Hope for Humanity/North American Division El Salvador September 28-30, 2009
Hope for Humanity Trip Notes September 28-30, 2009
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Table of Contents Ministry Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Literacy Initiative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Metropolitan El Salvador Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Central El Salvador Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Learning Circles we will visit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Close Up: El Salvador . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
El Salvador . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Natural Disasters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 The SDA Church in El Salvador . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Cuisine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
El Salvador—Trip Notes
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❖ Asociación Central de El Salvador
❖ Asociación Metropolitana de El Salvador
❖ Inter-American Division of SDA
❖ North American Division of SDA
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Ministry Team Literacy Initiative Literacy Coordinators: Marcela Yamileth Medrano de Rivera Dimpna Mejía de Martínez Bonnie Roxana Villanueva de Méndez ADRA Director: Pastor Jorge Salazar Programs: Rut del Carmen González de Ramírez Accountant: José Medrano Metropolitan El Salvador Conference Conference President: Victor Burgos Conference Secretary: Dany Perla Prudencio Conference Treasurer: Manuel Antonio Lazo Central El Salvador Mission Mission President: Santos Canas Mission Secretary/Treasurer: Herberth Escobar Learning Circles we will visit Community: Los Huesos Teacher: Erlinda Flores de Acosta Community: Santa lucía de Los Palones Teacher: Silvia Evelyn Cruz
El Salvador—Trip Notes
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PARTNERS in MISSION
CLOSE UP: El Salvador Santa Lucía de Los Palones Teacher: Silvia Evelyn Cruz
Silvia Evelyn Cruz
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anta Lucía de Los Palones is a hilly community. A few houses face the roads, but most houses are built on the slopes, which means that there is a lot of climbing up and down to get to the homes of the people. During the rainy season the slopes are slippery at best. These homes consist of little more than some sticks covered with mud. The roofs are formed by piling all sorts of things on top of the “walls”: wood, metal, tires, doors, sticks, tree branches, etc. Evelyn went among the gullies and ravines, visiting those she felt could benefit from learning to read and write. She began with her own husband’s family. Quite a few of his relatives were illiterate. Some of them were completely illiterate— they had to stamp their thumb in lieu of a signature on any official
paper. Others had had some elementary education; however, for most of them this had happened so long ago they had forgotten what
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they’d learned as children. Monday through Friday, Evelyn teaches from 8 in the morning, after she takes her son to school, until 11:30 am. She comes home to feed her son, then goes back for another class from 1:30 to 5:30 pm. “But not everybody is able to come to every class,” she told me. “So I go to their homes. Sometimes I go on Saturday or Sunday.” “So you teach every day of the week?” I asked her. She just smiled and nodded. Not too long ago she received a visit from the local police. They offered her an administrative job. “This was a great opportunity. It was right here, so I wouldn’t have to travel. I haven’t worked since
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my son was born, so this would help my family. It was a great opportunity,” she repeated. “I talked to my class. I had spoken with another woman in the community who was willing to take over my classes. I talked to them in the group and I talked to them in their homes. Their response was: If you don’t continue the classes, we won’t continue either. The literacy supervisor visited and talked to them; she tried to convince them to continue their classes. They wouldn’t budge.” “I turned the job offer down.” She said this with a serenity that indicated that she knew it was the only sensible thing to do. “They gave the job to somebody else.”
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CLOSE UP: El Salvador Los Huesos Teacher: Erlinda Flores de Acosta
Erlinda Flores de Acosta
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f you were to ask Erlinda what she does, she’d tell you that she teaches illiterate people. Actually, Erlinda works at the local conference office to help her husband, Benedicto, put their children through school. But working at the conference is what she does during the morning. To her mind, that doesn’t count. Each day after lunch, Erlinda changes her outfit. She no longer works at an office. She goes to a nearby corner to wait for a bus, the first of several buses she takes to her destination. When the literacy program began in El Salvador five years ago, Erlinda decided that this was her calling in life. She was part of the first group of teachers to start working with the less privileged around San Salvador. She discovered that she had a talent that
could change other people’s lives in a positive way. She could get close to the people and motivate them to
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study. She has taught four different literacy classes and, in every case, she went around the community putting the class together. Once the classes began, the students would not fail to attend. “Today I’m late because the rain delayed the buses,” she ex-
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plained to us apologetically. But her students waited patiently for her. When questioned as to why they participate in the literacy project, they all said the same thing: “Because sister Erlinda has asked us to.”
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CLOSE UP: El Salvador Barrio El Centro Teacher: María Elena García de Hernández María Elena García de Hernández
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ilfredo Castro Flores (above right) was abandoned as a young child; his parents were lost in the war. He had no opportunity to go to school. He worked the carnival circuit, operating machinery. There he met a girl; they ended up getting married and having three kids. With such an unstable and seasonal job, it has been hard to make ends meet. He has come to the literacy class to try to learn to read and give his kids a better life than he had. He told me, “The first thing they ask you when you apply for a job is whether you can read. If you can’t, you don’t get the job.” He sometimes has to leave class early to take care of his garden or for a job that has come up, but he works really hard. He is in the first level.
