World Issues
About El Salvador: El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America, located between Guatemala and Honduras on the Pacific coast. Despite its size, the country contains a variety of climates and physical landscapes: from coastal lowlands dotted with palm trees and lined with flat, sandy beaches to rolling hills covered thickly with luxuriant trees and leafy vines to imposing volcanoes. El Salvador’s political legacy is one of civil conflict in the 1980s, which exacerbated widespread social and economic problems. Though the country now enjoys peace and stability, it faces pervasive poverty; 48% of the population lives below the poverty line. Because the national median age is 21, great responsibility is being placed in the hands of adolescents and young adults. Unfortunately, thousands of young Salvadorans emigrate to wealthier nations in search of steady, though menial jobs. This exodus of talented individuals, paradoxically, has become crucial to the economic health of the country: some $2 billion are sent from Salvadorans living abroad to their families back home every year. These remittances keep the country from sinking farther into debt. How does a country rebuild itself after a crippling civil conflict? Is it possible to counteract the outflow of Salvadoran citizens? While for most of us, “Youth is the Future” is a cliché, for the Salvadoran people it is a powerful truth.

San Salvador: This Global Action group travels to San Salvador, a busy city that was the capital of the United Provinces of Central America in the 180s. Here students learn about the country through enrichment seminars, visits to important historical sites, and interviews with residents. They speak with workers and journalists, and meet with leaders of NGOs as they work together to form a vision of El Salvador’s current social and economic situation.

Santa Marta: From there, the group travels to the small village of Santa Marta in mountainous northeastern El Salvador, where they spend the remainder of their stay studying the specific efforts of one community. During the Civil War, the North was particularly affected, and many people fled to neighboring Honduras. Santa Marta is a town whose inhabitants are all former refugees who have since returned to their native country, and are in the process of rebuilding their lives. Participants work alongside the townspeople of Santa Marta on some of the projects they have put in place to revitalize and rebuild their community. They help at a local people, contribute to the efforts of a youth anti-HIV/AIDS movement, and work with a women’s group on improving women’s rights in the area. They also learn about efforts to promote fair trade, and how this can benefit not only farmers, but the country as a whole. Their extended stay in Santa Marta helps foster friendships with Salvadoran young people, an increased recognition of the challenges facing developing nations, and an understanding of the realistic possibilities for constructive action.

Continued Exploration: During their final days in El Salvador, the group travels to a small coastal town where they stay near the beach in a family run lodge, and begin to synthesize their experiences for presentation to the other Global Action teams upon their return. While here, students continue to learn about El Salvador’s recent history, its attempts at economic sustainability and environmental custodianship, and its efforts to create a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources.

Global Action El Salvador relies heavily on interactions and friendships with Salvadoran youth and community leaders. For this reason, students must have completed at least one year of high school Spanish, and two is highly recommended.