Question #1: Just how far will $50,000 get a person with a disability?

Answer: It depends on who is spending it, and why.

On July 17, 2008, the Amazing Race, “Helping Those Who Help Others,” officially ended, and LSN-El Salvador won the bronze medal. LSN-ES, along with two other organizations focused on Education, were awarded $50,000 each by the Gloria Krete Foundation to continue doing the work that they do helping others in El Salvador (La Prensa: http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20080617/planbella/1081428.asp and El Diario De Hoy: http://www.elsalvador.com/mwedh/nota/nota_varias_fotos.asp?idCat=6560&idArt=2622211). Ten finalists were awarded a grand total of $345,000, and LSN-ES cut off one of the larger slices of pie. It was truly a day for celebration.

And yet, the pie was not even so big at the beginning of the night. An extra $90,000 was awarded to the finalists present that evening through the anonymous donations of two families. To me, this generosity in El Salvador is mind-boggling and hard to quantify.

$50,000.

Is that a lot of money in El Salvador? In the United States, that might pay for a Master’s education for one person, a brand new car with fancy features, and perhaps a down payment for a home (depending on what state you live in). But how far will that go when split amongst the approximately 600,000 individuals with a disability in El Salvador? I’m not quite sure. But it definitely promises some hope to improve accessibility in the country.

LSN-ES will be using the award money to buy prosthetics and accompanying materials for people with disabilities, as well as putting some of the money towards developing the non-existent disability-related services in the hospitals.

I repeat: Non-existent disability-related services. Apparently, if you have lost a limb, you have three days in the hospital to recover. At the end of those three days, you are sent off with a missing limb and no information on how to deal with your new life. You are not told where to get psychological help or physical rehabilitation. You are barely told how to take care of your injury, and you are offered no help in learning how to survive. You are basically thrown onto a bicycle and expected to ride it, without any directions or ability to do so. It's horrible.

This is why LSN will be using some of the award money to teach Medical Professionals how to help their new patients. LSN already uses a series of pamphlets catering to post-injury recovery, and they will be imparting their knowledge to those professionals who deal with these patients daily; that is, doctors, nurses, and social workers, among others.

Question #2: Can you afford to be disabled in El Salvador?

Answer: Probably not.

According to the State Department, the average per capita income of an individual in El Salvador (2006) is $2,656.90, whereas the purchasing power parity is approximately $5,514.97. Either way you slice this cake, this isn’t very much money, especially when you have to buy yourself a prosthetic leg in order to go to work. In order to visualize just how much it is not, I did some investigating into what it costs to have a physical disability. The following is what I came up with.

Approximate costs (according to LSN staff):
Half leg prosthesis: $750
Full leg prosthesis: $1,500
Arm prosthesis: $700 functional ($1,500 for cosmetic)
Crutches: $25/pair
Hospital wheelchair:
-new: $1,000
-used: $300-$500

Other costs not included here: New prosthesis-compatible shoes, socks, new methods of transportation, medicine, prosthesis repair and doctor visits, recuperating time, family suffering, and a limited selection of employment options, among many others.

Question #3: Why do those of us without a disability get priority?

Answer: Because the social rules in El Salvador favor pregnant ladies and people without disabilities.

My run this morning relaxed me, as it does most mornings. My blood is pumping and I feel solid and secure in myself, glad to be able to enjoy this simple sport that brings me so much joy. And then, as a testament to my (in)stability, I fall.

Hard. I brace the fall to the sidewalk with the palms of my hands and do a ninja-style somersault to avoid slamming my body into the concrete. I jump up, surprisingly unharmed, save a few scratches, and curse the uneven sidewalk.

Thirty minutes later, it happens again. I trip on the uneven sidewalk, fall to the sidewalk, let my palms take the force of the fall, and somersault back to my feet. Again. I curse the sidewalk, and look around. People must think I’m crazy. But you know what’s really crazy?

These sidewalks. If I can’t walk down the sidewalk, how is somebody in a wheelchair supposed to use one?

And you know what else is “crazy”? The "accessible priority parking spots" in this country. In the U.S., from just having parked my car places, I know that there is generally a minimum of two accessible priority parking spots for each commercial business. Here? One for people with disabilities, and one for pregnant women.

Now, being a woman myself, I should probably herald the law that states that pregnant women deserve special attention. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that yet, but I do know that when that comes before parking spaces for people truly living with a disability, it doesn't sit well with me. I empathize with the birthing mamas. I do. But to use up a precious parking space for this reason seems erroneous.

LSN Director Don Jesus, working in tandem with other agencies advocating on behalf of people with disabilities, is working on an advertising campaign to encourage the city to improve its accessible infrastructure. The organizations are not asking for much; ramps to let people into buildings, a level sidewalk so that people don’t trip and wheelchair users can get from Point A to Point B there, rules that punish people for parking on the sidewalks, and accessibility so that children may go to school. And yet it is the society that must be adapted so that ALL people in the society, which include people with disabilities, can access their rights (e.g. right to education, work, health, etc.). The generous $50,000 will help tremendously in buying materials and helping to develop the programs in the hospital, and yet the society, not individual donations, must permanently change its attitude towards individuals with disabilities and adapt its services to help all people to access their human rights.

