I gave Brian a new plastic top! I haven't seen someone so happy in years! He actually jumped up and down in joy.
Just a little $1.20 plastic top!
Brian, his little sister and brother are road-workers ... that is, they have one shovel between them and they fill up chuck-holes in the long winding road that leads to barrio Ijido ... Lets face it, great potential ... the dirt road is nothing BUT chuck-holes. The little girl holds out a can hoping for someone to donate a few pesos.
They know my car and run out to meet me. I generally give them a chocolate bar and sometimes a dollar.
The whole family of seven, including mother, work in two different locations, filling holes and looking for donations. That's their work. That's their living. Indeed they are dirt poor.
I've met their mother and the kids. I've been to their small, rather stark house. One big bed. Roof leaks when it rains.
Brian is only 13. He's not in school, he has to work the road. Money comes hard. Mom's seven months pregnant and not able to work the road for a while.
So now it's up to Brian and his brother and sisters to keep the family in food. (Anyone want to help on food, shoes and schooling?)
Brian was bare-foot and wearing old torn and dirty pants.
But that top! That little top, made it all worth while.
Life is great when you're a kid ... and get a top!
