The next home visit was 2 hours away by bus, a distance traveled twice a day by the student and her mother. The rendezvous was a shell station in the bustling center of the town of Villa Canales. The walk to the house necessitated the avoidance of a lot of stray dogs and chickens who looked like they came out of hell.
The student (who attends afternoon school) greeted us at the door with a smile. She is a very sweet girl. She shares a single room, bathroom and small yard with her sister and mother, who know some sign language. The domicile was cement and tin, but had a refrigerator, a TV and a portable electric stove. The mother has no education and no steady work, but sells things when she can and hopes to get a job at a factory. She is Evangelical and depends heavily on faith, and receives support from her stepmother and some friends she did not want to name.
This mother spends 44 Quetzales and countless hours each week accompanying her daughter to school. FR and I rode back to the city with the girl, saving her mother just a little bit of fare.
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