During my time in Limay I observed
some of the hardest working individuals I have ever had the pleasure of
knowing. Oscar works six out of the seven days, from morning until night in the
Marmolina studio. Xiomar gets up at six every morning to milk the cows and then
spends the rest of his day taking care of the animals and taking on the
responsibilities of another parent in the house. Dona Nidia cooks all day to
feed us delicious, traditionally Nicaraguan meals while taking care of her
daughter, granddaughters, great-grandchildren and the rest of her family in the
house whose relation I am not quite sure of. The other day we went to the
ceramicists’ house to watch how they dye the red clay beads black. The process
involves placing the beads in a pan over a hot fire, and then covering the
beads with cedar chips that are then set aflame. The one of the ceramicists
(sadly whose name I do not know, but she appears to be the leader) stirs the
flaming chips in with the beads. The small room where this takes place is fills
with a thin layer of smoke, but by the fire the smoke is much more dense. She
keeps stirring the beads, now with a handkerchief with a crossbones pattern
around her face. I can’t image how damaging it can be to your lungs, and how
much these women end up sacrificing for their work. They are sometimes unable
to work because of the high cost of importing the clay they work with. These
humans all work so hard to live quite simply, and their positivity radiates
through out the community.
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