Known as “The Land of Volcanoes,” El Salvador is a country full of forest-covered mountains, with beaches bordering the Pacific Ocean. It is both the smallest and most densely populated nation in Central America. With a population of 6,108,590, an estimated 36.5% of Salvadorans live below the poverty line. Many poor Salvadorans live in haphazard shacks pieced together with scraps of roofing tin, wood, and rocks that provide little protection from the elements. however in the words of Carlos Flores from the Housing Ministry in El Salvador: “Thank you Nancy and guys. We are blessing for your visit. Our people and communities took a piece of your hearts.”
We partnered with Gente Ayudando Gente on this Wellness Mission to spread health and wellness information to local communities. Funded by a grant from Isagenix -Isa Foundation, volunteers shared training in three communities including awareness of human trafficking. Here is a link to the Wellness Manual in English and Spanish .
Our teams delivered water filtration systems from Clean Water Foundation, and humanitarian donations to each community. After a great trip on AA we arrived!
Upon arrival we met with the US Ambassador to El Salvador, Ron Johnson and his wife Alina (as well as the Health Minister) who gave us a quick briefing on the corona virus. Since there are no cases in El Salvador we agreed to keep the communities we worked with calm and encouraging good health and hygiene practices. We took pictures in front of the photograph of Nayib Bukele, the friend of Airline Ambassadors and the President who is making such positive change in the country.
Soon Lisselot Troconis, of Gente Ayudando Gente arrived and we were off directly to visit Kiwanis Village, the community that we had helped to start with Armando Bukele, Nayib’s father. We were delighted to have two of the Bukele brothers join us – Ibrahim and Yusef Bukele, with his fiance Pamela Abarco. We coordinated a distribution of school supplies – joined fun activities with the kids and toured the village.
Here is some background on our efforts in El Salvador:
PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE
Our partner is The Gente Ayudando Gente Association is a non-profit organization registered in El Salvador, San Salvador in 2009
Airline Ambassadors has quite a history in El Salvador. We began working there in 1999 and our work attracted the interest of the First Lady of the country, Senora Flores.
Airline Ambassadors began working in El Salvador in 1999
Primera Dama Flores supported our work at orphanages.
- American Airlines donated 757 in 2000
Provided Christmas parties and aid to 5 orphanages.
- Earthquake in El Salvador 2001
In 2001, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake shook the nation of El Salvador. In the month the followed, there were thousands of aftershocks, including a 6.6 magnitude earthquake exactly one month after the first. Damage was extensive. At least 1,159 people were killed, another 8,122 were injured, and 335,000 homes were damaged or completely destroyed. In addition, infrastructure, including water systems, roads, and hospitals, were badly damaged.
AAI came right back down with relief mission, bringing President of AMA and Kiwanis International Aid delivery to Refugee Camp Cafelelon.
2nd earthquake hit while we were there and as a result, we helped to get the CASA Act passed in the U.S. and El Salvador that new construction must be accompanied by proper building codes. the Casa program received Bi partisan support SAL – USA
25 Humanitarian Missions to El Salvador
Delivered wheelchairs, medicine, clothing, school supplies, vocational training & more
- Kiwanis Village
The city of Soyapango, within an hour’s drive east of the capitol city, is the second most populated area in El Salvador. Among numerous economic and other problems, the city has had a long and notorious presence of MS-13 and other gang activities, making it particularly dangerous for anyone to live there. The land was a Chatarrera, which translates to a junkyard. It was a police impound lot and most of the land was covered in piles of rusty vehicles.
On the same land were the temporary homes of 150 families, those that would eventually receive new homes. The families had all been displaced by the earthquake, several hurricane disasters, or due to various political reasons and lived in meager structures built by the army or in tents, propped wherever a piece of land could be claimed. Since there was virtually no land in the area that wasn’t either covered in scrap metal or precarious shelters, the only way to build anything was to begin a massive shuffling game of people and metal. Throughout the process, families had to be moved to other locations or live with other families in already cramped spaces. Building began and community members helped build these houses according to proper building codes:
Today the community and the people in it have come a long way. The Directiva, a local board of trustees, implements self-governance and organizes community efforts. Many women in the community have completed a training program in sewing. We also started a sewing program and delivered sewing machines so the women could learn to sew. The next phase is to develop other micro-businesses and other ways to make the community self-sustaining and give people a way to help themselves. Airline Ambassadors became involved with the Haiti earthquake and this will be our first return humanitarian initiative in the country we have grown to love.
