Putting a Face on Statistics

Since I've been here with Project FIAT, we've had a woman from the American Embassy in San Salvador come speak to us a couple times to give us the low down as to what's going on in El Salvador. She has talked a lot about gang violence and how it is really terrorizing the country. 2.5 million Salvadorans (25% of the population) live in the U.S., largely because of the terror they face hear. I know the statistics. I'd heard it and done the math. Small population + a lot of violence and death = somebody I know here is affected. But I didn't really believe it.

Until today. I went with my group to Las Delicias. We got there without incident in the morning, but by mid-morning, I started to sense something was wrong. I didn't find out what it was until we started to drive out. The road was filled with somber people walking in the direction of the highway. Eventually, we drove up to a place where the crowds of people had stopped. The police were there. The villagers were there. Everybody just stood and stared. They talked in hushed tones. I turned to ask the driver what was going on, even though I knew. That morning, while we were playing games, coloring, and singing songs, a man from the village of Las Delicias, a gang member, was killed by another gang member. And while I didn't know him personally, the people I love do. While I couldn't put a face to the name, I probably saw him walking along the road in the month since I've been here. The violence here, it's real. And it's terrifying. I'm terrified for the people I've come to love. And now I have a taste of how real the statistics are to the people who live here. I only wish I could extend the veil of safety my North American status gives me here.