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Many thanks to Gretchen Haugse and Pastor Chris Manke of St Mathews Church in Wauwatosa and for this trip! 

I wrote this account to share:

• The support given to the poor people of El Salvador by the church, before, during, and after the civil war.
• The extraordinary story of Oscar Romero.
• The tragic role the United States played during the war.
• The current plight of the El Salvador people with the gangs, and that of the gang members themselves.
• The effect of our ongoing deportations.
• The effect of supporting the education of youth In El Salvador by people here.
• The story of Christian Chavarria and his transformation from a traumatized child to a guerilla, and then to a man committed to God and helping others and the church.
• Perhaps most importantly, I recognized the depth of faith among many in El Salvador.

A number of people have commented to me about the poverty in El Salvador.  I think the ongoing violence is a far greater issue.  The prospect of children being drawn into gang warfare and prostitution is heart breaking.

It's true that unemployment is bad; a job provides not just money but self respect and dignity.  But let's not pity people that do not have our wealth.  After all, our wealth does not buy us happiness.  The pursuit of money is more likely to have the opposite effect.

A month after returning I attended a town hall meeting where I asked my representative,  Jim Sensenbrenner, about the plight of the youth in El Salvador who are sometimes sent to the US by their parents to avoid being conscripted to serve as enforcers and prostitutes by the gangs.  I asked whether the US might grant them asylum.  Rep. Sensenbrenner's replied that the US supports the Salvadoran police monetarily (true), that the Salvadoran government must find the political will to fight the gangs, and hinted that corruption in the now FMLN (leftist) led government played a large part in tolerating the gangs.  There's plenty there to dispute / discuss, but clearly little help will given to the Salvadoran people by our government.

A wonderful essay about El Salvador called "Meeting the victims, falling in love"
http://americamagazine.org/content/all-things/meeting-victim-loving-poor