My Great Grandmother's Struggle

 Rocio M.

3/28/12

per.5

My Great Grandma

My great grandma Jana was born in 1920 she is 92 years old going for 93 this year. She was born and still lives in El Salvador. El Salvador is a small, Cento American country border with Honduras, Guatemala, and the Northren Pacific Ocean. My great grandma lives in the city of San Miguel. San Miguel is the fourth most popular city in El Salvador. My great grandma has been a child, a teenager, a mom, and dad for my mother, aunt, and uncle. Most of all she was a witness of the second biggest war in El Salvador History.   

My great grandma experience the tension between the classes grew in 1932. She was only 10, years old when she experience the second biggest war in Centro America witch tuck place in El Salvador.  Augustine Farabundo Marti (FMLN) formed the Central American Socialist Party and led peasants and indigenous people against the government.  In response, the government supported military death squads witch killed anyone who even looked Indian or may have been supporting the uprising.  The killing became known as La Matanza (the Massacre) and left more than 30,000 people dead.  This war went on for 12 years it was a ruff and tense time for many people, even for my great grandma. 

As the war ended my great grandma began her life as a teenage mom. When she got older she had 12 kids out of those 12 kids only 5 are alive. The other 7 kids died either at birth because of a dices or a miscarriage. My great grandma told me that one of her kids got killed; at age 16 by a gang member of MS-13. MS-13 (La Mara Salvatrucha 13 is the biggest gang in Centro America there are over 50,000 members in that gang. They also have allies with the Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Cartel, La Familia Michoacana, and the Mexican Mafia. There, criminal activities or drug trafficking, robbery, extortion, human trafficking, illegal immigration, money, laundering, murder, pandering, racketeering, battery, kidnapping, and arms trafficking. But they have enemies all over the world. Some of there enemies are Leyva Cartel, Juarez Cartel, Los Negros, Los Zetas, Sombra Negra, Tijana Cartel, Surenos, 18 street and many more. Not all members of MS-13 are true killers some are really nice but they made the mistake to join the gang and now they or force to do stuff they really don’t want to do. I know that for a fact because I have friends that r in that gang and family members that or in it and have come out alive for not wanting to be a part of the gang no more.

               My great grandma was a very strict lady she would not let my mom and tea go to school because she would tell them that the only reason girls would go to school is so that they would get pregnant. So she would send my mom and uncle before sun rice to el pueblo to get a perfect spot before any one would get there to sale.  My mom was just 5 years old and my uncle was 7 years old and they would walk miles and miles threw the valley just to get the bus. They would get home like around 8 or 9 from el pueblo to the house and they would sale all the good’s cause if they didn’t my great grandma would get mad. She would not let them go out side and play except for my uncle only if she would give him permission to go play the other kids; they would stay home and do chores around the house and fields.

       As time past my uncle, aunt, and mom grew up they would still have to do the same routine every day. One day they snuck out to go to a carnaval in el pueblo and my great grandma found out and she went to the pueblo with her 4 dogs. She had trained the dogs to do what ever she said, so she made the dog’s look for my uncle, aunt, and mom. When they found them they would sit next to them and if they would move from there the dogs would fallow as well. When they would go back home she would be waiting for them at the door. She would lock the back door so they would not get in from the back. As she sat there my uncle, aunt, and mom would start crying already with out her hitting them yet. She would stand up and had a long stick on her hand ready to hit them when they would run inside. My great grandma was a very stick women but she did it for the well been for my mom, aunt, and uncle.