Nearing the end
It is very hard for me to believe that it is almost August and in three short weeks I will be back in the United States getting ready for one more year at the University. It is difficult for me to recap all that I have done in the past weeks here in the campo, but to name a few, I have: taught English classes to every grade in the school (gr. 1-9); spoken on the radio about youth and education in El Salvador (yes in Spanish!); collected trash in the street for the "Campaña de limpieza" (Community Clean-up); played countless games of fútbol (soccer), bate (softball), UNO, and Burro (Salvadoran version of Old Maid); danced a LOT; learned to wash my clothes by hand; had countless conversations on just about every topic under the sun with my host family and various memebers of the community. The most important thing that I have done here thus far, however, was really to not DO anything, but rather to BE! This has also been my biggest challenge, to just BE here accompanying the people of Los Espinos. But from this companionship I have gained something I consider extremely valuable- friendships. Special and unique friendships with my family members and various individuals in the community who will always be with me no matter where I am.

I want to share with you a little bit of the reality of the youth in Los Espinos so that you might gain, as I have, an appriciation for the abundance of opportunities available to us in the United States that are often taken for granted. This past weekend I was fortunate enough to observe and participate in a "Congreso de Jovenes" (Youth Congress) in which youth groups from various communities in the area joined to present the difficulties that they face in their particular cantón. The group from Los Espinos, myself included, did a sociodrama that illustrated a reality that, for me, is incomprehensibly unjust. The drama was based on a student looking to continue thier studies past the ninth grade (an accomplishment that is nothing more then a pipe dream for many young men and women in Los Espinos). In the drama, as in reality, a group of students graduated elementary school and only a startlingly small proportion were able to continue on to high school in the neighboring city of Triunfo. The reasons for students not continuing school included disinterest, lack of financial resources and the necesity to stay at home to support the family. Those who did go to high school were faced with the uncertainty of transport, and additional strains on their studies. In the end, one student found work after graduating high school cleaning bathrooms for less then minimun wage.

The students from Los Espinos who to to high school have to hike each day, crossing a small river that grows each rainfall. I have walked this trail various times and am about to do so now as I return to Los Espinos after being in San Salvador for 3 days. It is a steep and slippery trail and I cannot imagine hiking it twice a day, five days a week just to go to school. The reality of the youth of Los Espinos is so different then anything I have every been exposed to before and I write this not for you to feel sorry for these people, but simply to share this REALITY with you.