Salvadoran Youth: Gangs and Immigration are only Part of the Story

Media coverage about youth in El Salvador often presents a pretty bleak picture. Youth, especially males, are portrayed as either belonging to the gangs alleged to be responsible for the country’s violence and insecurity, or as migrants leaving in droves for the United States.

Right now the media in El Salvador is focusing heavily on the gang truce and the assassination of Giovanni Morales, a 33 year-old rehabilitated gang member who worked with Padre Toño in Mejicanos, a Spanish priest who has been working with youth involved in gangs. Media has also been talking a lot about the growing link between MS-13 and the Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel.

These are very important issues that affect all Salvadorans, but focusing only on the violence or immigration presents a very skewed reality of Salvadoran youth.

According to the CIA Factbook, there are 1.27 million youth in El Salvador between the ages of 15 and 24, and there are approximately 15,000 to 20,000 Salvadoran gang members. Even if all those involved in gangs fall between the ages of 15 and 24, they would still only account for between 1.2 and 1.6% of that demographic.Similarly, if El Salvador’s net rate of migration (-8.78 migrants/1,000 population) holds for those between the ages of 15-24, a total of 11,150 youth would have left the country in 2012. If these numbers are considered accurate, there are approximately 1.24 million youth who are neither involved in gangs nor migrating.

That does not mean that gangs and migration are not issues for these 1.24 million youth. It means that a lot of youth are making the most of being in El Salvador and finding more productive ways to channel their energy and talent.

For instance, in Northern Morazán, where Voices on the Border has worked since 1987, there is network of well-organized youth groups that are trying hard to improve conditions in their communities.

These groups, which are all non-profit and not affiliated with any political party, are comprised of youth between the ages of 13 and 30, with an equal ratio of male and female members. Most of the youth come from families with extremely limited economic resources, yet they share many commonalities with their peer age group from around the world. When possible, they like to attend school, play soccer, and hang out at the cyber (internet) café where they check Facebook and chat with friends. Most aspire to find work that will allow them to stay in their own communities. Some want to be artists, others want to be psychologists or doctors, and a few want to maintain their ancestral ties by farming like their parents and grandparents.

Jose, a member of OSMIJ discussing the significance of the colors in the Kakawira flag

In Cacaopera, a rural indigenous community in the mountains of Morazán, youth formed the Youth Mission Social Organizations (OSMIJ, in Spanish). The 40 members of OSMIJ strive for integration and development within Cacaopera through community service. They are engaged in a variety of activities related to local, economic, social, and political issues. Last month, for example, the OSMIJ held a workshop for all youth in Morazán to discuss their rights under the Salvadoran Law on Youth. In February they also set up an obstacle course in Cacaopera and held a well-attended community race, providing an opportunity for all ages to have well-deserved fun.

Members of OSMIJ recently gave Voices and a delegation from Georgetown University a tour of the community and a local indigenous museum. A 13 year-old member of OSMIJ named Ah tzict Amaya Martinez was our guide through the museum. With the confidence and knowledge of someone three times his age, Ah tzict spoke in depth about the community’s indigenous history, culture, and religious traditions.  His knowledge of the native, and virtually extinct, language, Kakawira, was a testament to his dedication and intimate connection to his heritage. Many other youth in OSMIJ share his passion and commitment.

In Ciudad Segundo Montes, also in Northern Morazán, youth have formed the Open House of Segundo Montes (OSCA, in Spanish) to promote youth leadership, development, sports, and culture. They offer a wide variety of workshops and trainings on an array of topics that impact local youth. During the municipal elections in 2012, OSCA hosted a series of debates between the mayoral candidates in Cacaopera, Jocoaitique, and Meanguera. The debates were well attended and offered an opportunity for youth to voice their priorities and concerns.

Sulma, a member of OSCA, during a planning workshop

OSMIJ and OSCA both operate with almost no financial support from outside their community. They raise a little money from local organizations and residents, and often reach into their own often-empty pockets to fund activities. The lack of money has never prevented either organization from having a clear vision of what they want for their community and organizing activities to achieve that vision. In just a few years OSMIJ has become an important player in Cacaopera’s development.

These are just two of the many strong youth groups in Morazán, which is one of the poorest of El Salvador’s 14 departments and one of the most affected by the civil war. The region’s residents struggle with immigration, machismo, and many other issues, but the members of OSMIJ, OSCA, and other organizations are an inspiring example of how some Salvadoran youth are responding to their economic and social conditions.

It is important to understand and discuss gang violence and immigration in El Salvador – they are very serious issues. But these issues should not define all Salvadoran youth or overshadow the important role that groups like OSMIJ and OSCA play in their communities.