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Adventist Belivers. Changing Lives. Saving Lives abc El Salvador—Trip Notes
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CLOSE UP: El Salvador Colonia Monte Limar Teacher: Hilda Yanira Palacios Hilda Yanira Palacios
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heard about the project at church. A brother came to the church and told us that he had realized there were many people in our community that couldn’t read, even the Bible, and he asked for any volunteers to teach. So I offered myself as a volunteer. God has given us this opportunity to share what little we know, so I told the brother that I would be happy to help. Since last year I’ve been here. It’s hard, because I work all day. But I’m always here with energy for my students, who also have a lot of energy and a desire to learn that can be seen. That motivates me to get here on time, even though sometimes there isn’t enough time. Nonetheless, we work hard.—Hilda Palacios
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CLOSE UP: El Salvador Colonia Monte Mar Teacher: Reina Meléndez Reina Meléndez
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have this student that is a bit different from the rest of us; he’s a homosexual. He came here for the literacy circle, but since we always have a short worship at the beginning, he started to like that, too. After receiving Bible studies, he was baptized into the church. He has changed a lot. His vocabulary, his way of dress— it all has changed, and he is now going to church. Here in the community everyone is amazed that he has changed so quickly. People didn’t get along with him before because he was annoying and he called people names, but today he is totally different. It’s a good thing that he came to the learning circle. My future mother-in-law is also in the group and is very active in evangelism. We have now only three people that haven’t been baptized—but
that’s because they haven’t yet finished the baptismal class. Soon the whole circle will be Adventist. —Reina Meléndez
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PARTNERS in MISSION
CLOSE UP: El Salvador Colonia San Juan de Dios Teachers: Jorge Alberto Alfaro & Francisca Mito de Alfaro
Francisca Mito de Alfaro
Jorge Alberto Alfaro
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orge Alberto studied to become a doctor. But the war came and he wasn’t able to finish his course of study. He worked for nine years at the Ministry of Health and obtained a nursing degree. He then worked at a military hospital for a while. With help from some friends, he managed to study while working at the hospital, and he obtained a degree in preventive medicine. He helped prepare other students to obtain the same degree. He is now retired and teaching literacy in a learning circle. “A young woman was in another learning circle around here similar to ours, but she didn’t learn anything. There were a lot of people around here who were in that learning circle, but they didn’t learn
how to read. Now she has learned to read. And the others will tell you that they were in the other learning circle and didn’t learn to read, but now they know how to read, even if only a little. And that just fills us with pride to see that they can say ‘we can read.’ That makes us so happy because we can say that this little seed will start growing little by little.”—Jorge Alfaro
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CLOSE UP: El Salvador El Jutillo, El Rosario Teacher: Carlos García Hernández Carlos García Hernández
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didn’t know about this program before the pastor brought the announcement to the church. It was there that we learned that this program was happening to help adults. It was there that we decided, my wife and I, to join the program and help out. None of the people in this community are able to read. They say that when they were young their parents didn’t send them to school, but instead made them work the land. When I go to visit them and tell them that I can teach them to read and write, they at first say, “No, why do it now?” I tell them that this opportunity has presented itself and that they are going to see an improvement in their lives. Thank God that now they give their testimony and say how it’s helped them a lot, even after such a short time.—Carlos García
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CLOSE UP: El Salvador Hiuzucar Teacher: María Lemus de Rivera María Lemus de Rivera
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aría del Rosario, a high school graduate, has been teaching adult literacy during the last four years. Her husband is a farmer and she is a homemaker. She takes care of her home during the morning, and at 12:30 she takes her daughter to school. She teaches from 1:00 to 3:00 in one place, and then goes to another class from 4:00 to 6:00. She gets back home around 7:00 pm. “An announcement was made at church that they needed facilitators to help adults who hadn’t had the opportunity to learn to read and write. That’s when I got the desire to help my fellow man and serve as an example to them to share with them that which I had and they didn’t. And later they had a meeting at another church, and that is where I met Sister Dimpna.
