MoverMoms Plans First International Service Trip to El Salvador

Hoping to raise $75 to pay for the education of a child in India, Saanya Ali created greeting cards to sell at a family wedding. At just 9 years old, Ali didn’t want her mom to simply write a check, she wanted to make the money on her own.

Ali, now 15, ended up making $600, enough money to educate eight children and enough inspiration to continue making cards for the next six years -- accumulating $26,000, all of which she’s donated to charity.

Later this week, Ali will continue her philanthropy in El Salvador with 12 others as part of the Bethesda-based service group MoverMoms’ first international service trip. Ranging in age from 9 to 60 years old, volunteers will work at a Salvadorian maternity center and elementary school to teach skills from Ali’s card-making to cooking.

“I’m hoping to really connect with these children and learn about what their life is like,” Ali said. “I want to get to know them on another level by playing with them and talking to them.”

Ali’s mother Salma, MoverMoms’ “Chief Inspirational Officer,” has worked with founder Rebecca Kahlenberg to lead MoverMoms, a non-profit organization. Both moms will travel with their children to El Salvador; the seven adults will work at the maternity center while the six teens and kids will volunteer at the elementary school.

“These kinds of trips have a way to change people’s outlooks; some of it is just intangible,” said Kahlenberg, who is organizing the trip. “Hopefully it’ll broaden people’s perspectives to learn about a different culture.”  

After several days volunteering in Morazan, MoverMoms will join County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) for a day to commemorate the Sister City program between Morazan and Montgomery County. Stay tuned to Patch for more details about Leggett's upcoming trip.

While they aren’t staying with the county leaders who’ll be visiting El Salvador at the same time, Kahlenberg got the idea for MoverMoms’ service trip by traveling with the Sister City program last year.

“It takes a certain kind of person to go to a country not as developed as the United States,” Kahlenberg said. “It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but I think it’s a perfect fit for MoverMoms.”

After last year’s trip with the county, Kahlenberg decided to pair students with those from Morazan as pen pals. Three of those Bethesda students will travel with MoverMoms to El Salvador.

“I’m excited about bringing people of different ages and backgrounds,” Kahlenberg said. “It’s not a homogenous group of Bethesda moms at all. It’s a diverse group of people going with similar goals.”

Salma, who often travels to different countries with her family, hopes this trip will help her children better understand how fortunate they are.

“The one thing as a parent that I want to teach my children is the importance of giving back and sharing,” Salma said. “You can’t sit in Potomac and explain that to them. The more they can see that they help others, the more meaningful it can be.”