Capital: San Salvador
Area: 21,041 km²
Population: 6.8 million (July 2006)
Ethnic groups:mestizos, Amerindians and a minority of European descent
Official language(s): Spanish
Religion(s): Roman Catholic, Protestant
Currency: 1 Salvadorian colón = 100 centavos
SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
Whilst working in Honduras, Father Flavián Mucci learned about SOS Children's Villages and was impressed by their concept for long-term care. When the Franciscan order sent him to El Salvador in the early 1970's, he got in touch with Hermann Gmeiner with a view to putting the SOS Children's Village idea into practice in El Salvador. A group of highly committed people had got together in Sonsonate, a small town around 60 kilometres west of the capital, San Salvador, to help the needy children in the area. The first children were already able to move into the security of a family in SOS Children's Village Sonsonate in April 1972.
The extreme social differences between rich and poor in the country, as well as the ever-present threat of natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, had left their mark on Salvadorian society. During the 1980's the people suffered from the evils of the civil war, which cost 75,000 people their lives. The worst hit were those living in the country. The number of orphaned and abandoned children continued to rise as a result of the years of troubles. Therefore, SOS Children's Villages decided to build more SOS Children's Villages and additional facilities. SOS Children's Villages provided a great service to single-mothers and families with a lot of children by setting up SOS Social Centres with child day-care facilities.
Hurricane "Mitch" destroyed large parts of the country in October 1998 and resulted in flooding in the east of the country. SOS Children's Villages International set up an SOS Emergency Relief Programme whereby they provided 2,000 families with food and medicines until the end of November 1998. 100 children who had lost their families were also temporarily accommodated in emergency shelters.
In 2005 SOS Children’s Villages started to operate Family Strengthening Programmes, which enable children who are at risk of losing the care of their family to grow within a caring family environment. To achieve this, SOS Children’s Villages works directly with families and communities to empower them to effectively protect and care for their children, in cooperation with local authorities and other service providers.
At present there are in El Salvador five SOS Children's Villages, four SOS Youth Facilities, one SOS Vocational Training Centre as well as six SOS Social Centres.
Contact: Website of Aldeas Infantiles SOS El Salvador(available in Spanish)