Upsidedownworld.org is an online magazine covering activism and politics in Latin America. I have been reading the magazine since having come to El Salvador to help me get perspective on the politics of Central America, and I have been keeping a sharp eye on articles about El Salvador. The topics lately have covered the upcoming election politics, the remittance industry, and gang violence, which is similar to what is covered in the conservative dailys El Diario de Hoy and La Prensa Grafica. There is another paper which is distributed only in the afternoons, called El Diario co Latino, and it tends to cover a wider range of issues, and with a less conservative bent.

However, in reading the online magazine and the papers each day, there is a dearth of information about the disability movement in El Salvador. I then began doing research into disability issues over the last twenty years and found little information outside of LSN that specifically discusses the evolution of the movement in the national context. So I decided to write a short history of the movement, and sat down with the LSN Director, Jesus Martinez, to hash out some of the smaller details.

The article, "A Recent History of the Disability Rights Movement in El Salvador" was published for upsidedownworld.org, and will hopefully give readers some deeper insight into the disability movement in El Salvador. To read the full article, see http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1384/74/.
Here are the first two paragraphs to peak your interest:

"Many argue that El Salvador has come a long way towards trying to repair its disabled past by declaring itself mine-free in 1994, implementing the 2001 National Disability Rights law and ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. The Permanent Table of the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights (PDDH) and disability rights civil society organizations such as the Landmine Survivors Network have led the struggle in Central America to promote the rights of people with disabilities and guarantee them “free and equal access to services” through the construction of accessible infrastructure and much-needed legislation.

And yet, El Salvador has only made nominal progress in implementing disability legislation and awareness. A census tailored toward understanding disability demographics in the country, implementation of current legislation, and a greater emphasis on disability rights as human rights will help to pave the inaccessible pathway towards more inclusion for all. The upcoming 2009 elections may also have a significant impact on the provision of disability rights in El Salvador..." http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1384/74/

In my post titled, "El Futbal es Asi-That's Life" I briefly discussed amputee football in El Salvador. Jim Loudon, a former amputee soccer player who joined Team USA in 1998, played in four international tournaments until U.S. amputee football ended after the 2001 tournament in Brazil. Jim offered me valuable commentary and history on amputee football, which I will share here, in full:

This is the information I have concerning the background of the stamp [mentioned in my previous blog entry as a comment]. It is from a larger piece entitled "History of Amputee Football," by Jim Frere of England. Jim is an amputee himself and played briefly for England's amputee team before getting involved with a development position with the International Sports Organization for the Disabled, which has recently been absorbed by the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation.

Quoting Jim Frere:
"It was at this time [the early 1980s] that Bill Barry created Amputee Soccer International (the first ruling body of international amputee football). He also had access to international travel, so having completed the "local development" of the sport he set about international promotion and development - his first success being in El Salvador- where recent civil disturbances had left a large number of amputees, mainly young fit
ex-military personnel.

Mr. Barry also traveled into Eastern Europe in an attempt to introduce the game to anyone who would come out and watch - surprisingly in those days Russia declined to have anything to do with the sport as it was claimed that handicapped (disabled) people did not exist in that region!

Small international tournaments took place between USA, Canada and El Salvador - the matches being played 11-a-side on full-size pitches with full size goals - and it wasn't until 1987 that the dimensions of both the pitch and goals together with some rules were adapted in order to create the first independent version of "Amputee Football". It was during these early tournaments that a star was born, Jose Melgar Maravilla, nicknamed Rambo, who had an El Salvadorian postage stamp struck in his honour."

The image on which the stamp is based is here: http://i30.tinypic.com/2pt2mme.jpg
I believe El Salvador's last international appearance was at the 1991 Amputee Football World Cup in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. I mentioned your blog posting to someone who I knew had played for the USA at that tournament. This was his reply:

"Yes we have quite a history with El Salvador. We beat them in Tashkent (about 1990). A couple of the players (Rambo and Oscar and Juan) stayed with Dee [Malchow] in Seattle. Dee also went down for a visit and met some player families. El Salvador was the first foreign team (except Canada) Bill Berry did significant work with."

Dee Malchow is an interesting character in her own right. I believe she is one of the few women amputee soccer players ever to compete at the international level. More recently, she has been instrumental in introducing the game to Africa. There are now teams in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Angola, Nigeria, and Ghana.

For more information about amputee soccer 2007 news, see http://www.loudon.org/soccer.

I woke up this morning feeling refreshed. An afternoon of exploring volcanoes around San Salvador and an evening of rain pounding on the tin roof revived my spirits for the new work-week.

As I sat down this morning to read La Prensa, happily slurping my turkish coffee and listening to our resident parrot screech "Buenos dias! Buenos dias!", I came upon an article on the front page of the 'Nation' section: "Explosion hurts four children in Chalatenango"; Joseline S. lost her foot when she touched a device that she found. June 30, 2008: http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20080630/nacion/. And suddenly, my appetite was gone and my spirits unnerved.

Just last week the government claimed that only 4.1% of the population was living with a disability. Since 1994, the government has claimed that El Salvador is 'mine-free." So far, these 'claims' are not adding up.

