Erwin

Every day is the same for 16-year-old Erwin who lives with his parents and sister, Amorita, 7, in a neighbourhood near San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador. His mother sells food at a stall in one of the city’s largest markets while his father is a driver.

From a very young age, Erwin has spent most of his time at the market, supporting his mother a lot in selling food, often being in charge of buying the produce they will sell each day.

“I’ve always been a child full of dreams and aspirations but before, I was very disruptive and used to get up to all sorts of mischief. The market is not a safe place for children most of the time. Many violent incidents have happened over the years I’d been here. There are a lot of challenges, mainly due to the ongoing battles between police and the gangs – there’s always the danger of bullets flying around and it’s also dangerous because people are always cooking so children can get burned easily.”

“Because it has such a bad reputation as for being violent, the market fallen into disrepair because nobody wants to maintain the facilities.” Erwin

Erwin has been attending for several years. He started coming to the project because he wanted to learn things that would benefit his future and help him to achieve his dreams. English has always been one of Erwin’s interests and he’s now studying it as one of his key subjects at secondary school.

_“I wanted to learn positive things for my life. I also wanted to learn useful things, like how to speak English. I love the project because it’s a place where I can learn, have fun and draw. I’ve changed so much now – I used to cause chaos around me but now I don’t! _

Knowing English opens more doors in this country and will it easier to get a job when I’m older. I want to study aeronautical engineering because I love how planes work. It’s a dream I’ve had since I was a child."

“I also love football. I’m really good at the sport and when I play, it helps me to calm any stress and anxiety that I have a lot.” Erwin

As well as focussing on his own life, Erwin is passionate about improving the lives of other children at his project too. He’s taken part in many activities helping to share a Child Protection manual with younger children at his project and was also part of a team with his friends who initiated a dialogue with the project leader to request a larger and more suitable space for project activities, as well as requests for donations of a television and computers to help chidlren with their studies.

“I’d describe myself as very dedicated and good at my studies. My whole life dreams are to be an aerospace engineer, to be able to have my own house, to be a working professional and to have my own family.” Erwin