"Ten Cuidado" | "Be Careful"

With these words my wife, son and I depart for the hour-long drive from our hotel in Suchitoto to AFJA’s
home field in Los Amates.

Even among Salvadoran-Americans a fear of parts unknown remains. For my wife Sindy’s family, travel to Los Amates, nearly four hours from their hometown in Eastern El Salvador involves at least a small amount of risk. If for no other reason than the fact that we’re not from there. But Sindy and I have always tried to engage with El Salvador on our own terms, and despite the warnings we received, we depart happily and confidently toward Los Amates. It’s a beautiful Sunday
morning. The sun is shining and the tarmac is lonely except for the occasional cow.

At around the midway point the route takes us through Guazapa, Aguilares and El Paisnal; sites of some of the most violent moments of the Salvadoran Civil war. We pass murals of San Romero de las Americas and Father Rutilio Grande, martyred heroes of the Catholic Church. The conversation turns to the trauma of the war years. Stories of loss and leaving always there, right below the surface, even 27 years after the so-called Peace Accords were signed; ending the war without healing the wounds.

Our plan is to rendezvous with Coach Oscar in front of Opico’s main church.At 10am on Sunday the Central Plaza is filled with people: women shopping, vendors selling, older men playing cards and young boys and girls running haphazardly through it all. Amongst the chaos we locate Coach Oscar, and from there, after a 10 minute drive down a dusty, rocky road we arrive at Los Amates.

Despite being midmorning the heat of the day sits heavy over the field. The boy’s U19 Team is midway through their match, while Las Poderosas, AFJAs female team, relaxes in the shade after their 7-0 victory earlier in the morning. Coach Oscar gathers the younger boys and girls together and they start warming up. Parents, friends and neighbors watch the match along the sidelines, a radio is playing, and a vendor is selling ice cold sodas. Three horses trot onto the field and are chased away before they can interrupt the game.

Horses aside, it’s the normality of it all that stands out. Girls and boys playing soccer, their community cheering them on, smiles and laughter shared freely and abundantly.
The U12 Team wins their game 4-0 giving Los Amates two wins and one tie against the opposing teams from Versailles. The games completed for the day, a huge container of ice cream miraculously appears and everyone gets a cone. A policeman takes pictures of kids posing for the camera and the Versailles Coach and Coach Oscar finalize plans for rematches later in the month.

As I take it all in I realize that here on this field is the El Salvador we hope for. Away from this field poverty and violence remain omnipresent. But here, on this day, and in this spot, we are just a community of people who love their kids, watching a soccer game, enjoying an ice cream cone. Our family enthusiastically supports AFJA because AFJA is creating space for Salvadoran girls and boys to be girls and boys. Sadly in El Salvador that remains a revolutionary act.
We are proud to be a part of the revolution.