OT, a friend of an audiologist I know, invited me to her home in Zone 3, next to the infamous basurero (garbage dump that people scavenge for viable scrap). She wanted to chat and charge me with brining back some cards and parcels for our mutual friend. I was hoping that it wouldnt be as marginal and unsafe as the zone is rumoured to be. Unfortunately for OT and her family, their asentamiento lived up to its reputation.
Although I had been in plenty of neighborhoods like it on home visits with Pro Ciegos, it was the first time I heard residents complain about the crime and trouble. OT is a hardworking masters student at the public university, and her traditional Mayan family makes a living by selling tamales and other goods. They are all very religious, upright citizens. They want desperately to move further away from the dump but cannot yet afford it.
I met the whole family, and they were overwhelmingly warm and generous. Safely inside their house, I took a few family photos, which I will send to our audiologist friend and to OT who uses email on occasion. I decided to head home well before dusk. OT and her cousin loaded me up with green mangoes from their patio and walked me to the municipal bus, which luckily runs right past their neighborhood.
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