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5 by beuce etheridge fleeing the bulletscarred capital of el salvador where peo ple disappear routinely dinora jovel left her wartorn country and murdered husband behind for a new life in canada but despite help from the new life centre and assistance from a gormleyarea church life hasnt been easy for ms jovel and her two daughters since coming to canada as refugees in 1982 although well educated ms jovel taught mentally- handicapped adults in el salva dor shes only been able to land minimum wage factory jobs in canada she came to canada after being sponsored by a distant relative of her husband but when that con tact broke down she and her chil dren were on their own because ms jovel wasnt a government- sponsored refugee she is ineligi ble for financial assistance avail able to other single mothers thats when the new life cen tre stepped in to help the menno- niterun organization assists re fugees with housing food clo thing and in acquiring govern ment aid immigrant status em ployment and education the heise hill brethren in christ church became involved after the new life centres co- director betty puricelli spoke to the congregation about ms jovels plight the church adopted the family last year supplementing ms jovels income with 200 a month weekender april 25 198 p actjusf but more importantly it opened up contacts for her the heise hill church treasur er lloyd hogg a north york pub lic school principal got ms jovel a volunteers position at his school helping spanishspeaking stu dents but hopes for the job leading to a fulltime paying position as a teachers assistant fell through the school board didnt have the funds to hire her mrs puricelli hopes that by ex tending the new life centres reach into communities through local churches it will open the doors of opportunity for refugees to get the ball rolling in mar- kham the centre recently appointed katherine wiebe as the new life centre representative for the three markhamarea mennonite churches through such representatives the new life centre will be better able to tap the various sources of a community and make people aware of the situation faced by re fugees mr hogg said the heise hill congregation was moved to help the family after hearing ms jovels story it is a story that be gan six years ago in el salvador it was a saturday in 1981 a working day for teachers that her husband a teacher at a catholic high school went missing with tension running high in the strikeprone capital of san salva dor the country was teetering on the brink of civil war teachers were targeted for crackdowns by katherine wiebe centre representative the government because they were the first professionals to form a union to hold strikes and to demonstrate publicly against the government after calling the high school ms jovel was told by the nuns that there had been cars waiting out side the school that day other people told us they saw my hus band being forced into a jeep ms jovel recalls confirming fears that he had been picked up by government soldiers throughout the weekend she searched the hospitals the red and green cross but we didnt find him monday morning she started searching the various cemeteries make your pool a party place latcham hall park drive s stouffville monday may 4 1987 730 pm betz poois sponsored by betz pools rsvp 6401424 refreshments prizes in the capital the city people taking care of the cemeteries told us they were continually burying people that had been brought in she recalls when asked what the people looked like ms jovel was told they couldnt be described be cause the bodies had been maimed and disfigured on wednesday she got a call from another woman who was looking for her husband bodies had been brought to a nearby funeral home the funeral homes would sometimes pick up deads found on the streets explained ms jovel there were four bodies at the funeral home two women a child and a man the man was my husband she says as ms jovel falls back into spanish new life centre co- director betty puricelli trans lates she says his tongue had been cut out his eyes pushed back into their sockets his face had been destroyed with a sharp in strument it had been punctured in many places his hands were covered in scars there are tears from both women i wasnt able to look at the rest of his body ms jovel says in english a month later while home alone her 10yearold daughter received a phone call a man warned the girl that if they didnt leave the country immediately the same thing that had happened to her father would happen to the rest of the family the next day they called again and told us we had one day to get out ms jovel says nuns at the school where her husband had been a teacher hid the family they arranged their escape from el salvador to a convent in mex ico before coming to canada just last summer ms jovel re turned to el salvador to visit her aging mother the heise hill con gregation advanced ms jovel her income tax refund so she and her youngest daughter could go and recently the church helped pay for her childs dental work but these handouts are hard on a women who held a respected teaching position in her own coun try she repeatedly mentions the shame and humiliation of not being able to support herself and her children now ms jovel is taking english- language classes four hours each day but hopes of becoming a teacher in canada are remote at best aside from problems with the language retrieving the docu ments verifying her qualifica tions from el salvador seems an almost impossible task so shes aiming for a job helping seniors or handicapped people in their homes despite what has happened ms jovel still hopes to return to el salvador one day to live well be with you every day of your diet our program workswhy because you work with counselors like us oneonone every day of your dielthat special relationship pro duces results its common to lose up to 10 pounds in two weeksthe advice and encouragement you get helps you 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