My journey as a SalviYorker

Abstract

I am a daughter of the war. I was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, in 1975. Four years later, a coup d’etat overthrew an authoritarian government and soon the country found itself on the brink of a civil war that lasted more than a decade. For me, that meant a childhood without regular things like outdoor fun, nice clothes, or expensive toys. Every day, my parents fought for my siblings and I to have everything we needed, especially a good education. Although we lived in the capital city and the confrontation between the military and the guerrillas was in the countryside, we were afraid. However, we were very fortunate to survive the challenges--not only those of the war--, but also those of violent earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters that took place during those years. All of that has made Salvadorans a strong and resilient people. But resilience is one of the reasons why we often don’t like to tell our stories. I do like to tell them though. I discovered this when I was in high school, while struggled with Mathematics and Chemistry. Fortunately for me, the Jesuit priests who taught us Literature and Writing motivated me to explore and fnd my inner voice. Shortly after I graduated in 1993 — a year after the signing of the Peace Accords, which ended the civil war — I was hired as an assistant to the editor at one of El Salvador’s largest circulation newspapers. After a year, I joined the newsroom without having studied journalism. It was very hard. But here I am, twenty-fve years later. Today, September 12, 2020, I have the opportunity to write these lines while waiting for the result of the International Latino Book Awards where my book SalviYorkers is a fnalist in two categories. The awards ceremony will be held online in Los Angeles for the frst time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless of the outcome, I consider myself a winner. Launching a book in 2020, having the possibility to present it to a wide variety of audiences, and selling copies during this unprecedented time is already a success.

Key words: Immigrants – New York – (United States) – Social conditions, Foreign workers, Immigrants – Comments Molina – Tamacas, Carmen 1975 – Personal stories, Literates – Social aspects

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11298/1224

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5377/koot.v1i13.14802