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As first generation U.S. citizens, Salvadoran teenagers in
the Mount Pleasant neighborhood are faced with the daily struggle of retaining their
Hispanic culture while simultaneously assimilating to life in Washington, D.C. Some
of these youths rise to the challenge they face and become leaders in the community;
others choose different paths and fall through the cracks. A remarkably high portion of the District of Columbia population is Latino: 85,000, or 12 percent of the total population. When suburbs are included, the number of Latinos is more than 250,000. Mount Pleasant is home to the largest gathering per capita of Salvadorans in the U.S., comprising about 90 percent of the neighborhood's Latino population. This project documents the lives of three students at the Bell Multicultural High School, which serves as both a school and non-profit organization dedicated to meeting community needs, especially those of immigrants. For this presentation, the story has been narrowed into two parts. Part One focuses on the Mount Pleasant environment, and Part Two tells the story of Juana Pacheco, a young mother struggling to succeed. |
| The project Generation of Hope was done as part of Sarah Voisin's work toward
a masters in journalism from the University Missouri. Dennis Dimick of National Geographic
magazine spent many hours providing guidance to Sarah as she worked on the project.
Most recently, Sarah has been a photography intern at the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Sarah can be reached via e-mail at: voisin@cheerful.com |