El Salvador

El Mozote

On December 11, 1981, all but one woman of the entire village of El Mozote in Morazan Department, El Salvador was massacred by Salvadorian government troops, including more than 130 children. Relatives and others from the surrounding community have created a memorial to those murdered in the massacre and painted a wall mural with colorful plaques for each of the children who lost their lives. When Diane McGehee visited El Mozote in March 2008, she discovered that plaques were still needed so that each child could have a plaque. Two years later, in March 2010, Diane McGehee visited the completed memorial where all of the remaining plaques are now in place - giving hope to the community.

Community Development Projects

For the past year, Together in Hope, in conversation with the Center for Child and Community Development at Southern Methodist University and local community leaders in El Salvador, has been exploring partnerships to create a better future for communities in post-war El Salvador. As a part of this process, Diane McGehee visited El Salvador in March 2010 to explore the development of two projects to address the education and economic needs of communities in San Salvador and northern El Salvador.

Mia Flores Community in San Salvador

Together in Hope is currently working to provide clean water and adequate school facilities to the Mia Flores community in San Salvador. People living in the Mia Flores community are squatting on abandoned land that overlooks the contaminated Lempa River in San Salvador. As a result, they have very little access to clean water and are exposed to serious health risks. Also, many students in the Mia Flores community are prevented from attending school because the only school in the community does not have adequate space. The Mia Flores School is in dire need of a larger facility to house the growing number of students. Together in Hope is aiming to raise an initial $50,000 to support access to clean water and larger school facilities in the Mia Flores community.

Perquin and Morazan Region in Northern El Salvador

The Perquin and Morazon regions located in the northern highlands of El Salvador have been ravaged by years of civil war, and the communities are still suffering from the aftermath of the conflict. Together in Hope is working with several communities in this region to establish a community center to provide education, health, employment, and counseling services to the people of this region.

To learn about how you can get involved in these projects in El Salvador, visit our Get Involved/Running Toward Hope page.