The sidebar in the paper reads as follows: Tragedy. Four young people were made disabled from the explosion of a device that is suspected to be a mine inherited from the armed conflict in the past. The families of the victims were assured that agents of the PNC in Chalatenango had gone to review the zone, but in the afternoon the police officers admitted that they didn't know of the tragedy, due to a change of shifts.

It's not that I'm shocked. Well, actually, I am. Apparently, this is a routine occurrence in the country. It shows up in the papers, right in between the advertisements for cell phone companies plastered over every page of the newspaper (and every storefront that even thought of selling a tigo or a claro card)and the machinations of the political parties. When I cut out the article and showed it to my co-workers, they were saddened, but unsurprised. Apparently in parts of Chalatenango in the North and Morazan in the East, among other departments, I'm sure, these 'accidents' occur frequently. As the article mentions, the OAE (La Organizacion de los Estados Americanos) named El Salvador mine free in 1994, only two years after ending the twelve year civil war.

In summation, then, it is understood that only two years after the war, El Salvador is 'mine-free' and sixteen years later, there are only (approximately) 235,000 of approximately 6,000,000 people left disabled from the war, motor accidents, and diabetes, among other disabling circumstances and accidents. I repeat: the statistics and claims are not adding up.

The Permanent Table of the Attorney’s Office of the Defense of Human Rights in El Salvador Publicly Decries the 2008 Census Results

_____________________________________________________________

EL SALVADOR (June 25, 2008) – Eleven of the more than twenty-five organizations and persons that make up the Permanent Table of the Attorney’s Office of the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH) gathered today at a press conference in the PDDH Offices to demand the development of a Specific National Survey of Population of People with Disabilities. Jesus Martinez, Director of the Landmine Survivors Network and acting member of the PDDH, and others assembled in order to counter the inaccurate results of the Sixth Public Population Census regarding the number of individuals with a disability in El Salvador.

“We are extremely uncomfortable with the results of this 2008 Census…It should include accurate and trustworthy statistics about all of the individuals with a disability living in this country.”

(see video for visuals)

The Sixth Public Census results show that only 4.1% of the 5,744,113 inhabitants of El Salvador, or 235,302 individuals, are living with a disability. The PDDH says that the number of people with disabilities in El Salvador is 10% of the population or higher. The Office demands the development of a specific National Population Survey of People with Disabilities designed to include full participation of the different sectors and institutions that deal with disability issues.

“The final information obtained suffers from strong limitations, ambiguities and omissions, characteristics that contribute to deepening the exclusive forms, margins, and invisibility of people with disabilities.” According to PDDH, the lack of reliable statistics of the 2008 Census will negatively impact the formulation of public political inclusion, budgetary allocations, and national organizations such as the Consejo Nacional de Atencion Integral a las Personas con Discapacidad (CONAIPD), the Instituto Salvadoreno de Rehabilitacion (ISRI), and the different Ministries that are attending to disability issues in El Salvador.

The PDDH links the inaccuracy of the 2008 Census with the deficient results of the 2007 Fifth House Census: “the results today presented serious differences with the estimates that have already came out in studies of important institutions that approach disability from different approaches.” On May 21st, 2007, in a Public Announcement by the Permanent Table, the PDDH members brought attention to a series of elements that were incomplete in the 2007 House Census to the treatment of the situation of people with disabilities: “… it [the Census] did not include people, organizations or institutions of a large trajectory in the defense of human rights of people with disabilities, on whom the experience is based…the Census is fundamental for the life of the Nation… and it is beginning to fill up the space of statistical information that has historically characterized El Salvador.”

In 2008, El Salvador ratified the International Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The recent entry into force of the Convention signifies the national and international legal obligations that should fulfill the El Salvadoran State. According to PDDH, the 2008 Census is not fulfilling the Articles of the Convention.

About the Permanent Table of the Attorney’s Office for the Defense of Human Rights (la Mesa Permanente de la Procuraduría para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (PDDH))

The Permanent Table of the Attorney’s Office of the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH) strives to protect and promote the human rights of all people in El Salvador. For more information about the PDDH, please visit www.pddh.gob.sv.

About the Landmine Survivors Network (LSN)

The Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) is the first international organization created by and for survivors. LSN links landmine survivors to healthcare and rehabilitation services, provides social and economic reintegration programs, and works to ban landmines around the world. LSN-El Salvador is a member of the PDDH and a leader in the disability rights movement in El Salvador. For a complete listing of all LSN programs and field offices or to learn more about LSN, visit http://www.landminesurvivors.org.

Contact:
Larissa Hotra, LSN Peace Fellow
lhotra@gmail.com

It took a lost (or stolen) credit card, three robberies, an unrequited love fixation-thing, 33 mosquito and otherworldly insect bites, a fake radio stint, super Spanish-English scrabbling, the majority of the Euro Cup, a homemade TLC waterfalls video, a healthy midnight karaoke shift, a humbling piece of unsweetened apple pie, and three weeks for me to be able to write freely, willingly, and contentedly.

Lord knows what experiences it would take for me a write a novel (fiction or non).

Hmm…maybe I should start experiencin’ tomorrow then.

But today, I’m ready. I’m here, now, and in the moment. More than ever, El Salvador, El Sal, Salvador, The Saviour is starting to sink in. Subtle Sal. I’m not sure what it is about this place, but it’s got some sort of magic to it. Well, rather, I do know what it is. It’s the distracting dichotomy of this country. Simultaneously stressful but subtle.
___________
Both beautiful
and
terribly ugly.
___________________

Impressionable, yet easily forgotten.

