Those two people in tonight's pic hauling firewood are not midgets. They are a six year old and an eight year old, brothers who just climbed down from the mountain with firewood they chopped with machetes to heat their stove at home so their mother can cook. I met them while walking back to the San Lucas hospital where I spent the day working with local Guatemalan Doctor Tun. These two boys mirror two other young boys I ran into while running a mountain trail this morning. They were the same age as my sons and were following their father to the family coffee farm about 2 kilometers and 1500 feet elevation change away, to begin their daily work to provide for the family. Here, children are expected to help in contributing to the family bottom line. Often they can be seen helping their parents in the business or taking care of the younger siblings while mother and father work. Unfortunately, many of these children are unable to attend school, which has contributed to the growing illiteracy rate here in the country. It is a catch-22 that does not have an easy answer because these families don't have enough to even eat without everyone working. It is easy to have theories about how to fix the problem but being here and witnessing the struggle firsthand I can say I have yet to hear a theory that would work here. I'm not being pessimistic, just practical. The solution to the problems of the indigenous Guatemalan people will not be found in a distant university study but rather here by the people working alongside them. In the same way, the answer to teaching my children to work cannot be done by someone else. It has to be done by me and others who take the time to work alongside them and find ways to teach for each child.
Aaron
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