We at Voices on the Border have partnered with members of OSCA, OSMIJ, and other groups in Morazán on a number of activities in recent years, and have several activities planned for the coming year. If you’d like to support or be involved in these activities, please contact us at voices@votb.org.

La Voz – Voices on the Border Winter 2012 Newsletter

As we close out 2012, we thought we’d provide one more update on our efforts to promote just and sustainable development in El Salvador. In addition to news from our partner communities in Morazan and Usulutan, we have some other exciting developments to announce.

One such development (detailed inside the newsletter), is that after 6 years, Rosie Ramsey is leaving Voices – she has some great things happening in her life and we are grateful for her years of service and friendship. We are pleased to announce that Jose Acosta will be taking over the field director position and implementing our new Grassroots Resource Center in the new year.

Here’s a link to our Winter Newsletter:

Also, thank you for your great response to the Matching Grant Opportunity, but we still need to raise $3000 between now and the end of the year.

You can click here to get to our Network for Good page and make an online donation – its easy and secure, and your funds will be used to directly empower our partners in Northern Morazan and the Lower Lempa region of Usulutan.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Matching Grant Opportunity!!! Please Donate Today

Reality: it’s easier to raise money during emergencies (like floods and droughts) when the damage already is done.

Reality: It’s much more difficult to raise money between emergencies when preventative measures can be taken to mitigate damage.

Your support during past emergencies has helped Voices on the Border provide aid in shelters and assist with recovery efforts. But it’s what we (you and I) do between emergencies that has the greatest impact.

Everyday we work side-by-side with communities in Morazán and Usulután to mitigate the risks of disaster. As climate change results in even more extreme weather, these efforts become more and more important.

Mitigating risks, however, is not just making sure the local rescue squad is trained and equipped – we have done that. It is also ensuring that our community partners are able to achieve economic sustainability and preserve their natural resources so that people are more resilient and extreme weather has less of an impact.

After a lot of dialogue about how we can best serve our partner communities in Usulután and Morazán achieve their goals of achieving economic sustainability and protecting their natural resources, we decided to re-focus our efforts on building local capacity.

In January 2013, Voices will launch a Grassroots Resource Center that will help empower our community partners to achieve economic sustainability and better protect their natural resources. We will do so by implementing two programs – a Civil Society Training Center and a Research Institute.

The Training Center will offer local leaders workshops and other opportunities to local leaders to increase their capacity in strategic planning, project management, and others. We will also provide workshops on land use, public health, education, and sustainable agricultural.

The Research Institute will gather and disseminate information and analysis about issues that impact economic sustainability and mitigating risks associated with climate change and other issues. The information will allow citizens and local leaders to have a stronger voice in the policy decisions that affect them.

Rosie (Voices’ Field Director) with the Amando Lopez Community Board

With your support, Voices has been engaged in this kind of empowerment for over 20 years. But as free trade agreements, tourism, and aid programs like the Millennium Challenge Corporation create new barriers to economic sustainability and threaten natural resources, we have to be more efficient in our response.

To launch the Resource Center in January, we need to raise $12,000 by December 31^st. We have a generous donor willing to match donations up to $6,000, meaning that if you donate $100 today, we receive $200.

It’s just a matter of time before our partners experience more extreme weather. Your contribution today will help us ensure that it does not become another tragedy.

So please click on the Donate Button at the top of the page and contribute to Voices’ important work! Thank you and Happy Holidays

2012 Summer Newsletter

Over the past few months, we (the Voices staff) have focused most of our energies on programs and activities in our Salvadoran partner communities in Morazan and the Lower Lempa region of Jiquilisco, Usulutan. That focus has meant that we haven’t had as much time to post articles and updates on this blog as frequently as we have in the past.

Click here for Voices’ Summer 2012 Newsletter

To fill you in on our activities and progress, we put together a Summer Newsletter that includes some of the analysis of national issues we would normally post here.  Some of the highlights include:

-  An update on the Amando Lopez Forest Project and our work to scale that project up to surrounding communities;

- Elections in Comunidad Octavio Ortiz;

- Voices volunteers in 2012;

- Nueva Esperanza Five Months After the Floods;

- The CSM Youth participation in an Inter-Departmental Exchange;

- Standford University’s Delegations to Morazan;

- An Update on the Mining Issue;

- A Preview of the 2014 Elections;

- The Truce Between the Gangs; and

- An Update on the MCC and Partnership for Growth.

