Living in a golden cage

We left Switzerland exactly a month ago. Leaving our apartment in Hadlikon empty. Giving Noam the last hug till summer. Seeing the swiss mountains from the little airplane window, covered in a coat of snow showing that winter has not ended. Feeling full of emotions not knowing for sure how the world will be functioning next. Arriving in a country that is pretty much unknown from the rest of the world. My country. A country in development. A country so poor and so rich at the same time. El Salvador known for being one of the countries with the most crime in the world. Split between the energy to make all the possible changes, and having to fight to have enough food for its family. Poverty is to be seen in every corner. Kids on the street working to help their families. More then 30% of the population lives with less then 2$ a day. Even though, people keep smiling. They are helpful and willing to work. They wish for a better world and pray for God to help them.

We see El Salvador as a country full of possibilities. Our know-how, education, structure, organisation can be shared and be put in good use. We feel blessed to have this opportunity and feel more then ready to start.

It feels like we have been in the starting blocks for so long. On the 1st of August 2019, our company, Impulso Suizo became official just on time for the Swiss national day. On the same week, our first trademark "El Salto Gymnastics" was registered. BeSport annouced that they will be building the Gym hall for us. Since then, we have been getting ready with budget, portfolio, homepage, social media, selecting apparatus, contacting the gymnastics federation in the country, rethinking our offer and getting very excited.

We were so ready to start...Covid 19 is testing our patience.

It has been 15 days since the lock down. We feel blessed for what we managed to achieve before the country sat still. At the same time, we feel frustrated to be held back in our project and all the ambitious things that we were planing to do. BeSport received the authorization to build two days before lock down. We decided to postpone our start from July to September. We are lucky, that we still have no costs concerning El Salto and that no communication had been done concerning date of start. In the mean time, we are creating the web site, making new contacts and letting time and ideas complete our creativity.

Shana and Alex could not start their planed Spanish lessons. Here to we improvised. Roberto became Alex's teacher and Shana takes lessons with Naara. Whatsapp lessons calls are been done every morning, as I can hear, everyone is progressing. The days start early. Around 5.30 AM the sun comes out. Los Sueños comes out of the quiet night time and wakes up with the birds singing. The parrots get ready to fly to the volcano and have a lot to say about it. The sun lights up the houses on the top of the hill with a touch of pink and orange colors. The trees move in the rhythm of the morning breeze. Laska jumps on the bed and lets us know it is time to get up. Time to play. The coffee smells and tastes good in this country. It feels right to be up so early and start our day.

It is hard to imagine how life is behind the residential gates. How people are holding up in their small villages and tiny houses. A lot of people survive on the money they make in daily businesses. Right know there is none. No water, no food, not easy to get out to get those essential things. The government offered to pay 300$ to the poorest ones to help them go through the pandemic. Good would you say. I agree, but how do you transfer money to people that have no bank account? 20'000 people got our of their confinement, all are the same time to make sure to get their 300$. 20'000 hungry people making line during the quarantine with their kids and families. How scary! The government trying to make it best and realizing how poor the country is. What would have we done it this situation? Let our kids die of hunger or take the risk of the disease and have enough money for the month? I guess we would have been on the streets as well, fighting for our lives.

Back to los Sueños, getting lost in our big house. Being able to sit on our terrace, or lay in a very comfortable bed. Having the possibility to go for little walks around the house, seeing people still biking and playing with their kids and dogs. Seeing the beautiful garden full of exotic trees and colorful flowers. Reading the messages on the residential's Chat make us realize how lucky we are. Our neighbors problems are far away from the ones outside the gates. How do I cook without an employee? How will I take care of my kids if the employee can't make it back from their homes? Is the bread truck here? Who is going to take care of my garden?

The point is not to make fun of anyone needs and support each one. But this contrast makes us realize how lucky we are living in our golden cage. Lets not forget it...