People are picturing a beach in the tropics with warm water, volcanic sand and surfing waves. El Zonte, in El Salvador. This natural paradise used to be the battlefield of Latin America’s most violent and savage gangs. UNICEF reported that the 2015 homicide rates were 103 for every 100,000 residents. This left thousands of orphaned children vulnerable to being recruited into the drug cartels. Their only hope for a brighter future seemed to be a migration to the United States.
Chimbera began in El Zonte. The road which divided the beaches from the mountains was the dividing line between the two. “In the past if you were born on the beach, you were a fisherman, like my father and grandfather. If you were born in the mountains, you were a farmer; while women were mainly housewives. The only hope for a better future for young people was to emigrate to the United States or Canada. We learned with sadness that the opportunities were there, the land of freedom where dreams supposedly came true. Paradoxically, these words come from a smiling face. It is very easy to fall in love with Román Martínez’s smile; known as “Chimbera” to his closest friends and family. His contagious joy comes from someone who knows in depth the darkest sides a society can fall into. His smile tells a story of collective overcoming, where a group of people believed that a better future was possible and, without expectations but with tireless determination, transformed a fishing village in one of the poorest and most violent countries in the world into a hub of technological innovation and human development. Something unusual in modern history.
Chimbera contemplates the stars before moving on to dream. We believe in God, in the Law of Attraction and other things. But it’s important to have a dream that motivates you to work hard every day to achieve. The initial dream was for kids to have greater opportunities within the community and to stay out of crime.” The problem, Román highlights, is that many times they tell you “Fight for your Dreams” but they don’t give you the tools or the knowledge to be able to achieve them. “It was then that our dream started: Jorge met with children in the streets, supported them and inspired them to dream about a brighter future.
You can’t help but get moved by Jorge Valenzuela, as he explains with tears in his eyes why they created Hope House. “We sought to give these children the opportunities that our friends didn’t have and the reason why many of them are no longer here with us.” He has his own story, just like the rest of El Zonte. Jorge used to make his living farming twenty years ago. Although he loved surfing, the reality he faced forced him to stay on solid ground. The job market at that time offered only two choices: either join a gang or be hired to provide private security for a home. This was the sad, violent and hopeless reality that characterized those years. “There was a lack of employment, educational and personal development opportunities in general. Faced with this, many sought to emigrate and look for them elsewhere,” Jorge explains clearly.
Jorge was a teenager when he knew exactly what he would do in the early morning, as the sun started to rise over the mountain ranges. Then he would go to the beach with black sand and take his surfboard. Hirvin waited for him there, lying on his back with his board in the sand, his gaze fixed on the horizon. Together they learnt to read and feel the waves. In the beginning, they warned others about dangerous currents that could pull the unaware out to sea. With time, however, the older members began passing on the knowledge and skills of surfing and the sea to younger people. The virtue that most surfers possess is patience. Those who are patient will ride the best waves. The two spent the afternoons on boards looking for ways to improve their situation and help their local community. Hirvin and Jorge found a huge potential area floating on the sea. “We took tourism as a main tool, as a window that would connect us with other countries, to whom we could show the beauty of our land and invite them to visit our community”. They believed they would be able to create new jobs for the community. “I was a surf instructor at the time and I felt that this sport would be fundamental for everything that happened later in El Zonte,” Jorge.
On that sandy beach, amongst the humble houses and dusty roads, no one would have thought that the Bitcoin circular economy, the first of its kind in history, could emerge. Jorge and Hirvin would soon cross paths with the man who would transform their lives. “For some twist of fate, people like Mike, Melissa, Carlos and Alex decided to move to El Zonte and dedicate their time and effort to help our community,” Jorge. Their rallying points were the beach and surfing. “We were kids, I remember they started teaching us English, they put us in contact with the tourists that were arriving, and that cultural exchange was what began to change our minds. This allowed us to dream, something we were not used to in El Zonte. They showed us that, no matter the circumstances, if we have dreams and commit to them, things can change.” Jorge recalls Mike Peterson, and in an instant, realizes how his life might have changed if he hadn’t met him.
Mike was a key part of the team, and they started to organize the work done by the local community on the beach. It was a simple idea: to give young people hope and opportunities. Give them tools to succeed and empower them so they don’t have to leave or join gangs. Please fill out the “children’s love tank,” Jorge defines it himself. “When we were little they taught us some words in English, they helped us to read and write better, but it was when my daughter, who is 17 today, was born that I understood that we had been children with an empty love tank.” Children who grew up in a community without their parents, older siblings or anyone else to show them support, love and be an example. “We all have a tank, it can be empty or it can be filled with love and hope. That’s what the kids in our community needed.”
Mike was not just some blue-eyed gringo that fell in love El Zonte’s beaches and its people. Peterson began as a surfer but quickly became a visionary.
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Source: bitcoinmagazine.com
