What Life Is Like In Poor Areas Of EL Salvador
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America. Located between Guatemala and Honduras, it possesses 21,041 square kilometers (about the size of Massachusetts) and is tropical, with an average temperature of 30° to 35°C (80°to 95°F). The land is mostly mountains covered with tropical rainforest, with its highest peak being El Pital at 8,957 feet.
San Salvador, the capital city, is 2,162 feet above sea level. This small Central American country is divided into 14 departments: Ahuachapan, Cabanas, Chalatenango, Cuscatlan, La Libertad, La Paz, La Union, Morazan, San Miguel, San Salvador, San Vicente, Santa Ana, Sonsonate and Usulutan.
Since achieving its independence on September 15, 1821, El Salvador has been a homogeneous mix of the descendants of European conquerors and the native people, with a mestizo population representing 86.3 percent, white 12.7 percent, and Amerindian 0.2 percent. The population estimate is 6,187,271 (July 2018).
The official language spoken is Spanish, with a few Salvadorans still sharing the Mayan Nahuatl language to keep alive the tradition and the historic value of the language.
Due to the homogeneous composition of the Salvadoran society in terms of culture, language and ethnicity, it is usually divided into three regions — east, west and central — but all three regions consist of temperate and warm lands, and most vegetation is tropical jungle, except for the northern parts of all three areas, which are more mountain-like with pine forests.
All three areas have main urban cities, such as Sonsonate and Santa Ana in the west, San Salvador in the center, and San Miguel in the east. Surrounding these main metropolitan areas are smaller towns and villages, which also are surrounded by states or homesteads (small groups of houses in a rural environment).
According to the World Fact Book, the rural population in the country represents 27%. The western region is made of the departments of Santa Ana, Ahuachapán and Sonsonate. The central region owns La Libertad, San Salvador, Chalatenango, Cabañas, La Paz, San Vicente and Cuscatlán, and the eastern region holds Usulután, San Miguel, Morazán y La Unión.
Typical Ruler Home
In rural areas, homes are “mixed” construction. Most houses are made of mud or adobe bricks. Many times the structure is reinforced with pieces of wood as columns on the corners, and the roof is usually straw or aluminum if the family manages to get used aluminum sheets.
The constructions are usually a square of about 20 feet by 20 feet, and sometimes they make a division in the middle to get two bedrooms or a bedroom and a living area. This is not always the case, since if needed, there is no living room area and people reunite on the outside of the home. Lack of a sewage system is usual, so pit latrines are common.
According to the World Fact Book, the urban populace represents 72.7 percent of the people, the largest areas being the San Salvador Metropolitan area, and the cities of San Miguel, San Vicente (east), Santa Ana, and Sonsonate (west).
In urban settings, the typical materials are bricks and cement. However, in the urban settings where our centers are located, there are two common methods of construction. The first is called “casa de pasaje” or alleyway houses. These are the houses for low-income families. They are small, about 480 square feet, and the rest considered a patio or open area.
Half the space is considered the living room/dining room/ kitchen. The other half accounts for the two bedrooms and a bathroom. These types of homes have only one floor, and are inexpensive to build, since two houses share just one, thin brick wall, which divides them.
The other type of house setting for our children living in urban areas is slums. In El Salvador, these are called “zonas marginales,” or excluded zones. In this type of setting, most houses are huts made of aluminum sheets, plastic, and cardboard.