What Is in This Book Leaving El Salvador 4 My Homeland El Salvador 6 Benito’s Story My Life in El Salvador 8 The Conflict in El Salvador 10 Benito’s Story The Gangs Move In 12 Why People Flee 14 Benito’s Story Decision Time 16 On the Run 18 Benito’s Story Running for Our Lives 20 Where Do Refugees Go 22 Benito’s Story Starting Over 24 Challenges Refugees Face 26 You Can Help 28 Glossary 30 Learning More 31 Index and About the Author 32
Leaving El Salvador Many people in El Salvador suffer from poverty and lack of jobs Half of the country’s population lives in the countryside Their homes have no electricity or running water In the capital city of San Salvador wealthy people live in clean modern houses In 1980 the inequality between the wealthy and the poor caused a civil war It lasted until 1992 Thousands fled to escape the violence Many Salvadorans or people from El Salvador fled to the United States Others joined gangs Gangs are organized groups of criminals They spread violence and take part in illegal activities Mexico Central America Belize Guatemala Honduras El Salvador Nicaragua Caribbean Sea El Salvador is in Central America It is the smallest of the seven countries there Costa Rica Panama More than 1 million people live in El Salvador’s capital city San Salvador 4 Pacific Ocean Colombia
UN Rights of the Child Every child has rights Rights are privileges and freedoms that are protected by law Refugees have the right to special protection and help The United Nations UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a document that lists the rights of children all over the world Think about these rights as you read this book After the war ended those who had fled were excited to return home But the country soon faced new problems Gang violence in El Salvador did not go away Crime violence and killings continued even after the war As the police tried to remove the gangs the violence grew worse Many innocent people were killed Thousands fled their homes to escape Some live as internally displaced persons IDPs IDPs are people who have been forced to live somewhere else in their country Many more became refugees Refugees are people who flee their homeland because of war and other unsafe conditions Refugees are different from immigrants Immigrants choose to leave to look for better opportunities in another country 5 El Salvador has a population of more than 6 5 million people There are few jobs available in the country These men make a living by fishing for lobster
