Abstract: I was born and raised in El Salvador during a Civil War which ended with the signing of a peace treaty when I was ten years old. The historical events that I witnessed have molded me into the person I am now: a lover of politics and development and a believer in freedom, liberty, peace, and acceptance.
Target Audience: Readers of my personal political blog, as an introduction to the author.
Key Words: childhood, civil war, El Salvador, experiences, peace, war, Raquel, Orellana
I was born in San Salvador, El Salvador to a patriotic family who decided to stay in the country despite the hardships brought about by the Civil War that had begun two years before my birth and that would last ten more. Many of my kindergarten friends and their families fled elsewhere, to countries where dinner conversations were about class fieldtrips, office meetings, and soccer games, rather than about emergency kits, bullet shell collections, and political decisions.
San Salvador was the geographic location of my birth; in terms of socio-economic context, I was blessed to be born to a family with enough resources to live in one of the safer areas of town, to give me the best protection considering the circumstances, to provide me with a good education, and to shelter me from much of the horrifying realities of the country. However, as hard as my parents tried, they weren’t able to protect me from it all.
Having been born and raised during a civil conflict, in which guerilla groups were fighting the government, in which citizens were permanently carrying their guns, in which many fellow nationals lost their lives or their family members, marked me significantly and has shaped me into who I am now. I wouldn’t say I was severely traumatized by my childhood environment, but it certainly influenced my interests, my values, and my decisions. Furthermore, witnessing the peace agreement process at an age of ten, and the subsequent process of reconciliation (which is still ongoing), taught me lessons that I now use to guide my daily actions.
I’m good with numbers; perhaps I would have become interested in pursuing a finance career or a career in accounting. However, my surroundings growing up, the fact that my father was involved in politics, and the loud noises that made it hard to fall asleep during so many nights, have infused in me a love for politics, development, and communications as a means to make a difference in the two former.
Had the situation been different when I was young, or had my family decided to move away, my values would probably be similar to the ones I have now, but they would certainly not have been as firmly rooted and would likely be prioritized differently. My experiences accentuated the value I attribute to freedom, liberty, peace, and acceptance. They have increased my gratitude, brought to light the importance of solidarity and reconciliation, and have given me a clear understanding of the meaning of resilience.
Considering the extent of globalization and professional mobility in the world today, had I been raised in a different environment, I would probably be living and working somewhere geographically distant from home. However, having seen all the hardships that my country went through and how it has slowly been able to recuperate, I decided to return to live and work in El Salvador after I finished my undergraduate education in the United States. Living through the war, gave me a sense of patriotism that pulls me back home. Whatever I choose to do next and wherever I opt to go, I’m sure the love I have for my country will always influence my decisions.
It is impossible to know what, where, and whom I would have been had I grown up elsewhere. What I do know is that spending my childhood in San Salvador marked me in a way that will last for the rest of my life.
