en guinda

In 1999 I traveled to a small village in northern El Salvador and met a young woman who wrote a brief history of the Salvadoran civil war. Returning home, I had that history translated by my son's high school spanish language class. One phrase in the history was a bit confusing, but was finally translated as "wild cherry tree". The history included reference to the young woman's brother who was reportedly born under a wild cherry tree..."en guinda". Returning to that village 12 years later, I visited that young woman...now 30, married with a young son, and lived for a few days with her parents and her extended family. I rekindled the strong affinity I have for this family and for the people in that small village...all survivors of the Salvadoran war. I remarked to her of the history she wrote, and how profoundly it had affected me.

Researching El Salvador after this latest visit, I came across a recently published book on the campesinos...peasants...of El Salvador, and how they organized themselves to handle the impact of the civil war. I was horrified and awe-struck to discover that "en guinda" has nothing to do with wild cherry trees, but was in fact a very organized and complex process whereby the campesinos in northern El Salvador literally lived "on the run" as a way to manage the impact of the war.

I want to go back to that village and re-thank that young woman for her history, and find a better way to express my incredible dismay and respect and awe and affinity for something she shared of her life, and her family life, and her people...now supported by a North American writer's book about en guinda.