Fri May 18, 2012
Photo courtesy Tom Hare
Young boy drinking soy milk
Changing the World One Village At a Time
By Elizabeth McDermott and Thomas Hare – September 2006
Under a blistering sun, flies swarm around sweaty bodies and fresh food – vendors scream out what they have found for sale – children cling to their mothers’ sides, barely avoiding the enormous buses that roar down the narrow streets, and emaciated dogs pace around piles of trash. The struggle for life in San Salvador continues.
The market did not always look like this. Years ago there were fewer people, less pollution, and if you go back far enough, peace and tranquility. But over the years thousands of people have come to the city searching for economic opportunities – their earnings as farmers and coffee pickers no longer enough to sustain their families. One could argue that they came in hopes of finding a better life – but what they found is a life that outsiders can barely imagine. The economic situation of life in San Salvador is desperate for the poorest and the children suffer most.
As college students we came to El Salvador on a study abroad experience through Santa Clara University. We hoped to learn about the reality of developing nations. We were prepared to encounter violence, poverty and desperation but we were not prepared to fall in love. The people steal your heart and make it impossible to turn away and hide from their suffering. That is why after graduating from college we came back to El Salvador to learn more about development from the eyes and minds of the people who live it everyday.
As a result of what we learned, we founded Connect Education International (ConnectEd), a non-profit organization that helps combat extreme poverty by improving access to education and building skills in technology. Through technology and the power of education ConnectEd holds web conferences with six schools in the United States and the Santa Luisa primary school, which serves the children of the market vendors in downtown San Salvador. Web conferences create a unique online immersion and language experience for students in the United States and in El Salvador. With the support of the U.S. schools involved in this connection as well as other generous donors, over 200 students benefit from computer classes, internet access, and a computer lab set up by ConnectEd. Similarly, 250 students receive a daily glass of soy milk which helps them make it until lunch. Many of these school children are too poor and often go without breakfast.
Students feel empowered knowing that they have a skill which will help carry them in the next stage of their lives. Teachers have noted that students have fewer headaches and stomachaches and are better able to concentrate in class because of the soy milk.
Over the next few years, ConnectEd’s model will be replicated in other locations, beginning with Buenos Aires, Argentina. The cycle of poverty and violence can be broken if increased international understanding becomes a catalyst for social change and young people are provided with the necessary resources to realize their full potential.
For more information go to www.connecteducation.org.
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