I signed up for the course to learn to be a facilitator, so it is through her I came to having this circle.” —María Lemus
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CLOSE UP: El Salvador San Carlos, Soyapango Teacher: Johanna María Rodríguez Johana María Rodríguez
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ohanna was recruited to teach by Dimpna, the literacy coordinator. She is 23 and has finished high school. This is her second year as a teacher. Last year she couldn’t finish the entire course because she didn’t have time, but she felt that she had to do it again. Johanna has seven students. Two students dropped out of the class because they had to use their time to work and support their families. She ends up visiting them at their home because they don’t have time to meet at the same time. Some of the ladies would rather stay home because their feet hurt so much at the end of the day. So Johanna ends up teaching them at home. “Right now I have this student, a lady, who didn’t know how to read. But now she can read a few words, and she gets happy and comes to me and says, ‘Look, this is
what this says.’ So now she’s learning to tell the difference between letters. That has made all the difference in her life.” —Johanna Rodríguez
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El Salvador—Trip Notes
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El Salvador El Salvador, the smallest and most densely populated Central American country, is nestled between Guatemala and Honduras. It borders the Pacific Ocean, but it is the only country in Central America without a coastline on the Caribbean Sea. The Spanish arrived in 1524, and El Salvador was developed under Spain within Guatemala. In 1810, emboldened by the American and French revolutions, the Central American elites began an independence movement, finally declaring independence in 1821. Five states formed the United Provinces of Central America, but when this federation dissolved in 1838, El Salvador became an independent republic. The republic’s early history was marked by frequent revolutions. Coffee was the predominant crop, and the plantation families ran the country. In 1930 there was a coup, and two years later the Communist Party led farmers in a revolt; more than 20,000 died in retaliatory massacres. Dictators ruled El Salvador until 1979, when a civil war erupted, lasting 12 years and costing about 75,000 lives. A 1992 treaty provided for military and political reforms, including the elimination of death squad activity. No sooner had El Salvador begun to recover from the civil war when it was hit by a series of natural disasters. In 1998 the country was devastated by Hurricane Mitch, and there were two huge earthquakes in 2001, along with a drought. “El Salvador” is Spanish for “The Savior.” Geography Situated on the Pacific coast of Central America, El Salvador has Guatemala to the north and west and Honduras to the north and east. In 18
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the southeast, the Golfo de Fonseca separates it from Nicaragua. El Salvador is the smallest of the Central American countries (its area is roughly equal to that of Massachusetts) and the only one without an Atlantic coastline. Two parallel volcanic mountain ranges cross El Tacuba, a mountain village near the Guatemalan Salvador east to west with a border. central plateau between them and a narrow coastal plain hugging the Pacific. The northern range of mountains, the Sierra Madre, form a continuous chain along the border with Honduras. The area was once heavily forested, but overexploitation led to extensive erosion, and it has become semi-barren. As a result, it is the country’s most sparsely populated zone, with little farming or other development. The southern range of mountains is actually a discontinuous chain of more than 20 volcanoes, clustered into five groups. The westernmost group, near the Guatemalan border, contains Izalco and Santa Ana, the highest volcano in El Salvador. Between the cones lie alluvial basins and rolling hills eroded from ash deposits. The volcanic soil is rich, and much of El Salvador’s coffee is planted on these slopes. The central plateau constitutes only 25 percent of the land area but contains the heaviest concentration of population and the country’s largest cities. Terrain here is rolling, with occasional escarpments, lava fields, and geysers. A narrow plain extends from the coastal volcanic range to the Pacific Ocean. The widest section is in the east, adjacent to the Golfo de Fonseca. Near La Libertad the mountains pinch the lowlands out; the slopes of adjacent volcanoes come down directly to the ocean. Surfaces in the Pacific lowlands are generally flat or gently rolling and result from alluvial deposits from nearby slopes. El Salvador—Trip Notes
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El Salvador has over 300 rivers, the most important of which is the Rio Lempa. Originating in Guatemala, the Rio Lempa cuts across the northern range of mountains, flows along much of the central plateau, and finally cuts through the southern volcanic range to empty into the Pacific. It is El Salvador’s only navigable river, and it and its tributaries drain about half the country. Other rivers are generally short and drain the Pacific lowlands or flow from the central plateau through gaps in the southern mountain range to the Pacific. El Salvador has several fairly large lakes. Volcanic craters enclose lakes in the interior highlands; many of these lakes are surrounded by mountains and have high, steep banks. The largest lake, the Lago de Ilopango, lies just to the east of the capital. Other large lakes include the Lago de Coatepeque in the west and the Lago de Güija on the Guatemalan border. The Cerrón Grande Dam on the Rio Lempa has created a large reservoir, the Embalse Cerrón Grande, in northern El Salvador. Climate El Salvador has a tropical climate with pronounced wet and dry seasons. Temperatures vary primarily with elevation and show little seasonal change. The Pacific lowlands are uniformly tropical and hot; the central plateau is temperate and more moderate. Mountain areas are the coolest. The rainy season, known locally as invierno, or winter, extends from May to October. Almost all the annual rainfall occurs during this time, and yearly totals, particularly on southern-facing mountain slopes, can be as high as 200 centimeters. Protected areas and the central plateau receive lesser, although still significant, amounts. Rainfall during this season generally comes from low pressure over the Pacific and usually falls in heavy afternoon thunderstorms. From November through April, the northeast trade winds control weather patterns. During these months, air flowing from the Caribbean has had most of the precipitation wrung out of it while passing over the mountains in Honduras. By the time this air reaches El Salvador, it is dry, hot, and hazy. This season is known locally as verano, or summer. 20
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Natural Disasters El Salvador lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, and has a long history of frequent and sometimes very destructive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. El Salvador, along with the rest of Central America, is one of the most seismologically active regions on earth, situated atop three of the large tectonic plates that constitute the Earth’s surface. The motion of these plates causes the area’s earthquake and volcanic activity. Most of Central America and the Caribbean Basin rests on the relatively motionless Caribbean Plate. The Pacific Ocean floor, however, is being carried northeast by the underlying motion of the Cocos Plate. Ocean floor material is largely composed of basalt, which is relatively dense; when it strikes the lighter granite rocks of Central America, the ocean floor is forced down under the land mass, creating the deep Middle America Trench that lies off the coast of El Salvador. The subduction of the Cocos Plate accounts for the frequency of earthquakes near the coast. As the rocks constituting the ocean floor are forced down, they melt, and the molten material pours up through weaknesses in the surface rock, producing volcanoes and geysers. In 2001 two earthquakes hit El Salvador exactly one month apart, on January 13 and February 13. In the January quake at least 844 people were killed, 4,723 injured, 108,226 houses destroyed — with another 113,416 houses damaged. Many of the deaths were caused by large landslides. Utilities and roads were damaged by more than 16,000 landslides. Damage and injuries occurred in every department of El Salvador, particularly the departments of La Libertad and Usulután. The tremor was felt from Mexico City to Colombia. In the next few weeks more than 2,500 aftershocks hit El Salvador, leading to additional damage and terrorizing the inhabitants. Clean water and sanitation became a matter of grave concern in many areas due to the earthquake’s destruction of municipal drinking water systems, and tens of thousands of people were living outdoors in spite of the approaching rainy season. The February quake was felt throughout the country and in neighboring Guatemala and Honduras. At least 315 people were killed, 3,399 were injured, and once again there were landslides and extensive damage. El Salvador—Trip Notes
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Santa Ana Volcano: Close up aerial view of the nested summit calderas and craters, along with the crater lake.
