Asociación Salvadoreña Pro Salud Rural SANTA ANA, EL SALVADOR
Quick Overview The Asociación Salvadoreña Pro-Salud Rural (ASAPROSAR) was founded in the City of Santa Ana 40 years ago in order to ensure that rural families reach higher standards of living through preventive health and community organization. The current mission is aimed at contributing to sustainable development with gender equity and quality, promoting the empowerment of needy families in El Salvador.
WWW.ASAPROSAR.ORG
Country: El Salvador ! El Salvador was part of the larger Spanish colony of the General Captaincy of Guatemala until winning independence in 1821. It became a part of the Mexican Empire until 1823 and then broke off into the United Provinces of Central America until 1841. As El Salvador grew into its own country, it began with a long line of presidents that came out of the local oligarchy that grew out of the coffee trade. Infrastructure, such as roads and ports, as well as things such as the national guard were all built in order to support the coffee industry. These oligarch’s held the presidency until general elections were opened up for the first time in 1931. Pres. Arturo Araujo was only in office for 9 months before a coup d’etat was organized and he was overthrown in a military revolution. Vice president Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez was head of the government until general elections were opened up in 1934 and then resigned so he could run (as the only candidate). Pres. Martinez mysteriously stayed in power until 1944,
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
winning re-election for 4 terms and then resigning because of general strikes. At the beginning of Martinez’s presidency, in 1932, there was one of the first major large scale peasant uprisings which was brutally repressed with the massacre of tens of thousands of peasants. This became known as La Matanza. Until the late 1970’s, general elections were won by either the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) or the National Conciliation Party (NCP).
El Salvador Statistic
s
Population: 6,163,000 GDP (per capita): $7,20 0 Below Poverty Level: 38 % Infant Mortality: 27/100 0 Life Expectancy: 73.44 yea rs Literacy Rate: 81.1% In October of 1979, a coup d’etat brought the Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador into power, which initiated some leftist reforms such as nationalization of most private companies and some private land. Because of internal divisions and opposition from the
oligarchy, leftist guerrilla movements began forming throughout the countryside. The Salvadoran Civil War lasted from 1980 to 1992 and was between the national government and a coalition of leftist and communist guerrilla groups. Approximately 75,000 people were killed over the 12 year period. The remaining factions broke up and actually became political parties that would participate in the relatively democratic process that existed after the civil war. In the 1990’s the Salvadoran economy began flourish. Ever since the end of the Civil War, the FMLN would slowly gain seats in the government and in 2009 they won their first presidency with Mauricio Funes. Although the peace process after the war went relatively smoothly, many of the fringe groups in the revolutionary movement have turned into street gangs. Gang violence, human trafficking, and drug trafficking have grown steadily with strong ties between Salvadoran based gangs in the U.S. and the gangs in El Salvador itself. The health care system in El Salvador is very fragmented. There are a number of institutions set up to address the problem of health care by the government, but they aren’t cohesive and over 40% of the population still has limitations on their access to health care. In 2008, the infant mortality rate was 16 per 1000 births and anemia and malnutrition are very common among children through out the country and obesity can be common among adults. Spousal abuse is very common and violent action has occurred at least once in 1 out of 2 marriages. In 2001 there were several earthquakes that struck El Salvador that added to any social confusion or anxiety felt by the populace. Alcohol and drug abuse is also on the rise as well as depression, suicide, anxiety, and psychosis. It is estimated that 1 in 5 Salvadorans have Past Traumatic Stress Disorder and thanks to the War and environment, many feel they have no control.
GROW with ASAPROSAR - Ideas Child Health and Nutrition In this project the work done by the students will be very important to achieve the goals set by the "Sprouts of Hope". Students could provide home care monitoring children under 3 years old served by the program to detect warning signs and take corrective action. The students work will organize and train more families in the development of home gardens, which will improve the availability of food for the family group. The agricultural inputs provided by the project with the students will cover the needs to expand the number of families who implement and improve home gardens planting families who already have it. For this project 3 students could team with 3 children promoters. Each couple will monitor project activities for a period of four weeks, which will facilitate students to perform the evaluation of the group of children nutritional recovery.
