This
little girl is tiny—she can only be about four—but her face makes her look like
she is a middle aged adult. She has an air of determination. She knows that
life has been hard, but that won’t make her give up. She knows that she is owed
something and she knows she will get it. Although you can see figures in the
distance, she seems so very alone, and the combination of her solitude and lack
of color makes her seem like an adult so much more.
I
have never seen a four year old with this expression. A lot of teenagers never
even have this expression. So what, exactly, caused so much trial as to create
a woman out of a child in less than a few years?
This
girl belongs to a family of peasants who live in Yuracruz, Imbabura Province,
Ecuador. The peasants in Yuracruz, who almost definitely include this little
girl’s family, bargained with the owner of the land they farmed to buy they
land; they would put up so much money and the government would cover the rest
(Salgado). The only problem with this plan was the execution. Although the peasants
of Yuracruz raised their fifteen percent, or three million sucres [71,430 U.S.
dollars], the government of Ecuador failed to generate the last 85% (Salgado).
While
the peasants were waiting for government grants and loans, their economy
underwent huge inflation, and by 1998 the landowner insisted that the money
paid by the peasants was only .67% of the total money owed. The peasants were
run off their land, and many were killed or raped (Salgado).
This
picture was taken in 1998, probably just after this little girl had lost her
home. So that’s what this child endured. She lost her home and probably many of
her family members; she has to shoulder her own load. She’s four.
Salgado, Sebastião. Migrations. New York: Aperture. 270-271. Print.
I think it is so interesting to think about how independent this little girl looks. I, as a four year old, was probably the most dependent being to ever walk the earth. Ok, maybe not that extreme, but the distance this little girl is from any other human would have been a stretch for me. In America, We tend to see independence as something that comes with age. We usually, however see that age as somewhere around 17 or 18, not four. The experiences that this girl has endured breaks my heart. She and her family had no fault in the hardships that have befallen them, but they went through them nonetheless. As privileged citizens of one of the wealthiest countries in the world, we must keep in mind those who are not as well off and do our best to help them.
ReplyDeleteMaddy, I love your post! It really made me think. As I wrote my post this week I thought a lot about how each individual has his or her own story. It's amazing to me how everyone's experience in life is so different. I can't imagine growing up in a situation like the little girl in this photo, and experiencing such hardships at a young age. This really stresses to me the importance of not judging people based on outward things. You never know where they've been, and you never know what they stand in need of until you make the effort to reach out and try to help them. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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