Recent news stories have painted El Salvador, as well as Guatemala and Honduras, as centers of gang violence, leading tens of thousands of children to head for the safety of the United States.

Jackie and I have visited El Salvador six times in recent years. On one of those trips we were the guests of the El Salvador Tourism Bureau, which provided us with a car, driver and a guide. We traveled throughout the country, as I took thousands of photographs, subsequently used by the Tourism Bureau to attract visitors to the country. Some of my photos appear in the El Salvador Embassy in Washington, D.C.

On another trip, sponsored by our high school and the Fountain Hills Sister Cities Committee, we accompanied more than 40 Fountain Hills high school students and leaders to build housing near our El Salvador Sister City.

I know El Salvador far better than most of the reporters who have written stories about gang violence in that country.

It is a fact that El Salvador has major problems with its gangs, a problem its government must address.

There is also no question that thousands of children and young people have left El Salvador, attracted by false rumors that, if they make it to the United States, they will be permitted to stay. The fear of gang violence has been the catalyst for perhaps 30 percent of those making the journey north. The rest are coming in hope of a better life than they now enjoy.

But I can tell you that in all of our visits to the country, we have never felt the least bit insecure.

Perhaps there are El Salvador neighborhoods where we might not feel quite so sanguine, but there are neighborhoods in Phoenix, Los Angeles and New York where we would not feel safe either.