Posted by Terry McNichols
Before I leave the topic of my recent trip to San Diego de Tenango, El Salvador, I wanted to post a couple of pictures that tell the story of how hard the people in this village work, just to get by. We here in the U.S. often complain about how much work we have to do, how hurried we are, how difficult our lives are. But people in poverty work all the time! My husband has stated that the most important thing he has learned in visiting our villagers is just that -- being poor is a whole lot more work than having the means to take care of yourself!
So here are three pictures, book-ending the lives of the villagers. The first is Jaqui, an 8-year-old girl, who a few years ago was one of the little kids who spent a lot of time playing with us when we visited. This year, she was hard at work. The second is Victoria, a 68-year-old woman, who works just like this all day long. The firewood is continuously collected to keep the oven fire burning. And the last picture -- about 20 minutes of kneading this corn to rid it of its outer shell -- before you take it to the mill for grinding to use in tortillas and most other food! I will not complain about my work load -- ever again. Well, at least I hope that I will remember how easy my life is!
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