El Salvador
El Salvador is a small country on the Pacific Coast of Central America whose natural beauty of lush, green, cloud-covered hills far outweigh its size. Emerging from a troubling civil war in the early 1990s, El Salvador has faced both civil unrest and the devastating effects of natural disasters. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch stormed through many Central American countries, including El Salvador. In the wake of the storm, much of El Salvador's vital infrastructure was damaged or destroyed.
CRWRC began working in El Salvador in 1976. Due to decreased funding and a need to shift priorities, CRWRC made a decision in 2003 to phase out of our work in El Salvador in 2007. While we no longer have full-time staff in El Salvador, CRWRC is continuing to fund one partner and provide consultation and advice for two partners through 2007.
Fast Facts
Population: 6,948,073 (July 2007 est.)
Area Comparative: slightly smaller than Massachusetts
Literacy rate: 80.2%
Life expectancy: 71.78 years
Population below poverty line: 35.2% (2005 est.)
Gross Domestic Product per capita: $4,900 (2006 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic 83%, other 17%
note: there is extensive activity by Protestant groups throughout the country; by the end of 1992, there were an estimated 1 million Protestant evangelicals in El Salvador
Languages: Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians)
(From the World Factbook. Click here for more information on El Salvador)
Partners
Asociacion Nuevo Amanecer de El Salvador/"New Dawn" Association of El Salvador (ANAES)
ANAES operates seven children's day-care centers and a health center in SanSalvador. Their community transformation programs focus on:
- Preventive health – ANAES helps communities form community health committees. These committees receive training on topics such as sanitation, nutrition, HIV/AIDS prevention, and avoiding violence. The committees then train others in the community. Through ANAES, the growth of 951 children is measured every three months and 145 mothers receive nutrition training.
- Agriculture – ANAES works with farmers in 8 communities to help them learn about low-cost, organic alternatives that they can use to improve their crop yields. ANAES also teaches them a Biblical view for caring for the earth, and better ways to market and sell their crops. The farmers, in turn, share their knowledge with others in the area.
- Income Generation. – ANAES helps families increase their income through a variety of programs. Community credit unions are started so that people can pool their savings and provide each other low-interest loans. In addition, families are encouraged to sell a variety of different crops and products so that the market does not become saturated with any one item. One example is chicken farming, which helps supplement a family’s income after harvest season is over.
Associación de Mujeres para Un Futuro Mejor/Women for a Better Future (AMFUME)
AMFUME works with women who live in the greater San Salvador area to help them increase their incomes. This includes training on topics such as accounting, management, record-keeping, and marketing. It also includes helping women form credit unions for pooled savings and low-interest loans. Through the credit unions, loans are provided to some members every four months and loan participants participate in training about gender equity, justice, democracy, self-esteem, and human rights. Recently, AMFUME began a preventive health initiative for the commuinity, teaching the preparation and use of medicines with readily available natural herbs. AMFUME operates with the interest of the credit portfolio received from CRWRC in previous years. We continue to provide consultation for organizational growth.
While we no longer have full-time staff in El Salvador, CRWRC is continuing to fund one partner and provide consultation and advice for one partner through 2007.
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