___________________

Stormy violence and heavy rains, although the weathered people call for sunshine.

_______________________________________________________________________
Minimum wage in the service sector of $.80/hour; gas prices increasing upwards of $4.55/gallon; bus fare hike $.20/one way.
________________________________________________________________________

Cost of a bean and cheese pupusa in 2005: 35 cents; cost of the same pupusa in 2008: 35-65 cents; Cost of a pupusa in 2011…

Murderous. Malicious. Malignant. and

oft Mistaken.
___________________________

Such is the ying and yang of El Salvador. For a country of numerous volcanoes, ~6 million people and only ~21,000 square kilometers, it is strikingly subterranean. I started my time here residing in the “Happy Hotel”, savoring the surprisingly cool climate and my daily breakfast ‘tipico’ of refried beans, tortillas, platanos and queso molado. I have also happily returned to my monkey roots, eating a minimum of two bananas/day-just like in high school.

My office is a mature mango’s throw from my new apartment, which is a green mango’s throw from an enormous shopping center, which is a red mango’s throw from a park full of life-sized 1920’s cartoon characters.

(For the record, I am allergic to mangoes. I tested it again last week, to my own detriment).

Perhaps you are wondering about the robberies, the love-fixation thing, and the pie mentioned so slyly above. I will get to those three—bear with me. As I have been (re) learning, patience pays off. But if you are waiting to hear about the TLC “Don’t Go Chasin Waterfalls” video, you will be waiting for a long time.

Life here is not, as the Guanacos say, tranquilo, tranquilo. Calm, calm. That is, life in El Salvador as a blond hair, blue-eyed American gringa is not exactly calm, calm. Nor is, as far as I can tell, life as a dark-skinned, hardworking National. Semantics here, on the surface, go a long way in disguising what is not being said. What they say about the people here—that they are incredibly warm, generous, and helpful—is absolutely true. . Every day I am greeted with a “Buenos, Buenos dias” (Good morning/day/afternoon). What is not being said, though it is written in indelible black ink on the national facade—the amputated arms and legs, the loss of half of one’s family in the war, and the daily violence and struggle for survival for many people—is also absolutely true.

Since being here, I’ve been feeling the subtle stress of the city and a conflicting double dose of both love and fear. When I first arrived, I was told not to leave the house after dark and I was not to go anywhere alone, for my own safety’s sake; I was barraged by news in the paper about gang violence and murder; I was forewarned never to carry more than $20, dispersed in all of my pockets. My roommate was robbed within two days of being here and my office was broken into over this weekend. The Pacific Ocean stole my sunglasses. I have now grown eyes in the back of and on top of my head.

And then today, the service-woman, Maria, in my office gave me a piece of pie.

While we waited outside the office for the police to finish their investigation of the robbery, I found out that Maria makes about $6.40/day. She told me matter-of-factly. Because it’s reality, and because we’re friends. I slip her milk chocolates and perform silly antics in the office, and she walks me every day to the Argentina café to buy my usual $1.50 lunch of rice, steamed veggies, and the special of the day. Maria, by the way, never buys anything.

And today, I came into the office—after the repairmen attempted to fix the mangled barbed wire fence and broken barred window—and Maria cornered me in the kitchen, shoving a white paper bag into my hand. “What is this?” I ask, confused. “It’s bread,” she answers. I peek inside and realize it’s a substantial piece of apple pie. “Wow,” I say, “what is this? Is this for me?”

“Yes, it’s for you, “ she answers, with a gleam in her eye.

“Maria, that’s so nice! But, why? You shouldn’t have. Really. You are spoiling me!” I scold her.

“Love. Because I love,” she responds, a smile playing on her lips.

That piece of unsweetened apple pie probably cost Maria $1.00— more than what she makes an hour. It is surely, unequivocably the sweetest piece of pie I’ve ever eaten.

Earlier today, I was retelling one of my co-workers about this past weekend I spent in Juayua chasing waterfalls and searching for hot springs on someone’s farm. He offered to take me to his nephew’s farm sometime, if I liked, to find more hot springs and relax in the fresh mountain air. I heartily agreed, and asked about the rest of his family. That is, the family that is left. Of his immediate family, only 6/12 of his siblings and his mother survived the war. As he noted, he was “lucky enough” to only lose half of his arm, “thanks be to god.”

Last week, at a small business and leadership training for survivors, I fell into conversation with one of the attendees, a man with one leg and a heart of (non-prosthetic) gold. He was telling me how life was difficult in the country-side, even for a hard-working man like himself. The bus prices were increasing, people were killing each other still, and staying mentally and physically healthy in a tumultuous world is not easy. And yet, he felt peace, “because there is no peace like that peace which is in your own heart.”

I rest my case. Love, apple pie, and faith in humanity are really beautiful things.

And now I sit here on my bed, staring out my window through the storm at the volcano to the south, the mountain to the north, and everything in between (especially the huge spider that’s crawling up the lemon tree outside my window). North, South, East, West—I suppose it doesn’t matter where you go, but how you go, why you go, and what you learn. Love is everywhere and evil lurks in dark corners. But even in the darkest if times, I believe one can find a glimmer of hope, a mountain of faith, and a piece of pie.