These two earthquakes occurred in two different plates; the first occurred within the deeper Cocos plate and the second was a strong, shallow intraplate earthquake occurring within the crust of the overlying Caribbean plate. The occurrence of any large earthquake changes the stresses throughout the surrounding region. Occasionally, other earthquakes will occur in response to the altered regional stresses. While not technically aftershocks, these earthquakes are related, becoming part of a regional earthquake sequence. Known as the Land of Volcanoes, El Salvador has over 20 volcanoes, although most are inactive. From the early 19th century to the mid 1950s, Izalco erupted with a regularity that earned it the name “Lighthouse of the Pacific.” The most active volcano in Central America, its brilliant flares were clearly visible for great distances at sea, and at night its glowing lava turned it into a brilliant luminous cone. El Salvador’s most recent destructive volcanic eruption took place on October 1, 2005, when the Santa Ana Volcano spewed up a cloud of ash, 22
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hot mud, and rocks, which fell on nearby villages, causing two deaths and forcing many people to flee their villages. The volcano spat rocks for over 1 mile with rocks the size of cars. The highest volcano in the country, the Santa Ana is currently dormant, but while it was still erupting it was very dangerous. The summit of Santa Ana features four nested calderas and volcanic craters, with the innermost containing a small crater lake. There have been numerous historical eruptions since the 1500s, both at the summit and from cinder cones on the lower flanks. Such flank eruptions created the volcanoes Izalco and Cerro Verde (both parasitic volcanoes) and also the flank vents of San Marcelino located east of Santa Ana. El Salvador’s location also makes it vulnerable to hurricanes coming off the Caribbean, however this risk is less than for other Central American countries. While drifting through El Salvador in 1998, Hurricane Mitch dropped immense amounts of precipitation, resulting in flash flooding and mudslides through the country, and destroying crops. Multiple rivers, including the Río Grande de San Miguel and the Lempa River overflowed, contributing to overall damage. Language Spanish is the official language and therefore spoken by virtually all inhabitants. Some of the indigenous people still speak their native tongues, but speak Spanish as well. English is also spoken by some throughout the republic. Many have studied or lived in English-speaking countries (primarily the U.S., but also Canada and Australia), including some young Salvadorans who grew up in the U.S. speaking only English. Furthermore, today all public schools teach English as a required course in both primary and secondary school. The local Spanish vernacular is called Caliche. Nahuat is the indigeous language that has survived, though it is only used by small communities of elderly Salvadorans in western El Salvador. Salvadorans also use voseo; using “vos” instead of “tú.” Religion El Salvador’s constitution explicitly recognizes the Roman Catholic Church, and it has legal status. Despite this, Catholicism in El Salvador has El Salvador—Trip Notes
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San Salvador Cathedral: The new National Cathedral, facing Plaza Barrios in the city center.
