Day 20: San Salvador, some more

Some new pics of San Salvador are up at http://picasaweb.google.com/ogoldberg.

Yesterday was an interesting day. We started things off by gong over to the office of Asociación Pro-Búsqueda de Niñas y Niños Desaparecidos. Pro-Búsqueda is a Salvadoran organization that seeks to reunite families affected by El Salvador's 1980–1992 civil war. We spoke with one of their investigators. There was a nice British girl who volunteered there and was able to do most of the translating so I didn´t have to. It was kind of a relief, as translating these interviews can sometimes be a bit straining for me.

They seem to be a really great organization. As of yesterday they had 779 cases of disappeared children registered with them, 316 of which had been found. Of those 316, 80 were found to be dead. They have managed to create family meetings with 180 of the found children. Beyond this we heard even more stories of government neglect. The government here seems to be motivated only by self-interest. Recently there was even a case of a government minister fleeing to France with $45 million, money which was intended to go towards a potable water program.

Afterward speaking with Pro-Búsqueda, we went to the University of Central America to speak with their Human Rights office. They told us a lot of interesting things about the current state of human rights in El Salvador (very bad).

Later on, we met some folks around campus and hung out for a bit, then went out for a drink with some friends.

Gotta run! more soon. don´t forget to check out that photos link.