Chris Jagger and Steve Snelling went out to El Salvador with medical kit, in response to a National State of Emergency declared by the Salvadorian government following the devastating earthquake on 13th January 2001 and ensuing mudslides.
They met Hector Hernandez on the plane. He is now resident in Los Angeles, but all his family live in San Carlos and he was returning to help them after the earthquake. He took Chris and Steve to San Carlos, where they were able to offer comfort and medical help to the villagers, and so our involvement and friendship began.
Whilst in El Salvador, Chris and Steve were at the epicentre of the next earthquake which happened on February 13th 2001. They were travelling with the NGO ‘Compassion’ at the time, and, unhurt themselves, were able to administer emergency medical help to people being pulled from the rubble in nearby villages.
Deep friendships were formed during this fortnight, and since then annual visits have been undertaken to carry out needs-assessments for the whole country, for specific projects and for San Carlos. Maggie Jagger and Natalie Walter have accompanied Chris and Steve since 2003.
In 2005, SALCET became a registered charity with Patrick Morgan, former British Ambassador in El Salvador as our patron.
SALCET’s work has now broadened to include Samoa (2009), Colombia (2012 and 2013) and Uganda (2016) as well as continuing to support projects in El Salvador.
About El Salvador
- Location: Central America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Guatemala & Honduras
- Population: 6.9million
- People: Mestizo 90%, White 9%, Amerindian 1%
- Language: Spanish, Nahua
- Religion: Roman Catholic 75%, Protestant 20%
- Literacy: 80.2%
- Life expectancy: 70.9 years
- % below poverty line: 48%
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