Carmen Diaz, the school’s director for 23 years, says Perseverancia‘s goal aligns with the school’s mission: to transform the lives of students through quality education, including academic development and value formation. “This also contributes to the prevention of violence, since it (the school) works with children and youth living in areas of risk and economic and social vulnerability, and to the generation of opportunities, reducing migration levels,” Diaz adds.
“The main issue in El Salvador right now is they have the highest incarceration rate, but that goes back to them having the highest murder rate [due to gang violence] in 2015,” Rothacker said. “[Schools] only kind of go through sixth grade. Kids will leave the school when it's time for seventh grade. And it's like, ‘Where are these kids going?’”
“The United States wastes so much money on McDonald’s and frivolous expenses when we could easily donate $20 to change a child’s life. The people I met in El Salvador work much harder than us and have far less. We have abundant resources, but it’s a matter of being grateful and giving back.”
“We’ve got to continue pushing the limits on ways we can help.”