Even if you are not familiar with our work in Morazan and Usulutan, the community updates are  interesting for getting an on-the-ground perspective about how larger national and international issues  play out at the local level.

The Amando Lopez Forest Project is an example of a small, rural community struggling with the growing impacts of climate change. Their environment is changing and preserving the forest is one way they are trying to deal with this global reality. Amando Lopez is also a story about a community’s efforts to grow and survive in a globalized economy.

The Partnership for Growth and MCC are equally as interesting. Few North Americans have even heard of these U.S. “aid” programs, even in the context of other countries. In Morazan and the Lower Lempa, however, they are the topic of many conversations as people try to understand what they are and how they will impact their communities.

I hope you take a moment to read through the Newsletter. If you have any comments or thoughts, we’d love to hear them.

And of course we depend on your support to maintain this blog and continue our work with out partners in Morazan and the Lower Lempa. To ensure these programs continue, please click on the Donate Now button at the top of the page and consider signing up for a $25/month donation. It is easy and will go a long way to ensuring our partners continue to develop the skills and capacity necessary to face these global issues.

Thank you!

Stories from the Palo Alto, CA Fundraiser

Last Friday, we posted information about the South Bay Sanctuary Covenant fundraising event being hosted in Palo Alto, CA.  It had a great showing from the local community, and Mark Reedy, the President of our Board of Directors was there to report back to the rest of the Voices’ communities about the event.  Here’s what he said-

“Ninety-nine people came to our spring fundraising event– one of our largest groups ever!  This event featured a presentation and slide show of the March 2011 delegation to El Salvador, a pupusa and enchilada dinner, Latin American music and fair trade crafts sale.  The delegates were ten Stanford University students enrolled in a liberation theology and human rights class, the two Stanford campus ministers who taught the course and nine members of South Bay Sanctuary Covenant (SBSC).  The Rev. Amy Morgenstern of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto, a member church of SBSC, served as the emcee.  The Rev. Greg Schaefer of the University Church, another member church, provided a reflection from words spoken by Archbishop Romero.

The program began with the delegation presentation accompanied by a slide show.  Each of the delegates spoke about some part of the delegation itinerary or reflected about an experience during the trip that had touched them deeply.  There were many highlights of the presentation, including participating in a candlelight procession marking the 31^st anniversary of Romero’s assassination, learning about the anti-mining movement and struggle against corruption and impunity in Cabañas, and staying in the SBSC partner community of Comunidad Octavio Ortiz (C.O.O.).

Attendees enjoyed the flute, drum and guitar music of Peruvian-born Nayo Ulloa, as well as participating in singing the popular Salvadoran song “Sombrero Azul.”  Near the close of the program, Geoff Browning, one of the Stanford campus ministers and delegation leaders, expressed gratitude to SBSC for inviting the Stanford students and ministers to participate in both the 2010 and 2011 delegations.  As a result, they participated in a powerful bicultural and intergenerational experience of solidarity through interactions with Salvadoran community members as well as older SBSC delegates. He gave special thanks to Arlene Schaupp for her leadership and the hope and inspiration she has provided to so many in SBSC’s work of solidarity with the people of C.O.O. and El Salvador over 28 years.

The proceeds from the event will support several projects and causes, including a project to preserve and promote local Salvadoran culture in communities in the Bajo Lempa region, salary support for both Voices’ staff and Bajo Lempa health promoters, and emergency security measures for the staff of Radio Victoria in Cabañas, who have been receiving death threats for courageously speaking out against impunity and corruption.”

Great Event this Sunday in South Bay, CA

South Bay Sanctuary Covenant, one of our U.S. partners is hosting an informative fundraising event this Sunday.  If you’re in the South Bay area, check it out!  Here’s the invitation and information-

South Bay Sanctuary Covenant invites you to a lively, passionate presentation from our 19-member delegation to El Salvador, which includes 10 students from Stanford, with a focus on

EL SALVADOR: Liberation and the Struggle for Human Rights

Hear experiences of commemorations of Archbishop Oscar Romero on the 31st anniversary of his assassination, interviews with political, social, environmental and religious leaders, and staying with families in our rural partner community.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

4:00 PM – Program and Salvadoran Pupusa Dinner

Salvadoran Fair Trade Crafts for sale

First Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall

1140 Cowper Street

Palo Alto, CA 94301

Suggested donation:

$20/adult and $15/student for program including dinner

(No one turned away for lack of funds)

Please RSVP to steering@southbaysanctuary.org

Or 650-494-8340

Matching Grant Opportunity

We at Voices on the Border have been blogging about current events in El Salvador for over 2 years. With a strong network of partners throughout the country, we hear interesting news and analysis that we like to share with our friends in the international community.

