A Thoughtful Return

I know I have changed as a result of my experience because I feel like I have finally resolved a huge inner conflict I had been battling for a few years now. I was born in El Salvador, but moved to the US when I was still young. Even though I always remembered my country and my many youthful adventures there I knew that there was something keeping me from belonging there. I know I came back, I know I left my homeland once more, however this time have taken back my right to say that I am from El Salvador. My trip changed me as I have taken back my pride to be a foreigner. It was easy to try to ignore my past once I was here. The many adventures, sunrises and sunsets I lived in El Salvador, were quickly silenced by the mocking laugher of the children who pointed at me in middle school for not speaking their language, for wearing old clothes, and for simply being different.

The lessons from my experience I never want to forget are the ones that were taught to me by the children I had the pleasure of working with. These kids march forward in life, barefoot, malnourished, yet with a big smile on their face. They are the most creative children I have ever seen. They will turn the dimmest environment into a playground even Fisher Price would be jealous of. I never want to forget this optimism. Its not that they are unaware that they don’t have much, they watch TV they know how the rest of the world lives, but they don’t let this affect their ability to create happiness.

I wish I could explain to my family and friends that I was not on vacation for three months. I feel like even though I have explained it a thousand times, and gone as far a posted my blog on my Facebook page people still think I just went to vacation for the summer. They really don’t realize how much work this was. They don’t realize how mentally and physically challenging these few months have been.  I taught almost 3 classes a day. And each class was in a different town; somewhere up to 30 minutes away or more in the motorcycle. By the end of the day, my arms legs and booty were exhausted. Sometimes there wasn’t enough time to eat a proper breakfast or lunch. Mentally—well imagine trying to control a class of twenty-four 12 to 17 year olds. I had to find new ways to keep them engaged, and enthusiastic about coming to the classes. By the end though, the hour and a half class time did not seem like enough time to spend with the kids.

Now that I am home the thing I want to do with this experience is use it to fuel my next project. I want to create an aid program to collaborate along side with FUNDAMUNI (the organization I worked with) to bring more uplifting changed to these war-affected regions of El Salvador. Throughout my experience in high school and college here in the United States I have heard about countless aid relief efforts and organizations involved with helping all of the Central American countries, except for El Salvador. I know it is dangerous to go there…but I was born here, my siblings still live here, the kids I spent three months with count on a future to live in this same country so many are afraid to visit. There are organizations here, but really how many times have you heard, “Aid for Guatemala! Nicaragua, and Honduras”? It is El Salvador’s turn. I want begin writing the backbone of this organization. I don’t know how to call it yet (I am open to suggestions) but ultimately I need a framework, a story, and a written form to explain and convey what needs to be done in El Salvador and how everyone can help.

Water and Sanitation

I don't think I found many surprises when looking at the sanitation aspects of my stay. Everything is dirt. There are dirt roads, and dirt floors, though I don't  think this necessarily means everything is "dirty".
What I did love was the fact that everyone is very conscious of washing their hands before they eat. Its good I also got in the habit of that. Even the most run down place to eat will have a little sink on the side. And if its a house where they are serving the food, the clients are welcome to go into the house to wash their hands. It was very interesting having this opportunity to check out many little homes this way.

One of the major problems I found were the latrines. This was the most high quality facility I found in all of Chalate. At least there is paper! The problem with this is that bugs and such get into.. yeah, and spread any diseases that might be there...  covering it helps, but as you can see not everyone remembers to do so.

The other problem is the water and how it is way too public. For example one day I saw a child and a horse drinking from the same poso, or little water whole. I don't know but this didn't seem too safe for me. Animals and people shouldn't share it all..

This is where the people drink from. These faucet are commonly found around soccer fields, parks, or town plazas.

 Its is a good thing however to see that there is clean water available!

This water is very clean compared to the lake near by. One day I was complaining about the heat, to one of the town's people. He told me it was too bad that the lake was so dirty. I walked a little up town and saw what he was talking about... 

I don't know if the people have just developed super strong immune systems from all the exposure they get, but I was surprised to see how they stored water in one of the schools...

They are open containers, with dirt, animals, and leafs falling inside. This day the girl here (Jessica) was getting some water to cook. They were making dulce tipicos. The kids have dulceria-which is a class where they are taught how to make these candies. After they made the batch we ate it! Using leafs as our plates! It was very good, I took a picture of it too.

Super YUMMY! Even though it looks a bit suspicious haha.

 If you had just had a accident, or anything that needed immediate attention this is what would take you on the dumpy road, about 40 to 2 hours to the hospital in the biggest city of the departamento (state).

Okay, so some of my last concerns were for the emergency preparedness, awareness, and response. The problems are the lack of transportation, facilities, and equipment. The roads are very inaccessible, and the ambulances are falling apart. 

Most people have to depend of local medicine in their towns. There usually is a town "curandero" or "sobadero" who can take care of broken bones, or sprained ankles, etc. I don't know how to put videos on this thing, we took one of my friends to a sobadero to get his shoulder fixed. These people don't to study how to massage the muscles, or what herbs to take--they just pass on the knowledge to the next person. Everyone seemed to have a pretty good basic understanding of the plants around them and how these can be used as medicine.

I love the fact that 3 months were long enough time to get a look as many areas of public health. I had time to go to the schools and hospitals, and towns meetings about programs, etc. There are a lot more stories and observations to talk about and share. This was a good way to begin to introduce the many challenges these communities face on a daily base.