So far, I think I’m going in the right direction.

The last week has been extremely exciting in the office due to a race for $100,000.

LSN, along with 9 other organizations, has been selected as a finalist for 1 of 10 prizes for the award, "Ayudando a Quienes Ayudan 2008" (Helping Those Who Help Others) given by the Gloria Kriete Foundation every year: http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20080617/planbella/1081428.asp

The award is given to human rights organizations who are helping to address social issues in El Salvador. The grand total of the top three prizes is $225,000, awarded in the following denominations: (1) $100,000; (1) $75,000; (1) $50,000. The rest of the finalists will receive smaller denominations of $10,000. LSN has stated that it will use the prize money to promote its new mission as an autonomous organization, slated for January 2009: to work with survivors of armed conflict and people with disabilities, applying the methodology of equal support in order to better the quality of life in the health, economic opportunity, and human rights programs.

The final awards will be announced on July 17th, 2008 at a grand gala in El Salvador. I will keep you posted on the status as the date nears. Stay tuned!

"Ver es Creer": Seeing is Believing

The sun was beating down on us when we got off the bus in front of the women's jail in the Department of Ilopango. I took off my hat to fan myself, stunned at the throngs of people lined up at 9:00 a.m. for Sunday visitation hours. While I waited for Don Jesus, Director of LSN-ES, to take me to the Amputee Soccer practice half a mile away, the men, women, and families stood in lines snaked around the metal fence, waiting patiently to catch a glimpse of their loved ones. Apparently, this is a routine Sunday morning at the jail. While some families are attending church or relaxing at home with their families, other families have gotten up early to secure a good place in line. Most people are cradling packages, likely filled with homemade tortillas and sweet breads. I was tempted to take a photo, to document the jail that housed 300-400 women only 30 minutes outside the capital's center, but I hesitated. It just didn’t seem right to document this sober Sunday routine.

Don Jesus arrived a few minutes later and we headed towards the Air Force base, where the El Salvador Amputee team practices most Sundays under the scorching ball in the atmosphere. Although an obsessive futbal fan myself, I admittedly didn't envy the players practicing at high noon. An amputee himself, Don Jesus maneuvers through traffic like a skier skiing slalom. I always seem to be clutching whatever is next to me for my dear sweet life when riding in a moving vehicle here in El Sal. And then I look over, realizing that Don Jesus has no legs. And he's driving. And I don't know how he's braking.

?

I make a mental note to remind myself to ask him how he was using the brakes. I know, of course, that cars have special features to accommodate people with disabilities. But here in El Sal, where each driver acts like he/she is competing in the Indy 500, I hold high my expectations that each time we park safely I will live to see another day.

To the game, however, I came with no expectations. I have never seen an amputee futbal game before, and I left the game believing that anything is possible.

The Salvadoran Association of Amputee Football team consists of approximately 30 players—former guerrillas, soldiers, and civilians of El Salvador's bloody civil war. Guanacos, (slang for El Salvadorans), who formerly fought each other with machetes and machine guns all over the country were instead going to compete for victory on the futbal field, this time with a pair of specialty crutches and a single fubal. It is a post-war reunion, of sorts, on the cancha (futbal field) to
Just
Play
Ball.

As I see it, the Guanacos on the field had three major things in common: a violent past, amputations, and a timeless love for futbol, El Salvador's favorite national pastime.

Here is a video I made Sunday on the 'art of stretching':

Rules
As I tried to follow the game, I realized that some of the rules
of the game are different. I will divulge a few…

Rule 1: In order to be on the team, you must be an amputee.
Rule 2: Outfielders may have two hands but only one foot.
Rule 3: Goalies may have two legs, but only one hand.
Rule 4: Tripping a player or his maletas (crutches) with your own maletas is a foul.
Rule 5: The game is played on metal crutches (wooden crutches are dangerous, due to splinters, etc.). According to the American Amputee Soccer Association website, http://www.ampsoccer.org/rules.htm, forearm crutches are the international standard.
Rule 6: Prostheses are not allowed on the field
Rule 7: Throw-ins are replaces by kick-ins.
Other Rules: Penalty kicks, and other rules apply as usual. Unfortunately, neither women with disabilities nor players missing both arms were playing on the team.

The Team is struggling
Formerly, LSN-ES has helped the El Salvadoran team to acquire uniforms and equipment, as well as travel to competitions. El Salvador is part of the World Amputee Football Federation (WAFF), http://www.worldamputeefootball.com/waff/international_contacts.htm, and Jesus Martinez, LSN Director, is noted as the contact for the WAFF contact list. However, as I found out from Señor Martinez on Sunday, the Salvadoran Association of Amputee Football team needs help. Although they continue to practice regularly, they are not able to travel to international and some national competitions, such as WAFF, due to lack of funding. They are also in need of promotion, as there isn't much publicity surrounding the team.

If anyone knows of an organization that supports people with disabilities and might be able to offer help (financially or with equipment), please let me know. It would be great to set this team up with one in the States--like a Sister-Cities initiative, but instead a "Soccer- Cities" initiative....

Soon I will be posting videos and pictures of the Amputee Futbol game I went to on Sunday. It was a training/pratice that would inspire even the most decidedly uninspired.

