In early June, El Salvador was hit by Tropical Storm Amanda and tropical storm Cristobal in quick succession, causing deadly flooding and landslides across the country.
Many communities have lost everything and are now living in shelters waiting for aid to arrive so they can survive.This happened when the country was under a long and strict quarantine, due to COVID-19. It deepened their poor socioeconomic situation, as the majority are confronting even more financial trouble, unable to work or losing their jobs. Consequently many may not have the means or resources to rebuild their homes or feed themselves.
This is the first storm of the raining season so help is needed now as the wet season has only just begun.

Yesenia Belloso and Jorge De la Hoz arranged a mini Latin Festival to fund raise for communities damaged by Tropical Storm Amanda.

Some of the artists lined up to entertain the visitors were….

Ballet folkloric Ixzul ( Mexican dancers)
LaVibra ( Latin American dancers)
Adriana Herrera ( pop singer)
Spoken Truth (Our own Salvadoran Hip hop singers)
Raquel Tespan ( Salvadoran Singer)
Joaquín Herrera ( mariachi singer)
Tropicalia ( hottest Latin group in Town)

and of course there was the food.

The main platter consisted of 2 pupusas, 1 tamal, curtido and a root vegetable new to me bonaito.

The boniato was a revelation. It was dense and heavy with a waxy texture and a flavour unlike any root vegetable I have eaten. Quite delicious. I will search for this one in my local market.

I have also learned that quesadillas and cemitas are two very different things in El Salvador than they are in Mexico.

The quesadilla (shown above) was a type of sponge cake sprinkled with sesame seeds.

In Mexico a quesadilla is basically a folded tortilla, filled with almost anything, and held together with melted cheese.

The cemita (shown below) was a type of slice with a shortcrust pastry shell and a filling of what appeared to be a type of stewed pineapple.

Whilst in Mexico a cemita is a type of “sandwich” popularly known to come from the region of Puebla.

Gracias to Yesenia and Jorge for organising the event. Our prayers go out to the people of El Salvador.