because (2) . .

Ronald needs security returned to his life.

Ronald needs the comfort of a roof over his head while he grows up.

Ronald needs a safe, comfortable bed.

Ronald

Ronald needs to grow up in a household that is not permanently darkened by the murder of his uncle.

Ronald needs to know that his friends, near and far, will not abandon him and his family to the dangerous uncertainties of life in rural El Salvador. 

You can help.

David Urias 2012

In an horrific act of brutality that shook the world of Ronald and his family, David Urias, 19, was murdered. Some people - high school kids? neighbors? - we don't know, but some people held David down while someone dropped an enormous rock on his head. David's was left where his mother was sure to find the dismembered corpse of her only son. 

David’s mother, Ronald’s grandmother, Lidia, is disabled by severe arthritis. But she is still active in a local campaign to oppose a gold mining company that wants to dig and flush ore out of the volcanic soil of El Salvador. (Is this why David was killed?)

Ronald with his Grandmother Lidia

The family needs $4,000 to finish the house they are building.

If you can help us raise $3,000, an anonymous friend will contribute the final $1,000.

Please help with what you can. Use the PAYPAL contribution link (ABOVE)

OR send a check to:

David Urias Fund

c/o R Cook

PO Box 411

Hunt Valley, MD 21030

Visit this blog for information and to track the progress of this campaign.

Thanks.

. . . because . . .

Ronald's uncle David was stoned to death. 

David Urias is gone forever out of the life of this child. David won't be there to mentor Ronald, or protect him on the long, poorly graded, mostly unpaved road leading down the mountain, the road in the department of Cabañas, El Salvador, where David met his own death.

Ronald, on Grandmother Lidia's hand-powered cart

Today, Ronald, age six, is waiting for his grandmother's house to be finished, so he'll have a place to live.

In June, 2012, David Urias was murdered as he walked home from the bus stop after a week of classes at the National University in San Salvador. 

Some people held David down and crushed his head with a huge rock. They left his body where his mother would find him.

David Urias, 2012

David, 19 when he died, was the only son of his mother, Lidia, who, like young Ronald, must now get on without him.

Lidia, partly disabled by severe arthritis, is an activist in her community, Palo Bonito. Before David was killed, Lidia had been denouncing mining interests that pose grave environmental threats in El Salvador. (Is this why David was murdered?)

Ronald and Lidia, 2012

In 2013, friends in the US helped Lidia raise money to buy construction materials to build a new home. This year, Lidia intends to finish the job and we intend to help.

Right now, Lidia needs $4,000, so the house can be finished.

If we can raise $3,000, an anonymous friend will contribute the final $1,000.

Please help with what you can. Use the PAYPAL contribution link (above)

OR 

send a check to:

David Urias Fund

c/o R Cook

PO Box 411

Hunt Valley, MD 21030

Your gift to help the family directly is not tax deductible. 

An accounting of how your gift was spent will be posted here and - at your written request - sent directly to you via email.

For more information, please send a note to: cookrb1@gmail.com

Thanks!