But for now, an unrelated video for the readers. I just can't resist. The turtle is my favorite; what's yours?

What would you do if you lost your leg due to a landmine explosion?

Your arm? Your sight or your hearing?

How would you not only 'get by', but thrive like you used to?

These are tough questions that LSN addresses every day in its work. Although declared mine-free in 1994, other de-mining organizations have found unidentified mine fields in various regions around the country.

LSN works in three main sectors: Health, Economic Reintegration, and Social Empowerment (Human Rights). As I begin Week Two with the Network, I have started digging deeper to understand the nuances of the work LSN is doing with survivors. Today’s topic? The health sector: hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and the politics that underlie it all.

A visit to the ISSS (Salvadoran Institute from the Social Security), a hospital in San Salvador, last Wednesday prompted me to begin thinking more about the process of attracting survivors to its health sector programming: How does LSN do it? What is the process, and what kind of support does the government offer to people with disabilities?

While driving around the city for the last week, it struck me that there are different hospitals for different illnesses. There is a specialty hospital for individuals suffering from tuberculosis; another for people suffering from lung problems; military hospitals that address the needs of the military; and another hospital(s) that services children. But what about hospitals that directly serve the needs of survivors of the war and other accidents?

As it turns out, these individuals are steered towards government-sponsored rehabilitation centers. The hospital is the first stop for those suffering from both war and non-war injuries. Those that need care from war-related disability go directly to the rehabilitations centers. You see, the general hospitals don’t have social, economic, or specialty amputation services for amputees. The LSN Health Sector objective is to improve survivors’ health related to quality of life in the different health services facilities. Part of LSN’s work in the Health sector is to increase the referrals of amputee patients in the hospitals to these rehabilitation centers and to help support the implementation and maintenance of “Survivor Clubs” in the hospitals by building a support network of physical therapists, social workers, and psychiatrists.

The main problem is that these rehabilitation centers, though funded (poorly) by the government, are only located in the center of the country. Therefore, survivors of conflict and other disabilities that reside in the countryside are not able to access the services. Hence, the LSN Network works to support the accessibility of individuals, not just through the construction of infrastructure (accessible walkways and buildings), but general accessibility of services outside city center.

A blurb on the politics underlying disability rights follows this blog entry.

This upcoming week I will be attending sessions on the other two major sectors of LSN’s work: Economic Opportunity and Social Empowerment. Stay tuned.

In my own recent experience in the country, a few common themes have arisen through my daily reading of the El Salvadoran daily newspapers (La Prensa Grafica and El Diario De Hoy): 2009 El Salvador Election updates; rising gas prices (regular gasoline costs upwards of $4.50, while diesel is creeping past $5.00); murders, like yesterday’s discovery of a 12-year old girl strangled to death 50 meters from her home; coverage of the United States elections (predominantly the Obama and Hillary show); constant accidents from bridges built poorly; agriculture market fluctuation; and the ubiquitous poverty that halts the development of people who live in the country-side.

In lieu of the upcoming presidential elections in 2009, much of the street discourse revolves around the elections and the two major party candidates in the running: Mauricio Funes, FMLN candidate, and Rodrigo Avila, ARENA candidate and former head of the National Police Force in El Salvador, (Nationalist Republican Alliance—the leading political party). The polls suggest, however, that the left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN-a former revolutionary guerilla organization), which has outgrown ARENA in size, is the prime contender to win the 2009 elections. The political tension surrounding the elections is palpable and visceral. Wearing red signifies an allegiance to the FMLN and trees/garages/fences/buildings are painted the respective party colors of each municipality’s leaning.

One of my questions left unanswered is the following: Where do disability rights fit into the political platforms? The new El Salvador Disability Rights Law decrees that one of every 25 employees hired by private businesses be a person with disabilities. Will this be upheld and honored? Will more attention be paid to disabled individuals through public services, such as accessibility to prostheses and infrastructure accessibility outside of the capital?

It appears that much focus of the media and candidates is on the prescience of violence in and without the capital. Both parties—FMLN and ARENA—vow to combat drug trafficking and gang violence, if elected to the presidency, and both vow that secession of violence will have a positive impact on other aspects of daily life, such as affordable food, housing, and accessibility. However, in reading Tim's El Salvador blog (regarding political and otherworldy
goings-on in El Salvador, http://luterano.blogspot.com, the following excerpt from an attached article (The Australian newspaper “Green Left”) provides an interesting description of the politicization of gang violence in El Salvador. It suggests that violence, reminiscent of the recent civil war, is still being wielded for political gains:

“Authorities routinely attribute political murders to the gang crime prevalent in El Salvador, when in fact there is evidence that gangs are actually being used for political assassinations. It appears the right-wing forces, which were forced into a negotiated peace to end the civil war in 1992, are now reverting to their old tricks of intimidation and violence in a bid to hold onto power. It is imperative that the democratic gains associated with the peace accords are upheld. For the Salvadoran people, these gains came at the expense of many lives. This is an important time to build solidarity with El Salvador.”

It suffices to say that the gains in disability rights, through the UN Convention on Disability, which El Salvador ratified in 2007, and the new Disability Rights Law, are progressive steps forward for El Salvador. However, it remains to be seen what affect the 2009 elections will have on maintaining a forward approach.

