You often meet many people on the road while traveling off the beaten path. Perquin is certainly off the beaten path. It is a wonderful crossroads of people and culture. After visiting other places that see very few foreigners and have no NGO presence, we were very surprised to see the high number of aid workers from all over the world here to help out this region.
The Peace Corps for example has had a very long history in this area and still has over 100 volunteers throughout El Salvador. In the short week that we were here, we ran into 5 different Peace Corps workers stationed in the surrounding villages. Lindsey (or leela as she is called by the children who can't pronounce her name yet) is working right here in Perquin. She has been here for about a month of her 2 year commitment and already seems well situated in the community. She helped us immensely while we were here and could not have taught the classes without her.
We met Marie, a newly graduated political scientist from Sweden here to study the role of woman in El Salvadoran politics. Sara (seen above), a teacher from New Mexico has volunteered throughout Central America. Our Paths crossed while she was making her way from Nicaragua to Guatemala. She sat in to observe classes at Amun Shea and helped us teach the photography workshop.
There were 2 grad students here from Harvard and Columbia conducting research for microfinance programs, a woman from San Francisco here to implement arts programs, and a man from England who is the only man on earth who has seen and evidenced the white breasted hawk, which he spotted in the mountains of Morazan (this last one is not a charity worker, but it is a fascinating story).
El Salvador is in a very precarious place right now. Their classification as a "developing nation in need" is changing very soon, and their largest source of foreign aid, the Millenium Project, is about to cut off their funding for El Salvador. There will soon be little money for things like infrastructure, education and medical care. With so many people out of work, the only source of income for some families is sent from a father or sister sending back their salary from abroad. These remitants make up a staggering 20% of the GNP. If foreign aid is suddenly cut off, it will become even more difficult for people to survive.
Help from charities like FocalPointAid or programs like many we have seen this week from outside organizations may be that little extra push that people here need.
The people of Perquin are strong, proud and hard-working. If we can do something as simple as help build them a school building for their children, we are happy to help.
As for all the wonderful people we have met: Keep up all the good work, we will see you soon.
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