THE DARK SIDE OF TRAVEL

THE EFFECTS OF IRRESPONSIBLE TOURISTS

MEET DINA

Dina is one of the many people of El Tunco that we rely on to ensure your experience in El Salvador is unforgettable. As caretaker of the beachside mansion we use for our trips, she makes sure your breakfast is made, your laundry done and the house is clean. She’s is not only an important part of the Reroot team but our community. Not many people know behind that gentle smile, lives and incredibly tough woman.

Her evident sassiness is a product of her hardships faced while making a living for herself and family and also chasing her dream of making it to the USA. She has unsuccessfully attempted to cross US borders TWICE, with her second attempt resulting in her kidnapping by human traffickers. While she was held captive awaiting the payment of her $30,000 ransom, Dina shared the few snacks she had in her pockets with the hungry children who were also taken by the “coyotes” (immigrant smugglers). In one of the most difficult and terrifying situations of her life, she still found the strength to care for others. With some luck, her husband managed to secure a bank loan to pay her ransom but it left them in debt great debt.

Dina is an exceptional human being. Despite her difficult experiences she has never hardened her heart to the people around her and always ensures we are well taken care of. She is another beneficiary of Doctor Kiona’s cell phone donation program. When she calls, we always answer.

A FAVOR FOR A FRIEND

Recently, Doctor Kiona received a text from Dina:

“Hey Mamasita,
Do you know anyone who would do me the favor of lending me a wheelchair? My mom was hit by a car on June 5 and has several breaks, one in her pelvis and others in her right arm, and they have given her complete bedrest so it makes it difficult for me to move her alone”

Knowing Dina for a number of years we know that if she’s asking for a favor, she must REALLY need help. So, once Doctor Kiona received that text, she called El Kevin who found a few options on Facebook Marketplace. Eventually after some negotiations, Kevin settled on a new wheelchair for $130. An absolute deal considering they cost around $325 at retail stores. All that was left to do was collect it and deliver it to Dina. There was only one tiny issue: the weather.

El Salvador at the time had been under red alert as torrential rains brought by two weather systems (one eventually becoming Tropical Storm Alberto) forced everyone indoors. Schools were closed and shelters were set up for Salvadorans without proper housing to escape the rains. Reports on June 21st put the death toll at 19 as Salvadorans continue to battle the weather.

Despite the numerous warnings, Doctor Kiona hopped in her car and made the 45 minute drive from the coast to the city of San Salvador to meet El Kevin and pick up Dina’s mom’s new wheelchair along with a few medical supplies. Time was of the essence as every minute on the roadways was a huge risk. Finally, after a few painstaking hours on the road, a brand-new wheelchair was delivered to Dina and her mom. Only then would we learn the full story of the accident.

THE INCIDENT

Now that everyone was safely indoors and Dina’s mom had her new wheelchair (paid for by Doctor Kiona’s Patreon), Dina began telling the story of her mother’s unfortunate accident. As it happens, she was hit by a drunk tourist who did not even bother to stop to check on the person she hit. After the police were called and they managed to track her down, the culprit turned out to be a Salvadoran American woman or Hermana Lejana as Salvadoran diaspora are called. In the report she gave the police, she revealed she thought she hit a dog.

She thought a 66-year-old woman was A DOG!

To add insult to injury, this tourist offered to pay Dina’s mother $200 for her injuries. Her broken hip and arm– to this person–was worth $200. After her initial appearance before a judge, a date for her hearing was set for the next week. The guilty party promptly left El Salvador with no guarantee that she will ever return to answer for any of the damage she has caused.

Currently, Dina is unable to work as she’s her mother’s sole caretaker. How will she provide for herself and her family on top of paying for her mother’s medical bills?

It will be about 6 months before Dina’s mom may recover from her injuries and then she will have to begin physical therapy to rehab her hip. Knowing Dina, we’re sure she’s thinking of a way through this difficult period. All we can do as a team and her friends is take things one day at a time and offer support in any way that we can.

The Reroot community has already made Dina’s life a little easier and her mother a little more comfortable. We have collected $425 in donations to pay for Dina’s food for at least one month as she cares for her mother and we will continue to show up for them in any way we can.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF TOURISTS

Reroot was created to change the mindset of travelers. To create a space in a consumer-driven industry where tourism builds bridges between cultures instead of forcing one to cater to the other. Our principles revolve around protecting the communities we visit and share spaces with. That means honoring the people as well as the environment. We encourage travelers that join us to look beyond the marketing and see destinations as more than instruments for amusement. To act responsibly so these experiences are nourishing to you, the people you interact with and the many other travelers that come after you. While in a foreign country we believe you must first have a humanized connection with it to break away from the colonizing aspects of travel, but what does colonizing behavior look like?

Picture the characteristics of colonization. Invasive, destructive, disrespectful, dehumanizing. Now think about the effects tourism has had on destinations around the world. Overcrowding, pollution, defacing of historical sites, drastically inconveniencing the life of locals. The quest for the perfect Instagram shot or capturing content for TikTok has transformed tourism into a force of consumerist destruction…kind of like colonization. This superficial interaction with a destination prevents us from making a REAL connection with people and places and contributes to destructive behavior. Colonization has been so synonymous with privileged white men that we have aligned it with their face. In reality, these characteristics can be found in people of all colors, ethnicities and backgrounds.

Consider the tourists who stay at $400/night hotels but haggle with local street vendors for “a better price”. These actions say, “I believe you are worth this much and that’s what you should accept”. We would happily pay someone like the Hilton hundreds of dollars but refuse to pay $20 for a handcrafted souvenir. Isn’t that colonizing behavior? What would you call the entitlement to offer a measly $200 to a family who now have two people out of work because of your irresponsible actions? Then fleeing to your country without even paying that $200? Is it something different because she is an hermana lejana?

 Inhumanity has nothing to do with identity.

We are all capable of dehumanizing actions. Your ancestry does not make you more empathetic, responsible or caring, just as being of a certain identity doesn't make you less. Our choices and decisions are what define us. We must CHOOSE to care about our effect on our environment and each other. Feeling a sense of responsibility to people and the environment you visit comes from internal, spiritual work that has to be done on our souls regardless of where we come from. The first step to becoming a more responsible tourist, in our opinion, is experiencing a true human connection with the destination you visit.

The Reroot team would like to thank everyone who has made it possible for us to support our extended families in El Salvador, Cuba and Hawai’i. Everyone who has donated a phone, attended a tour, subscribed to Doctor Kiona’s Patreon, we deeply appreciate your support. None of this is possible without you.

We hope to see all of you on a tour with us soon where we can connect beyond a screen in a truly transformative experience!