In-country training is complete! In these last two weeks we’ve heard from those whose voices are the least heard in this beautiful but damaged country. These include Madre Guadeloupe, a survivor of the civil war but who lost family members; Manuel, an ex-gang member who has turned his life around; and various women who are fighting for their rights in El Salvador.

International development requires a packed schedule, and it’s from this we’ve been able to learn so much about this country’s history and the issues affecting Salvadorans today. Below are two of their stories.

Maudre Guadelupe

"My husband disappeared during the civil war. The National Guard had captured and brutally tortured him. When his body was found, I was asked by the guards if I knew the man. I couldn’t admit it through fear that myself and children could be shot. I had to deny my husband.

"I am just one of thousands of woman in El Salvador whose loved ones ‘disappeared’ during the civil war. There are mothers who have been left without sons and wives without husbands. During the time of the civil war there were a significant number of human right violations. We lived in a state of constant fear. The government would persecute anyone who tried to fight for their rights.

Maudre Guadelupe talks to ICS volunteers

"Over 75,000 were killed or ‘disappeared’, and in this memorial garden where we now sit, there have been 32,000 names collected and engraved onto the monument. Behind each plaque is a whole family waiting to know what happened.

"I am an active member of the organisation CODEFAM (Committee of Relatives of Victims of Human Rights Violations), which works in El Salvador in the search for missing family members due to politics, corruption and the civil war. I'm currently fighting for the chance to be granted a national holiday on August 30th in order to remember and honour the memories of those who were captured and ‘disappeared’ during the war.

"The aim of this monument is to create ‘historical memory’. After all, we must never forget our history and ensure that it can never be repeated."

Inscription on memorial to civil war dead

Sofia

It's strange to be writing what is essentially a biography for a 17 year old girl. But listening to Sofia's story was more like the plot of a movie script.

Sofia, now 17, is a Salvadoran whose childhood (if you can call it that) consisted of a broken family, constant abuse and a violent upbringing. From the age of 5 she was living on the streets after having escaped abusive aunts and uncles and a grandfather who would sexually abuse her.

At the age of 8 she was hit by a bus and left in a coma for 7 months, leaving her with a permanent physical disability. After the accident and being desperate for money, she stole $2,000 and splashed out on a swanky hotel for 3 weeks – all at the age of 9.

Sofia then found herself in the middle of a court case over the stolen $2,000 which she miraculously managed to win. By the age of 14 she was married to a guy who left her pregnant and ran off with her best friend. She found a ‘family’ unit in the form of a gang. To be initiated and accepted into the gang culture she was asked to stab a man in the stomach and skin people in order to remove tattoos which represented a certain gang. All of which she did at the mere age of 17.

Sofia is now imprisoned. She hopes one day that someone will listen to her story and not simply judge her as being a violent, corrupt individual. She wants to be reunited with her son and make sure he is able to get the opportunities in life she never had.

We heard Sofia’s story from a young woman named Jenna who works for an organisation funded by USAID. She was an inspirational woman who has committed her life to working with men and woman who are ex-gang members in the prisons. She does creative workshops with them, to allow them to express themselves via art and writing. Below is the poem by Sofia.

For Society, that they can see us not for the errors we committed, but rather for future opportunity.

For the Police, not to be a***holes, your children could be worse. Think before you beat us. 

Be patient, I will get out and be a different person. 

See my qualities and not my defects.

For the judge who sent me down. Don’t just think with sentences, give us advice.

For the president, change the 15 year law. 

Adolescents, think of errors that you do, everything has a butterfly effect.

For God, have more mercy, nature forgive us. 

For all you Machista, stop hitting your women, you were all born by a woman, and every time you hit me you are beating your mother. 

To my brother, I always carry you in my heart. 

Father, I know I never knew you but you are in my heart also. 

To my son, I hope one day to hold you in my arms….

To all that have helped, without you nothing would ever have changed.

Ready to begin!

