Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
much to disperse were being buried under the garbage. About thirty people gathered. Our
guide said they were waiting for the guard to leave. I couldn't believe him. Then the guard
left, and all thirty scavengers broke into a run and dashed into the best part of the dump.
The smell was sweet and sickening.
Overwhelmed by the uncomfortable realities I was confronted with, I retreated to a
strip mall in a wealthy part of town. I was just settling into a nice, peaceful, comforting
latte, like I get each morning back home, when a US military helicopter surged over the
horizon. It hovered above for a moment and then clumsily landed. A jolly Santa Claus
hopped out to the delight of the children wealthy enough to have moms shopping here.
Looking at those kids and thinking of their dump-dwelling cousins, I realized that,
even if you're motivated only by greed, if you know what's good for you, you don't want
to be filthy rich in a desperately poor world.
Feeling the breeze of the chopper as Santa climbed back in and it flew away, I took
another sip of the drink I just paid half a day's local wages for. Pulling out my little note-
book, I added a few more observations, and continued my education.
Our Salvadoran hosts gave us a history lesson unlike any I got in school. In 1524, the
Spaniards arrived in El Salvador. They killed the indigenous people, burned villages, and
named the place “The Savior” after Christ. Enslaving the locals—branding them with hot
irons like cattle—those first conquistadors established a persistent pattern. Fields of local
staples were replaced by more profitable cash crops (indigo, then coffee), as locals were
repeatedly displaced from desirable farmland. Rebellion after rebellion was put down as
the land was Christianized. Making religion the opiate of the masses, the priests preached,
“Don't question authority. Heaven awaits those who suffer quietly.”
