Pensamientos

Just some errant thoughts from a week in the field...

School uniforms. I have heard women say more times than I would like to relate that the reason they don't send their kids to school because they can't afford to buy them new uniforms and shoes every year. How many more kids would be educated through at least secondary school if they were allowed to wear whatever they have? Latin Americans in general seem to think that uniforms will add to the pride the children get out of their education or any other number of things, but I can't help but think that it's quite difficult to have pride in an education you never got just because your shirt was the wrong color.

Sombreros are not a lucrative business. Many of the women make sombreros by hand, which they later sell. But here's the thing: most of them are only breaking even, some of them are even losing money doing this. In most cases, they have been doing this since they were quite young, and their mothers before them... you get the idea. There's a lot of tradition and perhaps a bit of sentimentalism involved. But maybe when you don't have doors or enough clothes, there are things more important than tradition. Or maybe not, it would appear.

Childcare is a wonderful thing. Many women end up leaving businesses they've been developing for quite some time when they have another child because they can't both take care of an infant and work. It seems to me that if someone would start something like a child care center, even out of their own home, they could make some money off of it, and more women would be able to work. Everyone would be better off. I'm not sure why this doesn't happen. And while I'm at it, birth control is a wonderful thing too. I struggle to imagine that anyone actively chooses to have 15 children or 12. I met one woman last week who when asked about her bedroom situation answered thus:
"How many bedrooms do you have?"
"Two."
"And how are they divided?"
"The boys sleep in one room, the girls in the other."
"And where do you and your husband sleep?"
"He sleeps with the boys, I sleep with the girls." She followed this up with, "we can't afford to have any more kids" like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Also, it is cold. That is all.

Finally, I am leaving in just over two weeks now. That is hard to believe. I'm not sure I'll be ready.