El Salvador, Arcatao: My story

When I first arrived in El Salvador last July, I instantly felt at home with the welcoming and charming atmosphere, being able to connect with the people and really experience the real world was a definite eye opener. It was captivating to see first-hand the cultural differences between the UK and El Salvador. Two completely different parts of the world coming together and working as a team just shows no matter where you live, that friendships can last no matter where you come from.  I found that out when I lived and breathed a completely alien environment.

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El Salvador: ¡Viva El Feminismo!

I remember trying to decide which ICS placement to choose and thinking ‘El Salvador is meant to be one of the worst countries in the world to be a woman, that’s got to be the one for me!’. As a feminist activist, I was excited to come to a country with little gender equality to offer my help, little did I know then that the most helpful thing I can do here is actually to learn. 

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International Volunteer Day

International Volunteer Day is on the 5 December each year. It was created by the United Nations in 1985 to celebrate volunteers and their contributions in their communities and around the world. All over the world, hundreds of millions of people volunteer each year, spending their spare time sharing skills and improving lives. Together and individually, volunteers are acting as catalysts for positive change, so having a day to share their successes and promote their work is essential.

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World Toilet Day: Don’t look down

Founded in 2013, the concept of a ‘World Toilet Day’ seems simply laughable to a group of 20-something-year olds from the UK. That is until they are flown halfway around the world and faced with the shocking reality that around 2.4 billion others face with regards to sanitation and waste disposal. Being from the UK, or indeed almost anywhere in the western world, such facilities are often taken for granted. It takes a drastic life change, or I suppose an ICS placement, to make one truly realise the importance of toilets and sanitation disposal.

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El Salvador: Bio-construcción

La bio-construcción es un método de construir con consciencia medioambiental. Consiste en reciclar materiales que ya han sido utilizados como las botellas, pajillas, papel, latas entre otros. También se ocupa barro, arena y hoja de pino para hacer el cob en vez de usar cemento, que es un material toxico y daña al medioambiente. Es muy importante en esta época que construimos de esta manera ya que el cambio climático está afectando mucho a nuestro pueblo Arcatao, y a todo el mundo. 

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El Salvador: 17 de octubre, Día Internacional para la Erradicación de la Pobreza

La pobreza es un problema muy grande que afecta en la actualidad a muchas familias ya que no poseen de sustento diario ni de ninguna manera de seguir adelante.

El mundo entero vive este gran problema, impidiendo que muchas personas logren cumplir sueños y tener un futuro mejor, como estudiar. Muchos jóvenes se quedan sin estudiar por lo mismo que no cuentan con los recursos necesarios para pagar su universidad y su misma alimentación.

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El Salvador: A taste of El Salvador!

Mealtimes, breakfast, lunch and dinner are daily rituals we partake in 365 days a year, that’s 1,095 meals per year! Not only do these meals function to nourish us, physically giving us the energy we need to complete our daily tasks, but they serve as social occasions of great significance.  Who we eat with and what we eat are the two most significant factors when it comes to mealtimes...

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El Salvador: The environment of Arcatao

Upon arriving in Arcatao in early October 2016, our cycle was greeted immediately by the stunning scenery of rural El Salvador. The seemingly impenetrable peaks of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas reach out to touch every part of Arcatao’s horizon and a sea of tropical cloud forest blankets the mountainous landscape. These cloud forests are called home by millions of species of insects, amphibians and reptiles and their canopies contain the colours of a thousand bird species.

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El Salvador: Día Internacional de la Mujer Rural

Las mujeres rurales representan una cuarta parte del conjunto de la población mundial, es por eso que el 15 de octubre se celebra a nivel internacional el Día de la Mujer Rural. En su mayoría, las mujeres rurales dependen de los recursos naturales para subsistir ya que hay pocas fuentes de trabajo a las que ellas puedan tener acceso.

El primer Día Internacional de las Mujeres Rurales se celebró el 15 de octubre de 2008, y fue establecido por la Asamblea General de la ONU en su resolución 62/136.

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El Salvador: International Day of the Girl Child

On 11 October, we observe the fourth International Day of the Girl Child, as declared by the United Nations. The aim of the day is to support greater opportunities for girls, who make up 1.1 billion of the world’s population, and increase awareness of gender inequality faced by girls globally. Such inequalities include: access and a right to an education, nutrition, medical care, legal rights, protection from discrimination, violence against women and child marriage.

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