I am now back in El Salvador, for the third time! My first time was in the summer of 2003, as a young girl visiting my volunteering parents for a couple of months, looking forward to my first year at Uppsala university. My second time was in April 2008, arriving as a Development Studies student doing a field study on school violence. Much older and more experienced than the first time, and even more so when I returned to Sweden after 2,5 months.And here I am again, this time as the president of the young non-profit organization Schools for the Future (http://www.schoolsforthefuture.org/) that I founded together with four friends after my last stay in El Salvador. Also, I am going to spend one week as observer in the presidential elections in March (in which the result, who ever ends up as winner, will be "una mierda", shit, as one of my Salvadoran friends put it). How will these completely new roles shape my experiences in the country this time?
For me, El Salvador with its extraordinary landscape, endlessly generous people and committment to social improvement as well as its countless political, cultural and social problems concerning poverty, inequality, environmental decay, political polarization and violence is a country worth telling about. It is interesting, sad, fantastic, horrific, amazing, crazy, spectacular... It is a country worth knowing about and, not least, worth visiting.
This first week, apart from kicking off the literature project preparations and accompanying ny friend and her NGO to La Barra de Santiago/El Zapote as usual, I visited the amazingly blue crater lake Coatepeque and got close to vulcán Izalco and vulcán Santa Ana (two of El Salvador's 25 volcanoes) in Parque Nacional Cerro Verde. The environment in El Salvador is threatened in every possible way, so every time you get to know about preservation projects and meet people dedicated to the environment you become rediculously happy! This was also the feeling I got when I met Samuel, or "papá tortuga" (father turtle) as they call him, in playa El Zonte this weekend. El Zonte is my favourite place in El Salvador, my escape from the urban traffic, noise and stress. Here, you get your deserved share of sun and sea and can recharge the batteries until next weekend.
This time, although the sea turtle season is in Agust-September, a couple of newly born sea turtles were released into the sea, rescued from rich peoples' dinner tables. The sea turtl
e is an endangered species, because of its delicious, expensive eggs. The eggs are collected right efter they are laid in the sand, under the moonlight, always at the exact same beach where the mother herself was born, and are then sold as a delicacy. However, numerous local projects have developed in order to save the sea turtle, and the eggs are then collected directly or bought from collectors and guarded until hatched. The baby turtles are then released into the sea, often in a ceremony to mark the importance of the project.
e is an endangered species, because of its delicious, expensive eggs. The eggs are collected right efter they are laid in the sand, under the moonlight, always at the exact same beach where the mother herself was born, and are then sold as a delicacy. However, numerous local projects have developed in order to save the sea turtle, and the eggs are then collected directly or bought from collectors and guarded until hatched. The baby turtles are then released into the sea, often in a ceremony to mark the importance of the project. Samuel is one of these dedicated souls, spending a lot of time and effort (and money he does not have) on rescuing about 500 turtles every season. He spoke enthusiastically about the importance of information spreading, not least to younger generations. Since we in Schools for the Future, as a part of our project at urban schools, are planning to organize field trips to the countryside (poor kids in urban areas never get to see the countryside, even less so the sea), I asked Samuel if he thought it would be a good idea to bring the children there during the sea turtle season, in order for them to get to know about the problem, to actually see and touch real baby turtles and take part in the release ceremony. How can children be supposed to care about the environment if they never in their lives get the chance to actually experience it? Samuel was optimistic about the idea, it is exactly what he believe is needed, and we decided to stay in touch continuously.
The project preparations continue! Thank you for showing interest, and do not forget to visit http://www.schoolsforthefuture.org/ for more detailed information about the project. Hasta pronto!
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