Day 6

Brittany and I at the Women's Center

Today, we started the day going to a women's center in San Salvador.  We learned that to be a feminist in El Salvador is quite dangerous and very subversive.  The culture in El Salvador (like most of the world) is a patriarchal culture.  Specifically, their culture values machismo and has very strict gender norms for both men and women.  Most women either stay home, do domestic work, work in factories, or immigrate to the US to work to send money home to their family.  Like the speaker said, most ten year old girls do not dream about working in a factory when they grow up.  Yet, there are not the variety of positions available for women in this society.  Many of them are not encouraged by families to learn how to read and write because they are told they will not need that when they are older.  However, there have been some recent policy changes with the newer government, yet if these policies are not enforced, they really do not do much good.  I began to feel such a gratefulness for my ability to learn, work and choose to some degree my destiny.  At the same time, my heart burns for all the women around the world who do not have that freedom.  One of the most devastating facts we learned about gender violence within the country is that last year, 647 women were murdered because of their gender.  This country is not that big, and yet the numbers are staggering.  The inspiring thing is that there are women within the country who are working to empower one another.  If you are interested to hear more about empowering women globally, make sure to read Half the Sky.

Soup at Beatrice's house

We ate lunch at a local woman's house.  We had bean soup when it was 85 degrees!  We were all sweating pretty badly, but enjoyed the local cuisine.  Beatrice (our hostess) works for our translator and guide, Cristina.  She cannot read, but both of her daughters are high school graduates who are going onto school at the university.  Her mother, who was over 90 was helping to prepare the food as well.

Then, we went to learn about human trafficking in El Salvador.  Our speaker was very dynamic and passionate about the work his agency is doing in the country. When asked what we in the States can do or not do to better this problem in El Salvador, he listed three major things.  1) Promote and support the human rights that all people are supposed to have.  He stated that if we did that, so many of these problems would be addressed and improved.   2)  Support community building projects in El Salvador.  He stated it is important to dissuade people from making the migration to the States because it is so dangerous.  If they felt that their needs were being met here, they may not be so apt to leave.  3)  Stop demonizing migration to the States.  It is a basic human right (in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) that people be able to migrate from one country to another.  When hearing this, I began to wonder how my daily life contributes to other's rights not being upheld.  It is something for me to think about.  It will take some very intentional changes.

Beatrice's home and family

I will not be posting any blog entries for the next two maybe three evenings.  We are staying with host families in Santa Marta, a rural community in the hills.  This will truly be an experience that I haven't had before.  We will stay in their homes and use their out houses.  I am hoping my digestive system stays strong! However, the point was made that many people all over the world live in these conditions.  So, it will be a positive stretch and will give me understanding of the plethora of comforts that surround my life.  I will be back to blogging when we return.  Buenos noches mi familia y amigas y amigos!