"Por que te vas a la
escuela? La escuela no te da de comer. . ."
The translation of the title goes like this, “ Why go to school?
School isn’t going to feed you.” This is
a phrase that is commonly used amongst the poor and uneducated people of El Salvador as well as other countries in
Central America. It's a way of stating the importance of working to eat and live versus the importance of working to learn. It may seem backwards but when all people have ever known is the working and uneducated life, anything else seems frivolous.
For many people on the outside looking in, this type of mind
set or behavior appears to be very neglectful ~ in many ways, it is neglectful,
but not intentionally so. In countries
where poverty is prevalent and merely existing in daily life requires the work
of many to bring little to the table,
time off to go to school and learn takes able bodied hands away from their time
clock of life.
As I strolled through the streets of various towns in El
Salvador, I saw human work horses. Men as old as the hills, complete with a
ragged cowboy hats atop their heads, machete in hand and skin weathered and
worn by years of work were pushing carts
or riding bicycles filled with supplies. In the U.S., this man would have been sitting in his easy chair
watching Wheel of Fortune or doing a cross word puzzle….but not here and not in many places around the globe.
Children accompanied their parents selling cashews and
mangoes on the side of the road. Young boys sat at the family honey stand
waiting for someone to do business with them. Every day sights in El
Salvador consist of women of every age,
girls included, carrying loads of fruit, vegetables, laundry on top of their heads in blue wash bins. Life
here in El Salvador isn’t easy for many ~ it’s a lot of work from sun up till
sun down. It’s easy to see how education, if one has never had it, cannot be
appreciated as a valuable asset to ones existence. In a
very literal and real time sense, it does not bring food to the table.
It’s easy for us as travelers to find some sort of judgment
or criticism in the situation of children not being in school. I myself, cringed at the idea that these kids will not have more doors open to
them in their lives. It’s the countries responsibility to ensure and enforce
that each child goes to school but as is evident in El Salvador, that’s not happening, yet, because after all, I am perpetually hopeful. That’s not to say that all of El Salvador is uneducated.
On the contrary ~ there are great things happening there by very educated and
innovative people. That’s not what most people see though . . . what they see are the people hustling to get by ~
the work horses.
In my interactions with El Salvadoreans, they are some of
the kindest, most straight forward, tell
it like it is, kind of people. They look you in your eye and they smile
at you ~ even if they’re burdened down by carrying loads of wood on their
shoulders or a water tank on their head, they WILL smile at you. The children will smile at you. They will come
right up and ask you questions and tell you how lovely you look. Uneducated by books, these people know life.
They know the importance of hard work and the value of it’s effort. They recognize a genuine soul
when they see one and they greet it with the same amount of respect that is
given to them.
Education is key to opportunities. It opens doors and worlds that await our
exploring. Let us not discredit those
who do not have the same opportunities as we do. Let us not judge them but instead try to understand their needs and their way of life. I have found in my encounters with those who have literally worked the earth their whole life have a whole lot of wisdom. They understand the value of the life cycle and the gifts and challenges that the earth provides them. They understand joy and pain alike.
One of my core values as a Travel Ambassador is to help bridge cultural gaps by promoting not only the destination of a country but it's people and it's culture. So, what does exploring the lack of education amongst the poor folk of El Salvador have to do with anything? Everything!! The United States has an enormous population of El Salvadorean people living here, most, if not all, have come to pursue work and improve their lives ~ The American Dream, you know. Some have come on asylum status, some have paid thousands of dollars to come with Coyotes ( human traffickers), and some have been lucky enough to have gotten a visa to come here. Whatever the situation is for them, they are here. They are the work horses on our soil doing work that few will do and they'll do it well.
If you haven't seen them in their own country, working hard daily for nearly nothing, yet still managing to rejoice together over some home cooked food and a game of pick up soccer on the beach, you'd tend to see them as the U.S. has portrayed them ~ in a negative light. We have been inundated with negative news press about Central American countries as well as other countries around the globe and like it or not we have been influenced. It is only when we set foot on their soil and encounter the culture up close and personal can we begin to form our own opinions and become a much more understanding and tolerant citizen on our own soil.
El Salvador has taught me a lot. It has taught me acceptance. It has taught me tolerance and patience. It has taught me to trust in the kindness of humans. I have learned what generosity looks like and feels like. It has taught me that simple eye contact and a smile goes a hell of a long way. It has taught me that I need a lot less than I think I do and that when I consider complaining about trivial things, I ought to think again.
I saw poverty and I saw struggle but I also saw the beauty of a country that persists, no matter what. They come together in times of need, they help one another without question. We need people like that in our lives . . . and we need to work side by side with them in peace and acceptance. The goal, after all, is to live in harmony with each other. Harmony comes from understanding and compassion and learning to value each and every culture's gifts as precious to our existence. Traveling teaches us how to be better humans.
My life will forever be changed by my experiences in El Salvador ~ I feel so much richer for having been there. Thank you El Salvador ~ adelante con fuerza!
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