The Right to Choose

This story takes place in the small country of El Salvador in Central America. It is a story of an upper-class family fighting against cultural traditions rooted in the land and carved into the hearts of the people that made up all social classes in that country.

The land of El Salvador is a land of beauty, rich in culture and traditions. It is also a land deeply divided into social classes, according to money or the lack of it. The classes that make society as a whole are upper, medium and lower, with the lower caste always being the most numerous of the three. In this society, children born to parents belonging to the lower caste have little or no chance to get an education or to escape from the cycle of poverty and ignorance. Poor parents work hard to provide for their families, which ironically are usually large. They, just like any other parents look for ways to help their children escape the caste they have been born into and for the chance to get rich.

Long ago, some of these poor peasant parents thought they had found a way to escape the cycle through their young daughters. They began selling their very young daughters to old, wicked landlords, who would allow the parents to work the land, lease-free in exchange for the right to use the peasant’s daughters as sexual toys. Such became a common practice, seen as part of the culture by many – but not for the Lazo Santomás family – nor for the Catholic leaders in the little town of Saint Michael, where the Lazo Santomás family had set roots for over 100 years.

I wrote this book from the eyes and ears and experiences of Nubia Santomás (who also has to defend against what in our culture would be considered to be an “ early marriage”). It gives a glimpse into the real story behind the hideous cultural practices that are still prevalent out there, even now – practices that hurt children the most – in this case, young, teenage girls, to be specific – and the book shows a way how a community and families can be brought together to overcome and defend against such life-shattering and evil practices.