During the weekend we spent a night with host families in Tecoluca, a small rural community which was affected by the flooding of the river Lempa due to a faulty levee system. These people lost everything and had to start from scratch a couple of years ago.

Tamara and I stayed with a family whose home was simple but welcoming. We struggled a little to converse in Spanish but it’s all good practice! It was an amazing insight into how many Salvadorans live in today’s society.

House in Tecoluca community

This two-week in country training has been a packed schedule of talks and visits to various places. We’ve covered the history of El Salvador and the issues affecting the people today. We all feel ready to begin our project placements!  Today we are off to the CBC (Centro Bartolome de las Casas) headquarters in downtown San Salvador which is where our group will be spending the next two weeks working with young people who are targeted by the gangs, promoting peace prevention via art and drama.

Mural painting

I think we’ve all found it hard not to fall in love with this country, its colourful culture and the warm hearts of all who live here. Roll on the next 8 weeks!!


ICS volunteer Molly Girvan writes from El Salvador. Photo at top: an engraving at the memorial for the anonymous victims of the civil war.

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Comments

¡Adelante jóvenes! We hope a great experience for you in our country, acting locally, changing globally. ¡La mas cordial Bienvenida!

My husband's brother (Narcisso) disappeared on his birthday in 1980. He was abducted from his job site and his body was never recovered. He left behind a 6 month old daughter, his wife, 10 siblings, and his parents who died never knowing what happened to their son.

My husband Alex and I were just talking the other day about erecting a small monument in the family cemetery to honor his missing brother. Since they never found his body they didn't have a place to visit or mourn and I thought it might be nice to put a headstone next to his mothers and then I happen to come across your web site and I see the stone memorial. Can you tell me where in El salvador it is located? What is it called? How can I or is it even possible for us to get Narcisso's name placed on it. He was a victim of this war and I think it would be a wonderful way for his family and friends to honor his memory.

Hi, Lisa
I work for Progressio in El Salvador and I wanted to share this information with you:

CODEFAM, the organisation to which Madre Guadalupe belongs, can be reached in Spanish through their website:
http://www.codefam.com/contact/formulario-de-contacto-2/

Or by phone (503) 2010-2012 & (503) 2226-7989

All the names included in the monument can be seen here:
http://www.memoriayverdad.org/
And if you go to the comments section, you can read that someone is currently doing a research about the disappeared:
"Hola a todos, estamos haciendo una investigación sobre los asesinados y desparecidos durante el conflicto armado en el país, si alguien está interesado favor de escribir al cambioyverdad@gmail.com"

COMADRES (Another organisation of Mothers of Disappeared)can be contacted by email and phone:
+503 222-9023

COMADRES@Comadres.org

Another useful website for you:
http://www.elsalvador.travel/en/museo-de-la-palabra-y-la-imagen/

Good luck with everything and my best regards to your husband and his family.

Thank you for your reply and the information you supplied. It is greatly appreciated. Since my first post I have discovered that Narcisso's name is already on the monument in El Salvador. How it got there I have no idea since no one in his family was ever contacted or notified that his body had been discovered. My new quest is to try and find out who supplied the names and date of death to whoever built the wall in the hopes that I may discover where his body was found and/or buried so that we may have a proper funeral for him. Any information you may have that will help me in this regard will be greatly appreciated.

*** Even if I never find another piece or clue to his disappearance just knowing that his family has a place to mourn him, that someone found his body and notified someone so that it could be recorded brings his brother and myself much peace. Thank you all and God Bless you.

Dear Lisa:

I work as Progressio Country Representative in El Salvador since 1993 and I think the best way to find more information about Narcisso is writing to CODEFAM and COMADRES, as they are the main organisations collecting all the names included on the monument.

From my experience, many names have been included due to the interest of people who knew someone that was killed or disappeared, even they were no relatives, it has been like a colective responsability, so probably Narcisso's name was included by a friend or so.

I think that if you send the name and surname, it could be easier for them to look at their files and track the information.

I hope this is helpful and if you need that I do something else, please let me know.

Abrazos