worked on improvements to a cultural center, known as Concha Acústica (Acoustic Shell), in the communities of La Hacienda El Sitio – La Mora.  The work at the cultural center involved hands-on construction of restroom and changing room facilities in preparation for the annual Festival for Peace and Social Justice, which commemorates the signing of the peace accords that put an end to El Salvador’s civil war in 1992. 

2007 Trip

The 2007 delegation to El Salvador took place from March 10 to March 17.  The delegation was comprised of 10 Suffolk students and 5 Suffolk staff, faculty, and administrators.  Trip guides were Ivan Villasboa and Kyle Ham of CoCoDA.  During the trip, delegation members volunteered at a medical clinic and helped to dig a pond as part of fish-farming project to bring bring revenue to the village of Santa Marta.