Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Why parents send their children on a potential death march

Andy Lamb, MD
Physician
March 30, 2021
Share
Tweet
Share

“There will be a knock at the door,” says Rene, an El Salvadoran pastor and my close friend, “and they will say, ‘Give us your daughter, or we will kill you and your family.’”

He continues: “Gangs control many of the villages. They are in the schools; they are in this school! If the leader sees a girl that he likes, no matter her age, he sends members of his gang to her home and demand the girl be given to them to be used as the leader decides. If the parents refuse, the gang members keep their word and take the girl anyway. When a boy reaches the age of 10, he may be killed if he does not join a gang. This is one reason why many of the children arriving at the U.S. borders are alone, without parents or a significant other. Their parents had to make a decision; a decision of life or death; a last resort, a gut-wrenching decision; yet the decision becomes all too clear. It is safer for their children to make this most perilous journey than to remain in their own home.”

I listen in disbelief as I sit on the crumbling concrete steps of the village school where our medical clinic is temporarily located for the week. The village is located on the side of an inactive, waterless volcano where large cisterns dot the mountainside collecting precious rainwater for the people’s everyday needs. This is my 12th year leading medical teams to a country and people I have come to love deeply. It has become my “segunda casa,” my second home, yet, somehow, I have not heard this story that is the reality for many in El Salvador. It is a beautiful country of volcanic mountains and rock-strewn beaches. Its beauty in stark contrast to the ever-present violence and intimidation of the gangs. Even the capital, San Salvador, cannot escape this dark reality. Mara Salvatrucha, MS 13, are names that illicit fear in every El Salvadoran; most of all, the fear of a knock at the door.

Often, “coyotes” will take these children and others willing to sacrifice everything for a chance at a life offering a glimmer of hope, on this most hazardous trek where illness, injury, and death are ever-present. They are soulless mercenaries who feed on and live off this agonal reality at a precious cost to these desperate families – of money, fractured families, and even death. To live without hope is not to live; it is simply to exist. So, the decision is made, and the children are sent. Hope of a better life for them and their loved ones left behind a powerful driving force.

In the villages, lacking many of the modern luxuries of the larger towns and cities, little is known about the news of the world. For them, life is a daily struggle of survival. They know not of the “immigration problem” that is often front-page news in the U.S. They are oblivious to the polarizing issue, with all its ugly faces, that it has become in our country. They only know what they have always heard, that America stands for freedom, opportunity, and most of all hope. They want that for themselves but especially for their children. So, this heart-wrenching story is repeated over and over again, and the tears fall, hearts break, and families separated.

Many in the U.S. ask the question, “Why?” Why would parents send their children on a potential death march? How could they ever do that? How could they be so heartless, unloving, irresponsible? Did they not care for their children, love their children? “I would never do that,” we all easily say without hesitation. But, in those same circumstances, would we? Fortunately, we do not live such a cruel reality.

My heart aches, and my eyes glisten. There are children at the school now that we will see in the clinic who live in this Twilight Zone of reality. I feel helpless. As a physician, I seek to comfort, treat, and heal. As a father, I do everything I can to love and protect my children. The people of El Salvador seek to do the same for those they love, no matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice. May we not forget this. I never will.

Andy Lamb is an internal medicine physician. He can be reached at Bugle Notes.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Prev

How to protect your resilience [PODCAST]

March 29, 2021 Kevin 0
…
Next

An act of faith: Choosing to move my actions into better alignment with my beliefs

March 30, 2021 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Public Health & Policy

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How to protect your resilience [PODCAST]
Next Post >
An act of faith: Choosing to move my actions into better alignment with my beliefs

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Andy Lamb, MD

  • May the needs of others become personal to you

    Andy Lamb, MD
  • You are a servant with a servant heart

    Andy Lamb, MD
  • I am tired of the racism that remains embedded in our culture

    Andy Lamb, MD

Related Posts

  • When celebrities attack children with food allergies

    Lianne Mandelbaum, PT
  • A medical student’s letter to her parents

    Hillary McKinley
  • Bullying immigrant children in the name of politics

    Linda Girgis, MD
  • A disturbing study about children and guns

    Christopher Johnson, MD
  • Separating children at the border is a danger to their health

    Oscar J. Benavidez, MD
  • My grandfather’s death: What I’ve learned about life

    Munera Ahmed

More in Physician

  • How diverse nations tackle health care equity

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • What is practical wisdom in medicine?

    Sami Sinada, MD
  • A pediatrician’s role in national research

    Ronald L. Lindsay, MD
  • The danger of calling medicine a “calling”

    Santoshi Billakota, MD
  • Physician work-life balance and family

    Francisco M. Torres, MD
  • Love and loss in the oncology ward

    Dr. Damane Zehra
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • When language barriers become a medical emergency

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Physician
    • A doctor’s letter from a federal prison

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Physician
    • The dangerous racial bias in dermatology AI

      Alex Siauw | Tech
    • A surgeon’s view on RVUs and moral injury

      Rene Loyola, MD | Physician
    • The link between financial literacy and physician burnout

      Hayley Gates & Ketan Kulkarni, MD | Finance
    • How the internship shortage harms Black students

      Jonathan Lassiter, PhD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Rethinking the JUPITER trial and statin safety

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • How one physician redesigned her practice to find joy in primary care again [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • I passed my medical boards at 63. And no, I was not having a midlife crisis.

      Rajeev Khanna, MD | Physician
    • When language barriers become a medical emergency

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Physician
    • The measure of a doctor, the misery of a patient

      Anonymous | Physician
    • A doctor’s struggle with burnout and boundaries

      Humeira Badsha, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • How the internship shortage harms Black students

      Jonathan Lassiter, PhD | Conditions
    • How diverse nations tackle health care equity

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • What is practical wisdom in medicine?

      Sami Sinada, MD | Physician
    • Aligning psychiatric care and hospital costs

      Lionel Pereira, MD | Conditions
    • The dangerous racial bias in dermatology AI

      Alex Siauw | Tech
    • How pediatricians can address infant mortality in underserved communities

      Dr. Tanya Tandon | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 10 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • When language barriers become a medical emergency

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Physician
    • A doctor’s letter from a federal prison

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Physician
    • The dangerous racial bias in dermatology AI

      Alex Siauw | Tech
    • A surgeon’s view on RVUs and moral injury

      Rene Loyola, MD | Physician
    • The link between financial literacy and physician burnout

      Hayley Gates & Ketan Kulkarni, MD | Finance
    • How the internship shortage harms Black students

      Jonathan Lassiter, PhD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Rethinking the JUPITER trial and statin safety

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • How one physician redesigned her practice to find joy in primary care again [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • I passed my medical boards at 63. And no, I was not having a midlife crisis.

      Rajeev Khanna, MD | Physician
    • When language barriers become a medical emergency

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Physician
    • The measure of a doctor, the misery of a patient

      Anonymous | Physician
    • A doctor’s struggle with burnout and boundaries

      Humeira Badsha, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • How the internship shortage harms Black students

      Jonathan Lassiter, PhD | Conditions
    • How diverse nations tackle health care equity

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • What is practical wisdom in medicine?

      Sami Sinada, MD | Physician
    • Aligning psychiatric care and hospital costs

      Lionel Pereira, MD | Conditions
    • The dangerous racial bias in dermatology AI

      Alex Siauw | Tech
    • How pediatricians can address infant mortality in underserved communities

      Dr. Tanya Tandon | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Why parents send their children on a potential death march
10 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...