El Salvador

El Salvador is the most densely populated country in Central America and the only one without a coast along the Atlantic Ocean. It has endured numerous periods of instability over its history. The mid-20th century saw a series of military dictatorships, as well as the four-day “soccer war” with Honduras in 1969. The 1980s engrossed the country in civil war, highlighted by the inequality between a small wealthy elite and vast majority of poor citizens. Lasting until 1992, the war cost some 70,000 Salvadorians their lives, and caused over 2 billion in damages. Furthermore, Hurricane Mitch hit El Salvador in 1998, which left 200 dead, and over 30,000 homeless.

 

Now, time for peace and development has come for El Salvador. Thanks to the hard work and a rapid industrialization, in 2010 El Salvador ranked in the top 10 among Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index and in the top 3 in Central America. Nevertheless, contemporary challenges still include accentuated inequality, poverty in rural communities, poor health and nutrition and gender inequality.

 

Reto Juvenil has been present in El Salvador focused in programs to address better education conditions for the children of the country. In order to meet better community needs, volunteers together with the RJI staff, have contributed with their time and skills to improve the social and economic welfare of the country.

• Environmental education programs.
• Educational infrastructure in rural communities.
• Community needs assessment and research.

 

During our trajectory in El Salvador, RJI has brought assistance to several communities of the country to improve their education and general living conditions. To avoid dependency we normally work for periods of 3 to 5 years in a community, and after it is empowered enough to continue developing by itself, we continue our assistance to another community.