By Julie Thompson

3 August 2006
This article was originally published in World Volunteer Web, and has also been published at "One World One People for Peace".

The Lonely Planet describes El Salvador as "a country of beautiful beaches, dramatic scenery, and friendly people."

While this is no doubt true, El Salvador is also marred with poverty and suffering. Child labor is prevalent, as many young children need to go to work in order to survive, and often provide for their families.

Ever wondered where the tasty sugar of your can of Coca Cola comes from? Odds are it is from an El Salvadorian sugarcane mill, which openly uses child labor. Children as young as eight work for up to eight hours a day in hot sun, cutting sugar cane with huge machetes. It is dangerous work, and injuries, sometimes life threatening, are all too common. Other children labor in sweatshops making garments for western countries, children climb landfills in order to collect recycling to sell, and young girls risk physical and sexual abuse by working in the domestic sector.

Perhaps the most visible of child labor in El Salvador, is children working in the marketplace. The kids can be seen selling goods and services in the streets, and in local markets, some as young as four and five. This work often includes running in and out of traffic, backbreaking work carrying goods, and working in the extreme heat. Education is expensive, and many poverty-stricken families cannot afford to send their children to school. Children instead spend hours working, their childhood stripped from them, in order to survive.

By volunteering through the Global Volunteer Network, Lauren McElroy of Washington, U.S was able to visit El Salvador to see first hand how these people live, and to work for a program that he