A few weeks ago, for example, we posted about a group of soldiers that killed two Salvadorans in a shooting that took place across the border in Honduras. The media reported that the shooting took place in El Salvador, but our friends from Morazán who witnessed the shooting told a much different story – and they asked that we write up their account.

Our readership has grown over the past couple years to include subscribers from across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Central America. Blogging, however, is only a small part of what we do, and we want to take a moment to talk about who we are and what we’re up to this year. We also want to announce a matching grant opportunity for new donors that will last through the end of March – a generous donor is matching the first $2000 that we raise through the end of March! Please, keep reading about what we’re up to this year and help us reach our goal of $2000.

Voices on the Border is a US-based nonprofit organization that promotes just and sustainable development in El Salvador. We work through partner communities in Morazán and the Lower Lempa region of Jiquilisco, Usulután, and numerous other partners in U.S. cities such as Charlotte NC, Buffalo NY, Erie PA, the South San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, and others. We also partner with Gannon University, the University of New Mexico, George Washington University, and other academic institutions. Some of our partnerships date back to the refugee camps in Colomoncagua, Honduras where we provided material and political support for those escaping the country’s brutal, 12-year civil war.

This year we have a variety of activities planned with our partners, including the following:

Amando Lopez Forest Preserve: The community of Amando Lopez in the Lower Lempa of Jiquilisco, Usulután has a section of forest that is threatened by loggers and farmers. This forest is unique for its biodiversity and location along the Lempa River. We are helping the community board secure protective status for the forest and develop a forest management plan. With a grant from the Flora Family Foundation, in 2011 we will help the community develop the organizational capacity to manage and protect the forest.

ASPS Health Promoters: With South Bay Sanctuary Covenant and Horizons of Friendship, we fund several ASPS health promoters in the Lower Lempa in Ciudad Romero, Angela Montano and Comunidad Octavio Ortiz. The health promoters coordinate with the government-run clinics and provide health education, organize health committees, and participate in a variety of advocacy campaigns.

Rescue Squad Training – Along with the George Washington University Institute of Emergency Medicine, we are providing a series of trainings that will improve the ability of civil protection teams in the Lower Lempa to prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies. Communities in the region are subject to annual floods, as well as earthquakes and other emergencies.

Reproductive Health Education: We are partnering with students from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine to improve access to reproductive and sexual health education in the Lower Lempa. The UNM medical students are coordinating with the ASPS health promoters, local schools, and others to empower youth with the information they need to better protect their reproductive health.

Comunidad Octavio Ortiz (C.O.O) Irrigation Project: With funding from the South Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Voices’ staff and the community board are helping farmers in C.O.O. develop and install the irrigation systems they need to produce corn and other crops in the dry season. After near total crop loss in 2010, irrigation systems will help reduce the vulnerability they have faced from floods and drought.

Women’s Communal Association of Morazán: We are identifying new ways to strengthen our relationship with the Community Association of Women from Morazán, which is a 150-member not-for-profit organization that serves Perquin, San Fernando, Torola, Jocoaitique, and Arambala.  They offer legal advice and mental health services, work against domestic violence and child abandonment, support the development of small businesses and provide help with agricultural diversification.  Voices looks forward to continuing our work with this great organization. 

These are only a few of the activities that we will be working on this year. If you are already one of our partners, we are grateful for your continued support.

If you follow our blog, but have not otherwise become involved, now is a great time to start. A generous donor is matching all gifts made by first-time donors, up to $2000 between now and the end of March! The money we raise will go directly to making these projects possible. Click here to donate!

Disaster Preparedness Project Fundraiser

Voices on the Border Photo Exhibition

La Cabaña Restaurant,

3614 14th Street NW

7-9pm

Pupusas served, full bar available

Join Voices’ staff, executive director, and board members on May 14, 2010 for discussion and refreshments, and enjoy a short presentation via video conference from Jorge Melendez, Minister of Civil Protection in El Salvador.

The proceeds from the exhibition will support a collaborative effort with the George Washington University Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine and Voices on the Border to better prepare the Municipal Civil Protection Committee of Jiquilisco, Usulután in El Salvador for disaster and emergency response.

In June, a small team of GWU emergency medicine doctors will travel to El Salvador to participate in a disaster simulation, and help the communities complete their disaster response plan. The Lower Lempa of Jiquilisco is subject to frequent disasters and community leaders are trying to better coordinate their preparation and response. The doctors are generously donating their time and expertise, all we have to do is get them there.

