A Refugee's Journey from El Salvador

A Refugee's Journey from El Salvador — page 1 — Leaving El Salvador Many people in El Salvador suffer from poverty and lack of jobs Half of the country’s population lives in the countryside Their homes have no electricity or running water In the capital city of San Salvador wealthy people live in clean modern houses In 1980 the inequality between the wealthy and the poor caused a civil war It lasted until 1992 Thousands fled to escape the violence Many Salvadorans or people from El Salvador fled to the United States Others joined gangs Gangs are organized groups of criminals They spread violence and take part in illegal activities Mexico Central America Belize Guatemala Honduras El Salvador Nicaragua Caribbean Sea El Salvador is in Central America It is the smallest of the seven countries there Costa Rica Panama More than 1 million people live in El Salvador’s capital city San Salvador 4 Pacific Ocean Colombia

A Refugee's Journey from El Salvador — page 2 — UN Rights of the Child Every child has rights Rights are privileges and freedoms that are protected by law Refugees have the right to special protection and help The United Nations UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a document that lists the rights of children all over the world Think about these rights as you read this book After the war ended those who had fled were excited to return home But the country soon faced new problems Gang violence in El Salvador did not go away Crime violence and killings continued even after the war As the police tried to remove the gangs the violence grew worse Many innocent people were killed Thousands fled their homes to escape Some live as internally displaced persons IDPs IDPs are people who have been forced to live somewhere else in their country Many more became refugees Refugees are people who flee their homeland because of war and other unsafe conditions Refugees are different from immigrants Immigrants choose to leave to look for better opportunities in another country 5 El Salvador has a population of more than 6 5 million people There are few jobs available in the country These men make a living by fishing for lobster

A Refugee's Journey from El Salvador — page 3 — My Homeland El Salvador El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America It shares borders with Guatemala and Honduras El Salvador is sometimes known as the Land of Volcanoes because of the many volcanoes found there Rain forests once covered much of the land But the rain forests were cleared to create space for growing coffee There are now few trees to slow the flow of water So the country often suffers from mudslides and floods The blue stripes of El Salvador’s flag represent the two oceans that surround Central America The white stripe represents peace A long line of volcanoes runs through the center of El Salvador San Salvador 6

A Refugee's Journey from El Salvador — page 4 — The population of El Salvador is made up of Spanish and Indigenous peoples Hundreds of years ago the Pipil people were the main tribe in the region Their territory is named Cuscatlán which means Land of the Jewel Spanish people first arrived in El Salvador and took control in the 1500s They controlled the country until 1821 when it became independent Dramatic volcanoes dominate El Salvador’s central region Many people in El Salvador are farmers Important crops include cocoa coffee sugar corn and rice Some farmers also raise cattle Today typical meals often include rice beans and tortillas which are a type of flatbread Most people cannot afford to eat meat Many Salvadorans do not have enough food to eat every day Malnutrition is one of the leading causes of death among the country’s poor people El Salvador’s Story in Numbers 90 percent of El Salvador’s people are Mestizo descendants of Spanish and Indigenous ancestors 7

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