Salvadoran’s Hope: Tranquillity at Home : Mizael Cordero has pursued his dream of rebuilding his native country by helping others form ties to their hometowns. In turn, people are now helping him as he battles cancer.

Mizael Cordero founded one of the earliest Salvadoran hometown associations in Los Angeles, the Hermanded Tineca for the town of San Martin, which among other projects has established a library and funded a free clinic for the town. An accountant , he also co-founded COMUNIDADES (Comunidades Unidas para la Asistencia Directa a El Salvador), a coalition of hometown associations that united in 1993 to further one another’s goals.

With Cordero now coping with inoperable cancer, members of COMUNIDADES recently raised funds to help his family--wife Graciela, daughter Roxana and son Mizael Jr.--with medical bills.

During a conversation with writer Leslie Berestein, the 39-year-old Cordero reflected on the hometown association movement and what helping rebuild his native country has meant to him:

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When (my) country’s economic situation became very difficult, thousands of us were forced to emigrate. But in a certain way, we remained tied to El Salvador.

As always, when someone has fallen, you want to lift them back up. This is how our enthusiasm to help future generations was born, and this is how we began.

We (the associations) all deal with different needs in our hometowns. For example, our group had this really beautiful idea we were able to carry out, which was to establish a library. We weren’t powerful people, but we accomplished our goal.

I believe COMUNIDADES came to exist because there were many groups that were lost on their own. Everybody wants to give, but separately, we cannot give (as much as we’d like). Together, we can give more. We can coordinate our activities better. The community began to realize that united, we could accomplish more.

It’s hard work, though. There are still some hometown groups that don’t know about COMUNIDADES. There are many groups that still don’t belong, and we’re trying to get them to join us.

As a community, our ambitions are extensive, and I hope we can carry them out. Our first objective is to join forces so we can help our hometowns more quickly and efficiently.

For example, one group might want to help the Red Cross in their town by sending medicine, but they might have no way of sending it. If another group has access to transportation, however, they can combine their efforts and send the medicine down through them, and get it done more quickly. They can help one another out.

There are always differences you can’t erase, but if there is one ideal, it’s all right if there are two different ideologies (among members) as long as there is a balance of power and everyone is working toward the same goal.

One of the greatest gratifications (of helping rebuild your hometown) is realizing that your efforts have been noticed. It feels good to participate, and to know that people have confidence in you.

I am very humble, and I like to help people without expecting anything in return. But it’s good to go back to your hometown and have someone you’ve never met call out, “ Que te vaya bien! “ (“Good luck!”) while you’re wondering, “Who is that?”

I think my greatest satisfaction has been living through all this. It’s been hard work--and not always enjoyable--but I’ve lived it. I’ve enjoyed every time I’ve gone from one fund-raising activity to the next, working on one and then another, and this has been a good experience for me. I have learned a great deal by participating, not just with my group, but with others.

In a few words, it’s all about internal satisfaction. I’m glad to have dedicated these years to this effort.

Our efforts and our dreams are the same for all of us: to have tranquillity in our country. Not just peace, but tranquillity at a national level, where people can live without fear.