been in decline for nearly 20 years, with the most devout members above age 53. The religion remains a majority in all age groups, although it is a slim majority among the young. Catholicism began in the nation in the 16th century with the invasion by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado. San Salvador was made an archdiocese in 1913; prior to that date it had been under the jurisdiction of Guatemala. The dealings of the government with the Catholic Church varied depending on the leadership of church or state at any given time. In modern times El Salvador is noted for having members linked to social and reform movements. At times these include followers of what’s termed Liberation theology. The most well-known figure in the El Salvadoran church’s history is Archbishop of San Salvador Óscar Romero. On March 24, 1980, during the civil war in El Salvador, he was assassinated while performing mass because of his positions regarding the government and demands to end the violence in the nation. Despite that, most of the church in El Salvador is 24
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more conservative than this and had no sympathy to the rebels during the civil war. A variety of saint days are celebrated as local holidays. The country itself is called “El Salvador” which translates as “The Savior” and takes the Transfigured Jesus, the Divine Savior of the World, as its patron saint; His Feast Day on August 6 is a national holiday. The nation’s co-patronness is Our Lady of Peace. Although nominally Roman Catholic, Protestantism is growing rapidly in El Salvador and already represents nearly 30% of the population. Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Seventh-day Adventist churches are all growing rapidly, as are Pentecostals and Mormons. Other religions, such as Islam and Judaism, are present as well. The SDA Church in El Salvador The first SDA missionaries in El Salvador arrived in 1915 to sell publications and quickly made many friends. Soon public meetings were held, and 14 persons were baptized. The first church was organCalle a la Cima Seventh-day Adventist Church, San Salvador. ized at San Salvador the next year, and soon afterward a church school was opened. The missionaries then went to Santa Ana, the second-largest city, and repeated the process. More colporteurs arrived to expand the work. By 1918, there were 50 members and, despite the many political upheavals, SDA work continued to grow steadily in El Salvador. The Voice of Prophecy, Dorcas Societies, and Youth Societies have played important roles in this growth. In 2007 membership stood at 168,933. All principal towns and many villages have well-organized SDA El Salvador—Trip Notes
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churches, and church schools continue with increasing success. The Adventist church also has an FM radio station in the capital city, San Salvador, called “La Voz del Evangelio Eterno.” Literacy In many of the places where the church is growing the fastest, church leaders are discovering a hidden problem: illiteracy is preventing members from being able to read their Bibles, and it limits their ability to function in society. More than 3 million Adventists worldwide cannot read or write; nearly 1 billion people are functionally illiterate. But now church organizations are working together to bring the gift of literacy to our own members—and to the communities served by our churches. North American Division churches and conferences have joined with Hope for Humanity and the world divisions to address the specific problem of reducing illiteracy. The project is known as Partners in Mission, and because of it thousands of Adventists and community members will learn to read and write. In El Salvador the Partners in Mission program is enabling literacy projects in dozens of churches to flourish. While old and young alike are able to participate, the majority of students are mothers who have not had the opportunity to learn to read for economic and social reasons. The literacy projects are conducted in churches, in member’s homes, in schools, and in community centers. Teachers are volunteers recruited from the churches and communities where the projects are held. Hope for Humanity funds are used to help provide the training, resources, and management of the overall program. Illiteracy means that you can’t read the headlines in a newspaper or the instructions on a bottle of medicine. It means you can’t read stories to your children or a train schedule. It means you can’t write a letter or an email, or write out a recipe or list of things to do. Many of our fellow believers are not able to read the Bible or study their Sabbath School lessons, read the writings of Ellen White or sing from the hymnal. There are many of our own brothers and sisters who cannot read this sentence— in any language. Literacy programs are a highly effective way of planting churches in areas where illiteracy is high. Faith-based training materials introduce church members as well as community mem26
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bers to Christian values and teachings. In El Salvador 80.2% of the total population over age 10 can read and write. The literacy rate for men is 82.8% and for women is 77.7%. Since 2004 ADRA El Salvador has promoted adult literacy in different municipalities of San Salvador, including Mejicanos, Ayutuxtepeque, Apopa, and Santo Tomås. The project is divided into 60 circles or learning groups of approximately 20 affiliates or beneficiaries per group to reach an average of 1,200 people benefited per Marcela Medrano de Rivera is the coordinator of the literacy program in project. El Salvador. This project aims to provide the people of these communities with better tools, through adult literacy, to allow them to gain access to better life opportunities, both social and economic. The goal of this project is to train adults to read and write, leading students to an optimal level of learning with permanent results, and encouraging them to pursue their formal education. At the end of the process, students also have basic knowledge in the areas of mathematics, health and environment, and social and human rights. The project has been developed thanks to the participation of institutions such as Hope for Humanity, which funds the activities of the project; the Ministry of Education, which donates materials designed for the literacy programs; and ADRA Inter-American Division and the El Salvador Conference. This project could not achieve the objectives drawn up were it not for the network of volunteer facilitators who with great effort and dedication give their time to lead the different circles. The Partners in Mission Program brings our churches and conferences here in North America into ministry partnership with our brothers and sisters in these countries. El Salvador—Trip Notes
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Education Some children attend one or two years of preschool (called kinder, short for kindergarten), which are not part of the State’s Educational System. Education in El Salvador is free through high school. Nine years of Basic Education are divided in three cycles of three grades each: 1st cycle: from 1st to 3rd grades 2nd cycle: from 4th to 6th grades 3rd cycle: from 7th to 9th grades The 3rd cycle is a transition time between primary and secondary education/high school. The students have specialized teachers for each subject. During high school students have the option of a two-year high school or a three-year technical high school. The two-year program prepares the student to transfer to a university. The three-year high school allows the student to graduate with a vocational career and enter the workforce or transfer to a university to further their education in that field. Pre-university education is not free. The State provides public education for which a fee is paid if the person paying can afford it and only one payment per family is made (i.e., siblings pay only one fee). There are five years (minimum) of university or other tertiary education. The University of El Salvador (UES) is the only public University in the country, but there are several private universities. The public education system in El Salvador is severely lacking in resources and inconsistent in quality. Class sizes in public schools can reach 50 children, so Salvadorans who can afford the cost often choose to send their children to private schools. Lower-income families must rely on the public education system. Culture El Salvador’s culture is a mixture of Mayan, Pipil, and Spanish. Ninety percent of Salvadorans are mestizo (mixed Native American and Spanish origin). El Salvador is 1% indigenous, mostly Pipil, Lenca, and Kakawira (Cacaopera). Very few Native Americans have retained their native customs, traditions, or languages, especially in the wake of the de28
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In the annual Holy Week procession, 25 men carry a heavy platform that bears an effigy of the patron saint concealed in an enclosure.
