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Welcome to El Alfarero, El Salvador

 

About El Alfarero Area Development Program, El Salvador

The El Alfarero project is located two hours away from the capital city of San Salvador, El Salvador. Its community has Lenca indigenous people and pre-Columbian origins. The main industries are pottery and dairy products. Its main agriculture areas consist of basic grains, coffee, pork, cattle and poultry farms.

World Vision El Salvador started operations in October 2003 through El Alfarero Area Development Project. The project currently benefits more than 4,400 children in 39 communities of the area.

  

   
El Salvador
 
Progress In El Alfarero
The El Alfarero ADP was started in 2004 and currently serves approximately 3,700 children, along with their families and community.

Recent accomplishments include:
Education
  • Distributing school supplies to over 3,100 students, providing necessary learning tools.
  • Constructing classrooms, enhancing the learning environment.
Health
  • Immunizing more than 2,700 children, protecting them from disease.
  • Providing medical check-ups for over 1,200 children, helping to ensure good health.
Food and Agriculture
  • Distributing silos to people to store grains, improving food security.
Water and Sanitation
  • Building toilets, improving sanitation.
Economic Development
  • Training small business owners on general business topics, building skills to grow their businesses and generate more income.
Spiritual Nurture
  • Delivering educational materials to Bible schools, improving the quality of education.

El Salvador and its people

Located on the Pacific Coast of Central America between Guatemala and Honduras, El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. Known as the “land of volcanoes,” it experiences frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity.

Natural resources include hydropower, geothermal power, petroleum, and arable land.

Approximately 90 percent of the people are mestizo—of mixed Spanish and Native Indian descent. Spanish is the country’s official language.

Salvadorians are industrious people. Even those who are unemployed or live in dire poverty work hard to provide food, clothing, and other essentials for their families. Around 60 percent of people are employed in service occupations while 20 percent of adults are engaged in farming.

Agricultural products include coffee, sugar, rice, beans, cotton, shrimp, beef, and dairy goods.

Challenges in El Salvador

The economy depends on agriculture, relying on coffee for at least one-half of its exports. A rising tide of violent crime has negatively affected the country’s economy. El Salvador has the highest murder rate in the world, as well as a high incidence of child abuse—70 percent of children indicate they have been mistreated in their homes. Medical care for victims, restoration of material damages caused by crime, and protection of property have drained a large portion of federal resources.

At least four out of every 10 people live in poverty, and about half of all children and adolescents are poor. This severely limits their access to adequate nutrition, sanitation, and clean water.

More than 35 percent of the population live below the poverty line, and more than 40 percent live on less than $2 a day. Seventy percent of children aged 16 and 17 do not have access to secondary education.

Through sponsorship, World Vision is partnering with families and communities to help meet immediate needs and promote lasting changes that will strengthen communities and move families toward self-reliance.