An additional news piece that arose last week was the incendiary “Path to Peace Award” that was given to El Salvadoran President Tony Saca of ARENA: http://www.thepathtopeacefoundation.org/awards_pathtopeace.html. Many believe that El Salvador’s problems will not improve until Tony Saca is removed from his own power path and politicization of the country. Some view the presentation of the award as de-legitimizing El Salvador’s own ‘path to peace’. As one blog commentator wrote, “Maybe peace in this sense means backing away from restarting the civil war."

LSN’s work with conflict survivors reflects the ongoing effects of the twelve-year civil war, as well as the politics surrounding the struggle for disability rights in El Salvador. I will keep you updated as I learn more about the effects the elections will have for the survivors.

LSN has kept me extremely busy this week by taking me to sit in on organizing meetings, trainings, and visits to the homes of survivors. Although it's only been a week, I feel as if I have been there for years already. The events that I have viewed this week have opened my eyes to the extraordinary work that LSN is doing to protect and advance the rights of people with disabilities.

The Week's Recap: On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I accompanied 3/8 Outreach Workders (OWs) to their respective regions. This involves our driver, Oscar, ferrying us from meeting to meeting outside of San Salvador. To give you a better idea of the layout of EL Salvador, see the following map:
http://www.4elsalvador.com/images/mapa%20de%20el%20salvador%20.jpg. The map shows the departmental and zonal distinctions that divide the country.

This week, I have visited Ilobasco (in the Department of Cabanas, in the North), San Pablo Tacachico (in the Department of La Libertad-South), and a hospital in San Salvador. At the meetings, or 'reunions', as they are called, the OWs invite people with disabilities to come to the meeting to discuss their disability, how LSN might help them, and how they are able to help themselves. The type of disability-related injuries I viewed were numerous: motor accidents; amputations due to the civil war; diabetes; and malpractice, among others. The survivors are encouraged to invite other people with disabilities to the meetings as well. LSN, however, addresses the needs of individuals with physical disabilities, not mental disabilities.

The video here is a visit to the home of a survivor just outside Ilobasco:

I attended an all-day small business training on Friday in Tacachico, in the Department of La Libertad in the South. The training gave survivors the basics to either begin planning how to run a small business or to strengthen their current business; most attendees belonged in the second camp. I was amazed at just how attentive and interested the attendees were, leaning forward in their chairs in earnest to better understand how to produce a product; how to sell better produce; how to navigate the business of selling and marketing chickens for the holidays; and learning more sustainable ways to manage their farms (the majority of the attendees had businesses in agriculture or fishing, especially of Tilapia). The mantra repeated throughout the training was "anyone can run a successful business-you just need confidence, a positive attitude, and the right tools to do so." At the beginning of the training, the survivors were split into 3 groups of 3, and chose their own names: "The Survivors", "The Veterans" and "The Honest Ones."

I joined the team "Survivors" for the day and received my own diploma from LSN for completing the training. It was a momentous occasion. Now I have the tools to start planning my own agricola (agriculture) business...

It's Day 1, and I am refreshed after a ten-hour layover in the Panama Airport the evening before last. Today, at 8 am sharp an LSN employee arrives at the hotel to whisk me away to my new home and family (my new network) for the summer--LSN. I am quickly roused out of my breakfast slumber, seeing as it's already 8am, yet still digesting my breakfast 'tipico' (eggs, beans, cheese, and fresh cream) and pondering the (weather) report of the day: rain, politics of President Alberto Saco's 4th year in power (it began in 2004), rain, the TACA flight that crashed in Honduras and killed 3 (or so the papers say), rain, Sunday's 2008 El Salvador Football Champions, Team Firpo, and you guessed it-rain. For me, the rain seems refreshing. In my conversations with El Salvadorans, I frequently remark on the rain, both in polite conversation and honest opinion. It seems like a safe and healthy topic. I later find out that the rain in El Salvador symbolizes more than just a simple conversation...

Upon arrival at the office one minute later, I meet "The LSN Team". The Team consists of eight outreach workers (OWs) and a total of eighteen employees. Two minutes later I have met the outreach team and am staring at a map, trying to memorize the various regions around San Salvador where each outreach worker is employed. Three minutes later (slight exaggeration on the timeliness of everything) I am in a meeting, learning the ins and outs of LSN-ES: the new mission to address the needs of all survivors of conflict; the complexities of taking transport to reach all the survivors in far-away regions; the politics of the Disability Law in El Salvador; and the daily reporting that is necessary to document survivor visits, among many other topics. I understand the majority of what is being said, but probably every 20th word escapes my Spanish brain. Nonetheless, I am absolutely content to soak in both the magic and the mundane of the work that the organization does to help survivors.

After the meeting I am led to my own large office, the windows tinted black and reminiscent of a police investigation room. Before settling in, I walk to the kitchen, where Maria is making coffee. We indulge in simple conversation-back to the rain again-and I ask her if she likes it. Assuming she will say yes, I relax and revel in the cool mist that the shower brings. And then I see a dark cloud cross her face.

"No," she says. "So much rain is not good."

