Jovita
Jovita is a single mom with two kids. She cleans houses for a living. She used to clean my mother-in-law’s house. Once she cleaned our house. After leaving us with an 800 peso phone bill, we weren’t prepared to invite her back.
We knew things were hard for her, but we didn’t know just how bleak the situation had become. My suegra tells us that she caught her sniffing turpentine several weeks ago. There she was: all huddled up in the corner of the workroom holding the turpentine container tight to her body. My suegra called her name and made her jump, but she was too high to react much.
My mother-in-law carefully hid the container and didn’t say anything to her again. Then, a few weeks ago, Jovita brought her kids with her to clean. My mother-in-law was in one part of the house. I guess Jovita didn’t know she was nearby. She was showing her little boy where to find the turpentine.
There are hundreds of street kids here who sniff glue. They tell you that it takes the hunger away and lets them fall asleep. It is estimated that 95% of street children in Latin America sniff glue or other solvents (CEDIC)
It’s impossible to understand what it is like to live in that kind of poverty if you haven’t experienced it. I try not to judge what another mother does with her children, especially in such extreme circumstances. However, it’s hard to imagine inviting your child to sniff turpentine rather than asking for food. That’s when you begin to realize that there is often an abyss, no matter how close you may think you’ve become, between those who live in extreme poverty and those who do not.
Photo: Martin Adler
October 7th, 2007 at 7:26 am
Check out the documentary “Glue Boys” available at glueboys.com to learn more about glue sniffing in the developing world.