liberate 1932 massacres in which the Salvadoran military murdered somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 peasants. El Salvador is the only Central American country that has no visible African population because of its lack of an Atlantic coast and access to the slave trade that occurred along the east coast of the continent. The capital city of San Salvador has about 2.1 million people; an estimated 42% of El Salvador’s population live in rural areas. Urbanization has expanded at a phenomenal rate in El Salvador since the 1960s, driving millions to the cities and creating growth problems for cities around the country. As of 2004, there were approximately 3.2 million Salvadorans living outside El Salvador, with the U.S. traditionally being the destination of choice for Salvadorans looking for greater economic opportunity. Salvadorans also live in nearby Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. The majority of expatriates emigrated during the civil war of the 1980s for political reasons and later because of adverse economic and social conditions. Poverty, civil war, natural disasters and their consequent dislocations El Salvador—Trip Notes
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have left their mark on El Salvador’s society, which is among the most crime-ridden in the Americas. The Christian Church plays an important role in the Salvadoran culture. Many holidays in El Salvador are religious. Towns and villages hold festivals for their patron saints, while Christian holidays are celebrated nationally. The first major religious holiday of the year is Holy Week, celebrated before Easter. Salvadorans hold processions, and on Easter weekend, most people celebrate by going to church and attending carnival-like events. The first week of August is devoted to the fiesta for the country’s patron saint, El Salvador del Mundo (Savior of the World). In the annual procession, 25 men carry a heavy platform that bears an effigy of the patron saint concealed in an enclosure. When the saint is uncovered, people fall to their knees. Salvadorans frequently journey to their hometowns to visit their families. Local fiestas and carnivals occur throughout the year to venerate saints and have fun. In San Vicente, people in the procession perform a dance called Flores del Mayo and children throw corn, candy, and flowers in the saint’s path. Popular music in El Salvador uses marimba, flutes, drums, scrapers, and gourds, as well more recently imported guitars and other instruments. Cuban, Colombian, and Mexican music has infiltrated the country, especially salsa and cumbia. When political chaos tore the country apart in the early 20th century, music was often suppressed, especially those with strong native influences. Painting, ceramics, and textile goods are the main manual artistic expressions. The United States dollar is used as Salvadoran currency, which is convenient for tourists. El Salvador’s tourism industry has grown over recent years as the Salvadoran government focuses on developing this sector. There has been an even greater increase in the number of excursionists (visits that do not include an overnight stay). Most North American and European tourists seek out El Salvador’s beaches and nightlife. El Salvador’s tourism landscape is slightly different than those of other Central American countries. Because of its geographical size and urbanization, there aren’t many nature-themed tourist destinations such as ecotours or archaeological monuments. Surfing, however, is a natural tourist sector that is 30
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gaining popularity as more surfers visit surfing spots that are not yet overcrowded. Some tourists are drawn by El Salvador’s turbulent past. Some of the latest tourist attractions in the former war-torn El Salvador are gun fragments, pictures, combat plans, and mountain hideouts. The mountain town of Perquin was considered the “guerrilla capital.” Today it is home to the “Museum of the Revolution,” featuring cannons, uniforms, pieces of Soviet weaponry, and other weapons of war once used by the FMLN‘s (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front) headquarters. Cuisine Traditional Salvadoran cuisine consists of food from the Maya, Lenca, and Pipil people. Many of the dishes are made with maize (corn). El Salvador’s most notable dish is the pupusa. Pupusas are a thick hand-made corn tortilla (made using masa de maíz or corn meal Pupusa, El Salvador’s most notable dish. dough used in Latin American cuisine) stuffed with one or more of the following: cheese (usually a soft Salvadoran cheese), chicharrón (a kind of pork rind), refried beans, or loroco (a vine flower bud native to Central America). There are also vegetarian options, often with ayote (a type of squash) or garlic. Pupusa comes from the pipil-nahuatl word, pupushahua (to swell or the swollen). The pupusa’s exact origins are debated, although its presence in El Salvador is known to predate the arrival of Spaniards. Another typical Salvadoran dishes is yuca frita, deep fried cassava root served with curtido (a pickled cabbage, onion, and carrot relish). The yuca is sometimes served boiled instead of fried. Panes con Pavo (turkey sandwiches) are warm turkey submarines. The turkey is marinated and then roasted with Pipil spices and hand pulled. This sandwich is traditionally served with tomato and watercress, along with cucumber, onion, lettuce, mayonnaise, and mustard. El Salvador—Trip Notes