Surprised, I ask her to explain. "It is not good for the poor, and the people who have disabilities. It makes it very difficult for them to be healthy and move about." The shadow on her face lingered as I digested this novel concept. The lightning bolt of understanding shot across my brain as I realized that she was talking about the very people that LSN works to empower--the survivors--those people most affected by rain and misfortunes.

This led me to start thinking about the quickness with which we forget about the simple pleasures in life, like enjoying the pounding rain and being able to lift a box with two arms. It reminded me that we cannot forget the wars of the past and those in the present. For those who have lived through a civil war that has ended, it seems that the clouds may lift, but even a slight wind can bring them back.

I wanted to give you all some insight into the situation on the ground in El Salvador. The country is rife with direct and indirect consequences of the war. Armed security guards guard the entrances to most major buildings in the capital because of the explosive crime rate (El Salvador is ranked one of the most dangerous cities in the world). The President is a conservative member of ARENA, or the Nationalist Republican Alliance of El Salvador, who sent Salvadoran troops to aid the United States in the Iraq War. It is believed that ARENA aided in the death squads during the civil war.

I am quite tired...so much to digest. More to come.

I think that I may have found a soul mate. Or, one of them, for that matter. Why? Because I am beginning to believe that this fellowship with Survivor Corps-El Salvador (formerly the Landmine Survivors Network) was just meant to be. I would be remiss if I didn’t pay attention to the coincidences that Mapquest and Google Earth mapped out for me following the fellowship offer – and the fact that all of the directions point South- and share them with the readers of my blog…

In short, it all started with a love letter that I found on the street while going for a run in early March. I have saved it for just such an occasion. It is written in a bright green pen on a 5x7 sheet of lined paper, and literally reads as the following:
________________________________________________
Hola David (name changed for confidentiality),

Como estas Espero que Bien quiero decirte que tu me gustas y soy unas de tus almiradoras secreto tu me gusta. Y pues si me quieres conocer solo pone un papel escrito para ber a donde los bemos en el locker bye mi amor.

Cuidate mucho
Principe
TE AMO MI AMOR.

Mercedes
***(readers: there is a purple alien on the bottom right-hand side of the letter)

(Translation: Hello David. How are you I am well I want to tell you that I like you and am one of your secret admirers. And if you want to get to know me by myself put a note in my locker about where you want to see me bye my love.

Take care, I love you my love,
Mercedes.)
________________________________________________
The love letter not only reminded me to practice my Spanish, but inside of me it stirred a nostalgia for the beauty of simplicity, the basic human right to love, be, and do whatever you want, and the hilarity of pre-teen and teenage angst.

Soon thereafter, I received my fellowship offer to go to El Salvador to advocate on behalf of landmine survivors, and I knew it was love at first sight. However, I wasn’t sure just how long the beginning love would last, until I found out that my boss (brand new at the end of March) used to be on the LSN Board of Directors; and that I live in Mt. Pleasant, home to an extremely large El Salvadoran community, (and to one of my favorite El Salvadoran restaurants, Marlenas); and that the Mt. Pleasant fire that left over 200 people, mostly immigrant latinos, homeless had once housed my closest friend in graduate school and half of El Salvador; and that last Thursday at the DC United soccer game I reunited with an old friend from Chicago whose boss is ALSO (currently) on the LSN /Survivor Corps Board; and the fact that every person I talked to “knows somebody in El Salvador”; and the first place one of my closest friends, Hannah, traveled to in the new job she started with CARE in February was El Salvador; And that during a friend’s wedding, in discussing a bike ride organized by CISPES (The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) found out that the person I was talking to works with them; and the list seems to go on and on and on and on. But I will not bore you with the esoteric details of my “love life”/reasoning to go to El Salvador. Instead, I would like to use this blog as an opportunity to introduce you to Survivor Corps-ES: the people I will be working with, the issues I will be dealing with, and my thoughts on it all.

As some of you may know, I will have the opportunity to assist Survivor Corps-ES this summer in implementing an awareness campaign to educate and train institutions and the public on the Disability Rights Convention and the new Salvadoran Disability Rights Laws. I will also help the organization create a communications and media strategy, advance the organization’s advertising campaign, and help to create a website, among other initiatives. During my own time, I plan to conduct independent research on human rights abuses in El Salvador, the San Salvadoran/El Salvadoran perception of human rights abuses in their country and their role in decreasing violence, and the El Salvadoran meaning of ‘human rights.” The information I gather through my personal research will be used for an article to be published in the next academic year and/or outreach to human rights organizations through talks and presentations.

Soon, I will attempt to give you a more comprehensive background on the landmine situation in El Salvador. Here is a quick summary (per the Survivor Corps-LSN website, http://www.landminesurvivors.org/where_elsalvador.php): "When El Salvador’s twelve-year civil war ended in December 1992, an estimated 20,000 landmines were in the ground. The war left many people in the country disabled and in need of continuing medical, psychological/social care, and rehabilitation. People with disabilities are generally treated within the national health care system, although access to medical care and rehabilitation can be quite limited, particularly in rural villages and poor urban areas.

To date, more than 647 landmine survivors and amputees have been assisted by LSN-El Salvador Outreach Workers. Peer support includes home and hospital visits, employment training, small business training and advocacy and human rights training..."

Please feel free to add comments or opinions on my entries. For now, I thank you for taking the time to read and encourage you to stay tuned!