Tragedy

This man from the Green Cross is fumigating our house. On this night, they fumigated the whole neighborhood to fight dengue. We wore masks to avoid breathing the fumes, but Bruce still woke up feeling less than stellar the next day.

Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica celebrate their independence on September 15. Part of the celebration is a torch that passes through all these countries. We live close to the Panamerican Highway that goes through Central America. Students and community leaders went to the highway to receive the torch in a formal ceremony. Had Bruce not been ill, we would have been there ourselves.

Right before the ceremony was set to start, while most of the students were on the side of the road, a tractor-trailer was unable to stop in time and ran over several people. Two beloved educators from our pueblo were killed, as well as a driver from the Ministry of Education. Several more people were injured. President Funes gave an Independence Day speech, calling the teachers heroes for protecting the students.

The normal Independence Day festivities were cancelled. However, at the end of the month, a parade was held during which the town honored the memory of the teachers.