El Salvador research update

I have completed my research for my Kiva essay for English. I started with no idea where I wanted to go with my Kiva candidate but I was finally able to select a candidate. After that, I had no idea where I wanted to go with my research. I knew I had picked Maria for my Kiva loan because she wanted to give her children an education so they could be professionals and have better lives. So, I started my research with education statistics in El Salvador. According to USAID.Gov:

"only about 50 percent of youth attend early secondary school (7-9th grades), and only half of these go on to complete high school.  There are over 300,000 youth aged 15 to 24 that neither study nor work.  El Salvador has the highest homicide rate in the world of youth under the age of 19."

Once I read those statistics, I assumed most of the kids that don't go to school are the kids that end up having to work to help out the family. My chosen candidate only made it to 3rd grade because her parents couldn't afford to continue her education. That's why I was impressed with Maria wanting to expand her business and provide a better future for her children. I was also blown away y the fact that El Salvador has such a high homicide rate and I started looking more in to that statistic and found a lot of the reason was because the kids that grow up in poverty want better things, faster, and they see crime as a way to get what they want. They also look for acceptance and a family, which is why a lot of kids join the gangs. I started looking at gangs and some of the reasons people believe they exist and what can be done to stop them. One of the continuing themes of what people were saying was that the youth of El Salvador need more education and opportunity to keep them off the streets and out of gangs. This is the stance I decided to take for my Kiva essay because it all goes back to Maria wanting to expand her business to give her children an education so they can have better lives. Not only will giving them an education give them a chance to break the cycle of poverty for their family, but it will also help to keep them off the streets and out of gangs. That's why I feel that education is very important for all kids, but especially the kids in El Salvador.

My research progress

When I started my research for my essay, I was having trouble with the argument I wanted to make for my chosen candidate. I knew I wanted to help my chosen candidate because she was a single mother and wanted the loan to help her small business, which would help to keep her kids out of poverty and in school so they could have better lives. As I did my research, I began to realize that keeping kids in school is very important in El Salvador because, according to Donna DeCesare in her report, "The Children of War: Street Gangs in El Salvadaor," 40% of children in El Salvador go to school and 29% work, which leaves 31% of children's time unknown. If we could get the other 31% in school, it will help keep them away from gang activity. Education is also important for kids' future because it can also work towards ending the cycle of poverty for these families. As Howard Cotto, assistant national police chief and a former guerrilla commander said in an article titled, "As Gang Violence Sweeps El Salvador, Rumor Has It That Only Gangsters' Girlfriends Can Be Blondes," written by Alberto Arce for The World Post, "nothing will change unless the country addresses problems of poverty and a lack of opportunity for young people." Education and lack of opportunity is what needs to be focused on to help keep kids out of gangs, but it all does begin with the poverty they experience at home. Helping the parents who want better lives for their kids and who want their kids in school is where the action needs to start. As El Salvador's Child Protection Agency director, Zaira Navas said in an article for CBS News titled, "In El Salvador, Kids Seek Refuge from the Violence," by Manuel Bojorquez, "we need to attach out economic problems and invest in our communities," It all begins with helping the families that want better futures for the kids, like my chosen Kiva candidate, Maria Magdalena. https://www.kiva.org/lend/1025132

Beautiful skyline phone of El Sunzal, El Salvador. Image courtesy of Travel @ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/centralamericaandcaribbean/7479289/El-Salvador-a-guide-for-beginners.html