Photography by Emily Salguero
Georgia Center for Continuing Education
Exhibit: December 1-31, 2008
Reception: December 10, 2008

	Emily Salguero

The Office of International Public Service and Outreach (IPSO) was pleased to host a reception at the Hill Atrium at the Georgia Center for Emily Salguero, a local Athens photographer, who exhibited selected photos of people she met as a Peace Corps Volunteer in El Salvador. The reception was presided over by the artist and music was provided by Incatepec, a local group of musicians in Athens.

This art exhibit is part of the IPSO Latin American Artists Series. IPSO has partnered with the Georgia Center to present a series of exhibitions of Latino art by Latino artists. Shows are curated by Deborah Gonzalez, Assistant Director of IPSO. For more information contact Deborah at 706-542-6654 or dgonzale@uga.edu.

Please see an article written by Erin Rossiter, an Athens Banner Herald reporter, which appeared on December 28, 2008, entitled "Volunteer finds friendship transcends struggles in El Salvador."

About the Artist

Emily Salguero was born and raised in Athens, Ga. She holds an undergraduate degree in Anthropology from the University of Georgia. She has lived in California, Colorado, Hawaii and El Salvador and she has also had the opportunity to visit Mexico, Guatemala, Haiti and Ecuador.

Emily recently returned from El Salvador where she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the youth development program. Emily loves to photograph people and nature and she first ventured into photography in 2001 when she took a black and white darkroom class at Colorado State University—Pueblo.

She has a strong interest in human rights especially for women, children, and refugees. She has been involved in Amnesty International since high school and hopes to promote human rights through photography. Emily is currently teaching yoga in Athens.

Emily's Statement

I was blessed to have had the chance to go to El Salvador as a Peace Corps Volunteer and live in a small rural community called Llano Largo in the eastern central part of El Salvador. I arrived in Llano Largo in the rainy season and found myself surrounded by rolling green hills and beautiful sunsets. However, it was the people I have met in my community who left the strongest impression on me. The community had a positive attitude toward improving their future despite suffering through 12 years of war in an atmosphere of violence and oppression. Despite such hardships I found the people I worked with to be generous, humble, and optimistic. I was often humbled by the generosity of people throughout El Salvador as I learned from them it is truly a privilege.

I photographed these images of the children in three places: Llano largo, the community in which I lived; a poor neighborhood in the city of Illobasco; and also a settlement of people living in cardboard houses over a previous landfill on the fringe of San Salvador known as Las Victorias. At such young ages the children in these photos have been exposed to extreme hardships such as child labor, lack of food or proper nutrition and lack of clean drinking water. Nevertheless, after spending time with these children and others like them, I was moved by their hopes and aspirations for the future. I was often stuck by the dynamic of bountiful vegetation contrasted with the hardships of poverty.

I had to ask myself why in a world of such abundance do people lack even the most basic needs and how our everyday actions in this global society impact others around the world. These are tough questions to answer but I do know that I can no longer act as if these difficult problems do not exist. When we hear about places like El Salvador it's usually news about the gangs or drugs which gives us a feeling of fear. Yet beyond the images of violence there is a culture which is lively, nurturing, and hard working. I wanted to show a glimpse of my impressions of El Salvador as a Peace Corps volunteer working in the youth development program.

SEE ALSO
	• Poem written by the artist: Valley of Hammocks

I took several of these photos on my front porch a place where the kids loved to come and just pass time coloring or playing games. I choose the portraits of children because they often act as a bridge. They live in the moment; they symbolically unite the past and the future; they do not carry the same judgments that we hold on to and we don't judge them for their situation, above all we feel an instant connection to children.

After returning early from the Peace Corps due to health complications, I wanted to continue to share the story of these incredible people whom I've grown to admire and love. I feel particularly inspired by a group of women in Llano Largo who have started a co-op making cheese. Though the women struggle day to day to make a little money I admire their perseverance and strength to improve their situation and work for a better future for their children. It is this reason that I am happy to support their efforts and I hope to raise money to help them pay for one of their basic needs: a refrigerator.

To learn how you can make a difference in el Salvador, contact Emily at emilysalguero@hotmail.com.

The Georgia Center did a wonderful job of preparing the Hill Atrium in a festive way.		The reception was filled with UGA and community members.
Emily Salguero at the reception		Emily talking with some of her fans: Sarah Workman (VPPSO), Jeff Buckley (4H), and Dr. Glenn Ames (IPSO)
The Salguero family: Emily with her mother Terry and her sisters and nephew		Special thanks to Incatepec for providing the music at the reception. Incatepec plays traditional music from Latin America and Cuba with a jazz influence. This group has performed at AthFest, the Human Rights Festival, Noche Latina and International Festival and many other events and causes in the Athens community.