Best of El Salvador

El Salvador, a beautiful land that continues to face the unsolved vestiges of their civil war and the social injustice that was never changed, as well as legislative and educational challenges due to their deep-rooted conservative religious beliefs. In El Salvador, abortion is penalized with the same severity as it is murder. Women charged with abortion as a crime currently face sentences for up to 30 years in jail. No rights exist to family planning and sexual education. Families living in poverty, with multiple children, without free access to education and opportunities to strive, are being forced to follow the same path generation after generation. Another concern regarding El Salvador is the environmental impact of extensive deforestation motivated by the population density and inappropriate practices of agriculture, such as mono-cultivated crops like sugar cane and coffee. Furthermore, the government policies benefiting the private sector continue to neglect their responsibility to raise the minimum wage to a livable amount. Currently, many workers are paid between $80 and $100 USD per month for their full-time work, a quantity that is not enough to live with dignity anywhere in El Salvador. A process of conscious education regarding the civil war could be the best way to prevent the increasing wave of gang violence, but this issue has never been taken seriously by the government either. El Salvador is the smallest nation in Central America, but the most densely populated and now is the one with the greatest debt. Migration of Salvadorians to other countries in search for a better future is common, with or without the financial means and education, and many continue to do it. Of the Salvadorian boys, girls, and adolescents with migrant parents, 59% have their father in the United States, and 26% have both parents. Issues of family disintegration and negative social impact into the new generations is very pronounced in El Salvador due to the high percentage of migration. The hopes are in the hands of many intelligent and brave Salvadorians that decided to stay in their country, many of them working daily with the support of international aid to touch and promote positive change in their communities.