Summary

The introduction opens with a 2019 scene of ten Honduran migrants huddled in a Mexican shelter basement, praying before they attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. They have all previously attempted the crossing, and been deported.

The book starts by introducing readers to Juan Romagoza, a boy from Usulután, El Salvador, who came of age in the 1970s. His family is deeply Catholic, and friendly with Óscar Romero, the archbishop of El Salvador. When Juan is a teenager, he goes to a seminary to train for the priesthood, but ultimately leaves and pursues medicine instead, in order to better achieve his goal of helping people. As a doctor, Juan treated impoverished rural campesinos (peasants/country-folk) in small grassroots clinics.

The government of El Salvador in the 1970s was dominated by a business and military elite, which kept much of the country deeply...