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For breakfast, Salvadorians usually eat platos típicos (national dishes), which commonly includes mashed beans, sour cream, eggs, Salvadorian tortillas, cheese, fried plantains, rice and coffee. Huevos picados are scrambled eggs mixed with vegetables. French bread or tortillas are usually served as well. Soups are popular among Salvadorians. Sopa de pata is a soup made from patas de res (cow’s feet), plantain, corn and tripe, a local delicacy. Gallo en chicha is a soup made with rooster, corn, and dulce de tapa and sometimes other things. Salvadorian desserts include pan dulce, Salvadorian-style quesadilla, torta de yema, poleada (vanilla custard), arroz en leche (rice pudding), atol de elote, atol de piña, empanadas de plátano (plantain patties), and many others. The dulce de leche of El Salvador has a soft, crumbly texture. Fruits are widely consumed, the most popular being mangoes, papayas, and bananas. Teenagers usually drink gaseosas or sodas like Coca-cola, while young and old alike drink coffee, El Salvador’s top export. A very popular soda that originated in El Salvador is Kolachampan, which is a soda with sugar cane flavor. Minutas, slushy frozen drinks flavored with natural flavored syrup, and horchata, with a mix of spices such as cinnamon, peanuts, ajonjolí (sesame seed) and morro, are popular throughout the country and enjoyed on a hot day. Licuados are like the minutas with added fresh fruit and (sometimes) milk. Refrescos refer to lemonade or other sweetened fruit drinks. Another popular beverage is refresco de ensalada (salad), made of pineapple juice with finely chopped fruits, usually apples, marañón, mamey, and watercress. Tamarind juice is consumed in all of El Salvador. Coconuts are sold at roadside estansa throughout the country. Typically, they are chopped with machetes and a straw is inserted so that the coconut milk can be consumed. Economy The smallest country in Central America, El Salvador has the third largest economy; however, this developing country is among the 10 poorest countries in Latin America, and growth has been modest in recent years. 32
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The Salvadoran government undertook a monetary integration plan beginning in 2001 by which the U.S. dollar became legal tender alongside the Salvadoran colón and all formal accounting was done in U.S. dollars. In 2004, the colón stopped circulating and is no longer used in the country for any type of transaction. With the adoption of the US dollar as its currency, El Salvador lost control over monetary policy and must concentrate on maintaining a disciplined fiscal policy. A challenge in El Salvador has been developing new growth sectors for a more diversified economy. As with many other former colonies, for many years El Salvador was considered a mono-export economy (an economy that depended heavily on one type of export). During colonial times, the Spanish decided that El Salvador would produce and export indigo, but after the invention of synthetic dyes in the 19th century, Salvadoran authorities and the newly created modern state turned to coffee as the main export. For many decades, coffee was one of the only sources of foreign currency in the Salvadoran economy. The Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s and the fall of international coffee prices in the 1990s pressured the Salvadoran government to diversify the economy. The recent Saca administration sought to diversify by focusing on regional transportation and tourism. El Salvador has promoted an open trade and investment environment, and has embarked on a wave of privatizations extending to telecom, electricity distribution, banking, and pension funds. In 2006 El Salvador was the first country to ratify the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). CAFTA has bolstered the export of processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the maquila industry, which provides 88,700 jobs directly, and consists primarily of supplying labor for the cutting and assembling of clothes for export to the United States. Remittances from Salvadorans living and working in the United States, sent to family in El Salvador, are a major source of foreign income and offset the substantial trade deficit of $4.12 billion. Remittances have increased steadily in the last decade. El Salvador leads the region in remittances per capita, with inflows equivalent to nearly all export income. El Salvador—Trip Notes
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Remittances have had positive and negative effects on El Salvador. In 2005 the number of people living in extreme poverty in El Salvador was 20%; according to a United Nations Development Program report, without remittances the number of Salvadorans living in extreme poverty would rise to 37%. While Salvadoran education levels have gone up, wage expectations have risen faster than either skills or productivity. For example, some Salvadorans are no longer willing to take jobs that pay them less than what they receive monthly from family members abroad. Money from remittances has also increased prices for certain commodities such as real estate. El Salvador’s economy has been hampered by natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes. In 1998 Hurricane Mitch destroyed buildings, bridges, roads, and other infrastructure, along with causing major losses to agriculture. While reconstruction was still underway, two devastating earthquakes hit the country in 2001, destroying homes, public buildings, and sanitation and water systems. Reconstruction and economic recovery will remain the primary focus of the Salvadoran government for some time to come. It is predicted that economic growth will decelerate in 2009 due to the global slowdown and to El Salvador’s dependence on exports to the US and remittances from the US. History The Pipil Indians, descendants of the Aztecs, likely migrated to the region in the 11th century. In 1525, Pedro de Alvarado, a lieutenant of Cortés, landed and began a series of campaigns that resulted in Spanish control. El Salvador, with the other countries of Central America, declared its independence from Spain on Sept. 15, 1821. El Salvador became briefly a part of the Mexican Empire of Augustín de Iturbide, and after the empire collapsed (1823) El Salvador joined the Central American Federation. El Salvador protested the dominance of Guatemala, and under Francisco Morazán succeeded in having the federal capital transferred (1831) to San Salvador. After the dissolution of the federation (1839), the republic was plagued by frequent interference from the dictators of neighboring coun34
