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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE August 27, 2007
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| May 7, 2007 |
Acajutla, El Salvador – Lost and Found: The Missing Children of El Salvador |
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| Peace Boat and Pro Busqueda gather in Guardila |
From about 1980 to 1992 many young children were taken to orphanages when families were separated during the Salvadoran civil war. Around 14,000 of these children were adopted without their parents' permission and taken out of the country during the 1980s. These adoptions amount to forced disappearances, a crime against humanity that affects both men and women all over the world in conflict regions. In El Salvador, this form of aggression was directed also towards children in this way. Peace Boat participants had an opportunity on 5 May to visit Pro Busqueda, an association searching for the missing children. |
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| Peace Boat participants with the people of Guardila |
The Peace Treaty signed in 1992 contained a clause stipulating a search for missing children and appropriate compensation. The Inter-American Human Rights Court has accused the El Salvadoran government of not doing anything to follow through on its promises. Pro Busqueda was founded on the basis of a heart-wrenching question from affected mothers and fathers: “Where is my son? Where is my daughter?” Many of these children were adopted overseas to places such as the United States, Canada and Europe, and know little of their biological family. Pro Busqueda in Spanish translates as ‘searching’ and is an association of Salvadoran families who have suffered – and continue to suffer – through the forced disappearance of their children. |
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| Rubia and her uncle meet for the first time |
As Peace Boat participants arrived in the town of Guardila, it seemed the whole town had gathered to greet them. After initial introductions, an important announcement was made. Rubia, a woman recently reunited with her mother after 25 years apart will meet her uncle for the first time. In an emotional embrace Rubia, along with her two daughters, shared this personal moment with participants. “Thank you Pro Busqueda for looking for my family, all my life I never had a family, now I have met them it’s made my life brighter and richer.” |
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| Francisca (right) talks about her experience of reuniting with her daughter |
Since its inception Pro Busqueda has successfully located 323 children. One woman who found her daughter in France was Francisca. In a moving testimony, the former child soldier told of how she temporarily left her daughter in the care of a neighbour for safety during the war, and on her return there was no trace of her friend or child. In February 2007 through the help of Pro Busqueda and Peace Boat, Francisca traveled to France to reunite with her daughter after 23 years of searching. “My daughter initially did not want to meet me because she was told I was dead. It took us three years to convince her to have a DNA test and only after it was proved that I was her mother did she agree to meet. The last time I saw her she was two months old, now she is a grown woman with a child of her own so I could meet my grandchild on the same day.” Francisca admitted the first meeting was far from what she had dreamed about for so long. “We can’t even speak the same language, so we need translators to help us communicate. I hope I can maintain contact with her and that one day she can travel to El Salvador and meet her biological family and know where she is from. To families still searching, all I can say is don’t give up.” |
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| A dance performed by a local youth dance troupe |
For the rest of the afternoon, participants enjoyed a modern dance performance by a local youth theater troupe and had a chance wander through the museum dedicated to Father Jon Cortina, the founder of Pro Busqueda. They also walked around the village of Guardila with local community members asking questions about each others lives, and shared a dinner of traditional El Salvadoran cuisine together. |
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| Participants at Father Jon Cortina’s Museum |
Tribute to Pro Busqueda founder, Father Jon Cortina.
Jon Cortina was born in Bilbao, Spain on 8 December 1934. As an adolescent, Jon joined the Jesuit Order and in September of 1955 at the age of 20 he arrived in El Salvador as Jesuit. In 1986, Father Jon Cortina, along with other religious groups joined efforts to repopulate the northeast sector of the town Chalatenango. While the civil war was at its peak and people were fleeing to neighboring countries, Father Cortina urged them to stay and help their countryfellows. He founded Pro Busqueda the same year with its head office in San Salvador, where his vision of reuniting families is carried out. Father Jon Cortina passed away on 12 December, 2005 in Guatemala City. His home has been turned into a museum and was opened in December 2006. |
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