Most violent country in the world...

Hello!

This past week the Crispaz board was in the country, and though I did not get to share as much time with them as I would have liked to, I do want to express my gratitude for their continued support of my work and life here in El Salvador. One of the board members asked particularly that I write more so as to be able to stay in touch with the reality here, so I´m writing for her and others who desire to stay up to date on what is going on here.

About a week ago, the United Nations named El Salvador the most violent country in the world as far as violent crimes per capita. This weekend, 46 people were killed in less than 72 hours. According to the UN study, there have been more violent deaths in El Salvador than in Iraq between the years of 2004 and 2009, the heart of the US offensive in Iraq.

These numbers startle me and leave me feeling at a loss. I work here in violence prevention but there seem to be so few working in this area and we are up against such an entrenched network of violence here in El Salvador that so often is chalked up to "delinquent activity" but has roots in those with wealth and power who will never have to serve prison time for these crimes. The scene here is unbelievably complex and the people here, by and large, respond with "the situation is really awful, all we have is God" which at first seems very wise and grace filled, but is also an exuse for inaction and resignation to the way things are.

This coming year in January we will be starting a new violence prevention initiative in San Marcos, a very violent sector of the country, in hopes to pilot a new project with the goals of creating youth leaders in violence prevention and community development. We have been planning this project for months now and it is quite tricky, seeing as how we have to first get permission from the gang to operate in the area, then from the police and from the mayor´s office. However, since the Anti-gang law was passed last year, it is illegal to work with a group of gang members here in any capacity. Thus, if we accept youth that are in any way connected to the gang´s activities (the majority of youth in the area), the police have informed us that they would have the obligation to arrest us for "agrupaciones ilicitas" (the meeting of ilicit groups).

We are trying to work within loopholes of this law as we plan for next year, but it is infuriating to me that given the startling amount of violence here, it is prohibited to work on any rehabiliation initiatives with those involved with gangs (even those who are not official members). The same goes for prison work and for those who wish to aid the transition of prisoners back into a society that has never accepted them and is far from willing to do so now.

In working in the girls prison with young women who have a million dreams for their future, I often lose hope knowing that they will never be given jobs in this country since they have tatoos, and they will not be given the chance to partake in rehabilitation programs because it is against the law. Even if they have changed, this society and its governance has not changed in its views towards them as the root of all problems (rather than a symptom of a disfunctional economic/political system which excludes youth and offers them no opportunites for development). Thus, they will inevitably end up choosing the path familiar to them, the path of the streets, when they are repeatededly denied the chance to gain an honest living because their past has marked them irrevocably.

Within this extremely frustrating paradigm, there are still a few of us working day by day to listen to and validate the experiences of these youth who struggle to turn their lives around, as well as those who are teetering on the edge of giving into the gangs and their appeal of belonging and permanent financial stability. On a very small, relational scale, I see advances every day that I take the time to accompany and listen to these voices, which I will share with you in future entries. At the same time, however, I am continued to be overwhelmed by my smallness in the midst of this system that resists this type of non-judgemental accompaniment and quest for sustainable transformation.

Those are some thoughts for today... I will try to keep this updated even if I can only write a few uncompleted thoughts at a time. I hope you are all well and I miss you!