El Salvador

Talk about being hit when you’re down. Just as this small nation on the Pacific coast of Central America was recovering from a brutal civil war, it was hit by a devastating hurricane. Three years later, they suffered two massive earthquakes; and in 2005, a volcanic eruption and flooding displaced almost 75,000 people.

Imagine the shock of this quintuple whammy on an area the size of Massachusetts. Then imagine how difficult recovery is when 40% of the population is living on less than $2 a day. Add in a worldwide price drop on your biggest export (coffee), and you have some idea of the kind of Olympic challenges these folks are hurdling.

LWR is here to give people the boost they need to implement great changes. We have many excellent partners in El Salvador who have helped us put effective programs in action.

Your support helps LWR break the cycle of poverty in El Salvador.

• Distributing relief supplies to families who have been displaced by floods following tropical storms
• Establishing and training community groups to implement risk reduction plans
• Practicing risk management methods such as evacuation plans with school children
• Making homes safer and cleaner by installing concrete floors
• Forming and equipping fire and rescue brigades

• Helping communities adapt to climate change and minimize the damage from natural hazards

• Boosting production of crops and income by providing technical training, for example, on producing homemade organic fertilizer or raising better livestock

• Providing business management training to farmers and local entrepreneurs
• Supporting the formation of farmer cooperatives or associations for processing harvests and marketing agricultural products

6,106,731
TOTAL POPULATION

$3,370
GNI* PER CAPITA

37.8%
AT OR BELOW POVERTY LINE

71 years
LIFE EXPECTANCY

76% (rural)
ACCESS TO IMPROVED WATER SOURCE

87%
ACCESS TO IMPROVED SANITATION