Organization: asaprosar The Asociación Salvadoreña Pro-Salud Rural (ASAPROSAR) was founded in the City of Santa Ana 40 years ago in order to ensure that rural families reach higher standards of living through preventive health and community organization. The current mission is aimed at contributing to sustainable development with gender equity and quality, promoting the empowerment of needy families in El Salvador. The centerpiece of the organization is health, and the primary target populations are children, as well as young men and women from areas of extreme poverty. PROGRAMS: Community Health - The focus of ASAPROSAR’s Community Health initiatives are on maternal and child health as well as sexual and reproductive health promotion. From July 2011-July 2012, the primary project is Reducing vulnerability through sustainable management of risks. This project aims to train 30 community volunteers in primary health, hygiene and epidemiological control.
consultation services, and promotion to prevent blindness. The main activities engage international ophthalmologists and optometrists to provide the services. Since 1989, 46 Visual Health Campaigns have been completed along with an Eye Hospital and a Regional Clinic and Mobile Unit. Training - ASAPROSAR’s scope of training is broad, focusing on local leaders and organized community groups. They also have training for unemployed young men and women which focuses on professional qualifications and business. Financial Support - Women often receive support in accessing credit and engaging in the formal financial system through subsistence income generation.
Systems Strengthening - ASAPROSAR’s role is focused on training and supporting community health networks.
Social Psychology - Attention is especially paid to at-risk children, particularly those working in markets or picking through garbage dumps in Santa Ana. Through the Barefoot Angels project, child laborers are given opportunity to engage with the community, work with the city health services and schools, and connect with the Inter-Agency Committee for the Defense of Children’s Rights. Most importantly, the project puts at-risk youth on the path to become strong social entrepreneurs by providing them with leadership training and community-level business opportunities.
Visual Health - Establishment of a health system for visual health includes developing primary care for vision, eye surgery and
Early Childhood Development - Children aged 0-6 in rural areas receive early stimulation activities through the Sprouts
HIV/AIDS Prevention - Activities include outreach through information, education and communication about HIV/AIDS for adolescents, uninformed adults, migrant populations and cross-border coordination.
of Hope project. This includes family health lessons focused on breastfeeding, nutrition, and oral care. Technical Training in Environmental Activities - Given the importance of the environment in El Salvador, ASAPROSAR runs technical skills trainings focused on sustainable agriculture, small animal rearing, reforestation, and other environmental activities. Sustainable Agriculture - ASAPROSAR partners with other institutions to protect the natural reserve area La Madalena, Chalchuapa by monitoring 776 hectares, developing environmental education and community organizing in the region, and establishing water committees. ASAPROSAR has received the National Award from the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador "for their efforts in improving the quality of life in rural communities of our country, in the framework of the 40 years anniversary celebration of the founder’s work.” Due to a wide scope of national and international support to over 300 projects, ASAPROSAR is able to impact an average of 150,000 people per year, making it one of the most high-impact organizations in El Salvador and all of Central America. Some donors include: El Salvador Ministry of Health and Welfare, Social Investment Fund for Local Development, Salvadoran Institute for the Integral Care of Children and Adolescents, Ministry of Labor, Foundation Training and Consulting for Microfinance, Grameen Bank Foundation, Medical Team International, Benevolent Mission International, USAID, Norwell MA Neighbors Foundation, and many more.
WHY DO YOU WANT TO WORK WITH STUDENTS? “Since its inception, ASAPROSAR work in communities has been strengthened by the contribution of international volunteers who have integrated technical teams in addressing ASAPROSAR priority needs of the families served. Within these volunteers has had the participation of young students from different disciplines from different colleges and universities (Berkeley, California, Salem University, among others), who bring not only their enthusiasm and youthful dynamism, but also give their time, material resources, innovation and technology, supporting research and community actions, thereby giving a more comprehensive response to the needs of the population served.”
what are the biggest barriers to your daily activities? “One of the major challenges is the lack of economic resources in the community that gives way to poverty. Another thing is insecurity in the region. We work in really poor communities trying to empower women and families - one of the major obstacles are the insecurities in communities like this. So we have a yellow shirt with our logo on the front, and this shirt was born during the war and acts almost like a passport between the army and guerillas so they could know that we were working to help all the people. So the resources that we take are only a little but do a lot.”
TOP 5
country resources World Health Organization (WHO) Cooperation Strategy http://www.who.int/countryfocus/cooperation_strategy/ccsbrief_slv_en.pdf CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/es.html International Human Development Indicators http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/SLV.html WHO, Latin America http://new.paho.org/els/ Health Disparities in El Salvador, Article http://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1185&context=honors&seiredir=1#search=%22el%20salvador%20war%20health%22