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tries, notably Rafael Carrera and Justo Rufino Barrios of Guatemala and José Santos Zelaya of Nicaragua. For decades after its independence, El Salvador experienced numerous revolutions and wars against other Central American republics. From 1931 to 1979 El Salvador was ruled by a series of military dictatorships. The primacy of coffee cultivation in the economy began in the second half of the 19th century. Intense cultivation led to the predominance of landed proprietors, and the economy became vulnerable to fluctuations in the world market price for coffee. In 1931, Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, capitalizing on discontent caused by the collapse of coffee prices, led a coup. His dictatorship lasted until 1944, after which there was chronic political unrest. Under the authoritarian rule of Major Oscar Osorio (1950–56) and Lt. Col. José María Lemus (1956–60) considerable economic progress was made. Lemus was overthrown by a coup, and after a confused period a junta composed of leaders of the National Conciliation party came to power in June 1961. The junta’s candidate, Lt. Col. Julio Adalberto Rivera, was elected president in 1962. He was succeeded in 1967 by Col. Fidel Sánchez Hernández. Relations with Honduras deteriorated in the late 1960s. There was a border clash in 1967. In 1969, El Salvador invaded Honduras after Honduran landowners deported several thousand Salvadorans. The four-day war became known as the “football war” because it broke out during a soccer game between the two countries. The Salvadoran forces that had invaded Honduras were withdrawn, but not until 1992 was an agreement settling the border controversy with Honduras signed. In the 1970s El Salvador’s overpopulation, economic problems, and inequitable social system led to social and political unrest; by the end of the decade, murder and other terrorism by leftist guerrillas and especially by right-wing “death squads” had become common. Discontent with societal inequalities, a poor economy, and the repressive measures of dictatorship led to civil war between the government, ruled since 1961 by the right-wing National Conciliation Party (PCN), and leftist antigovernment guerrilla units, whose leading group was the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). The U.S. intervened on the side of the military El Salvador—Trip Notes
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dictatorship, despite its scores of human rights violations. In 1979, Gen. Carlos Humberto Romero, the last in a series of presidents whose elections were denounced by many as fraudulent, was overthrown by a military junta. Murders and other terrorism continued, and the unrest erupted into a full-scale civil war between the government and guerrillas of the leading opposition group, the FMLN. Between 1979 and 1981, about 30,000 people were killed by right-wing death squads backed by the military. The presidency of José Napoleón Duarte, a moderate civilian, from 1984-1989, offered an alternative to the political extremes of right and left. Despite his reputation as a reformer, Duarte did not appear able to rein in the army and control the death squads. These excesses continued or worsened after the election in 1989 of President Alfredo Cristiani, leader of the right-wing ARENA party. In 1991, however, the Cristiani government, with help from the United Nations, negotiated with the FMLN, and in January 1992, a peace treaty with the rebels was signed, ending the bloody 12-year civil war that had killed around 75,000 people. The FMLN demobilized and rebranded itself as a political party, participating in the postwar 1994 elections, which resulted in the presidency of Armando Calderón Sol, the ARENA candidate. The army was apparently reined in, and terrorism and violence, by both left and right, virtually disappeared. A major program was put in place to transfer land (80% of which was concentrated in the hands of the wealthy) to former combatants. However, progress in implementing reforms and rebuilding the economy was slow, and was further hindered by natural disasters. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated the country, leaving 200 dead and over 30,000 homeless. In January and February 2001, major earthquakes struck El Salvador, killing about a thousand people and damaging about 20% of the nation’s housing. An even worse disaster beset the country in the summer when a severe drought destroyed 80% of the country’s crops, causing famine in the countryside. The ARENA party remained in power with the election of Francisco Guillermo Flores Pérez to the presidency in 1999. In March 2000, however, the FMLN won the greatest number of seats in the National Assem36
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bly, although not enough to control the legislature. In March 2003, the FMLN again won the largest bloc of assembly seats, but failed to win a majority. The presidential elections a year later resulted in an ARENA victory; Antonio Elías “Tony” Saca received 57% of the vote. Mauricio Funes’ election victory in March 2009 marked the first time in 20 years that a left-wing leader had come to power in El Salvador. He defeated his conservative rival from the ARENA party, which had previously won every election since El Salvador’s civil war ended in 1992. Mr. Funes took office on June 1, 2009. Although Mr. Funes is a member of the FMLN party, he was never involved in armed uprising. He gave up his career as TV journalist to run for president. He is considered a moderate and says he admires US President Barack Obama. Like Mr. Obama, he campaigned on a platform of change. Mr. Funes says he wants to build a relationship of “understanding and mutual respect” with the United States.
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