If you can’t make it, but would like to support our efforts, please visit http://www.votb.org and click on the “donate now” button. We hope to see you soon!

NE VOSH Medical Delegation

In January, Voices on the Border hosted the NE VOSH medical delegation in the Lower Lempa region of El Salvador, providing a variety of services. We were pleased to come across a story this morning in the Jamestown Press about the delegation.

By Iain Wilson

Each year, Doctor Joe England of Jamestown Family Practice takes one week off in January. But it’s not so he can sleep late and sip cocktails at a destination resort. England spends his week volunteering in a country that can use his help. This year, he spent a week in El Salvador, a Central American nation that neighbors Honduras and Guatemala. There, he – along with a group of approximately 50 volunteers – conducted a four-day clinic in El Salvador’s lower Baha Lempa region.

The clinic provides basic medical services, but also hands out eyeglasses, performs cataract surgery and offers Pap smears to villagers in this fertile river basin. “It’s a very, very busy four days,” England said of the week’s hectic pace. This year, he and other volunteers treated 2,600 patients, splitting care about evenly between medical attention and vision needs. Cataracts, generally less common in the U.S., are quite common in El Salvador. By removing them through eye surgery, volunteers literally gave sight to the blind. This year’s trip was the first in El Salvador to offer these valuable eye procedures.

Jamestown’s ties to these volunteering trips run deep.

“The guy who really started all of this is an optometrist who goes by the name of Carl Sakovits,” England said of the Jamestown resident who originally lobbied him to join the group.

Sakovits, who practices in Bristol, joined the group while at optometry school at the State University of New York. More than a dozen of the 50 volunteers either live in Jamestown or have direct island ties – Sakovits recruited England, and the two have been scouting ever since.

“We managed to get a lot of local people to start getting involved with this,” England said.

Two organizations made this trip possible, he said. England is part of a group called Northeast Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity, which organizes the trip. The Northeast branch is part of the national VOSH network, an organization that has sent physicians and optometrists to Central America every year since 1988. According to the group’s website, its aim is to provide “vision care to people around the world who cannot afford or obtain it.” Last year marked the group’s first trip to El Salvador, after years of work in Nicaragua, a Central American nation that sits south of El Salvador.

The second group, Voices on the Border, is an American-based non-profit that works to promote just and equitable development in El Salvador. This group handles some diplomatic issues and paperwork, while helping to identify the more pressing medical problems that locals face. Volunteers in El Salvador are stationed in Nueva Esperana, a name that translates to “new hope.” Most citizens in the region are refugees; many were displaced when war erupted during the 1980s. As there are no four-lane highways, the commute – made via cattle truck – lasted only 10 minutes and left around 7:15 every morning. But the sheer volume of patients proved to be a difficulty, England said. “After four days, we’re running out of stuff,” he said.

Materials for the trip, including all eyeglasses and medications, were provided entirely by the volunteers. England estimated the cost to be $15,000. Though no credentials are required to work as a clinic volunteer, many of the names on the attendee list include medical titles. All of the work is done free of charge, and volunteers pick up their own travel costs as well. Far from posh, accommodations for the group include cinderblock guesthouses at a nearby convent.

Recent Salvadoran medical school graduates are required to serve communities outside of the nation’s capital, San Salvador, for one year. At the time of England’s arrival, the communities were waiting for these new medical school graduates to arrive, he said. “When we’re there, we’re kind of putting our fingers in the dike,” he said. In a poor third-world country like El Salvador, distribution and availability are the two largest constraints on effective healthcare, England said. There are clinics and there are doctors, he added, but generally, “They really don’t have much to work with.”

Looking forward, England mentioned his intention to develop a system for diabetes management, something he said the area sorely lacks. He also said that most people who require major medical attention get it, but “it’s the day to day stuff that kind of gets lost.” A planning meeting for the 2011 trip will likely happen as soon as next week, England said, adding that there is much to be done for the upcoming trip. “We’re trying to develop a longer term relationship that can have longer-term effects,” he said. It’s a prospect about which he’s optimistic.

NE VOSH doctor talks to a patient through a translator

“Our contacts down there are very good, and our mechanisms for working through government red tape are working well, which is a big issue,” he said.

During his years as a volunteer, England’s role has shifted from participant to something more closely resembling a manager, he said. He chuckles as he explains his new perspective on the trip.

“Your idea of a successful trip is nobody got injured, we got through the government glitches, we didn’t have any major loss of equipment,” he said. “Your view begins to change.”

And the group, after days of tireless work and thousands of patients, used the last day to take a more traditional approach to winter travels to warm locations.

They took a day to go to the beach, England said.

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