Monica’s Story

of 350 rMonica was born in 1978, as the civil war in El Salvador was brewing. In March of 1980, when she was two years old, the death squad, ORDEN, killed both of her parents (her father being Esperanza’s oldest son) . Her grandmother, Esperanza, raised her from then on.  Then, the death squads killed Esperanza’s second oldest son and his wife, then her husband.  Once the death squads visit  a family and kill one or more members, they will return and kill off the whole family.  So at that point, Esperanza, now with just 6 children left plus two orphaned granddaughters, decided they would have to run from the death squads. They ran for two years, day and night,  until 1982 when Esperanza’s 16 -year-old son starved to death. Because they were all swollen with malnutrition, Esperanza decided to flee to Honduras where she and her children were taken in by the Mesa Grande Refugee Camp. The family stayed there until August 1988 when they returned to El Salvador with 2,000 others. Their group of 350 people was sent to the bombed-out village of Teosinte, located in the northern mountains of Chalatenango province.  The photo above left is of Monica with a fellow teacher at the school where she presently teaches.

In April of 1989, when the community of Teosinte started its school,  Monica was one of the first teachers, at age 13.  The teachers taught preschool through second grade in the morning and went to third grade themselves in the afternoon. Every weekend, the teachers and principal studied to increase their education to offer more and more grades.

Monica attended high school and then university with support from our scholarship program and earned her teaching credential from the University of El Salvador. Her first teaching position after graduation was in Los Naranjos, a remote village near El Salvador’s northern border with Honduras. She eventually became the principal of that school. Then, a few years ago, she landed an elementary school teaching position in a village near Teosinte, which is a great blessing, as she can come home every day.  The photo center left is Monica with her extended family.

Monica is a single mom, with her daughter, Sofia. She saved enough money for a down payment, then took out a small mortgage so she could have a beautiful house built, replete with a modern kitchen and indoor bathroom, with running water, three bedrooms, and a living and dining room area. The house has beautiful tile floors. Monica supports her daughter and her grandmother. Her salary is adequate for her to pay for Sofia’s university education. Sofia is studying architecture at the University of El Salvador.  The photo lower right is the beautiful house Monica had built in Teosinte for herself,  her daughter and Esperanza to live.