Ligia

Today I had the opportunity to go to Valley of Angels with the South Baton Rouge group.  Due to some unexpected events, I arrived out there around 3:45.  Everyone was busy shopping and Marc and I sat in the coffee shop and had a granita.  A beautiful little girl walked to our table selling candy.  Her name is Ligia (Lee-hee-a).  She is 11 years old.  Her hair had the beautiful highlighting that in this country means not a trip to the beauty shop, but malnourishment.

Fortunately, Ligia is in school, in fifth grade.  Her mother makes this candy and sends her to town to sell to the gringos that visit Valley of Angels every weekend.  She can't go home until it is all sold.  She lives between Valley of Angels and Santa Lucia, which is quite a ways.  I am guessing she rides a bus into Valley and rides  the bus home when the candy is sold.  She only had two packages left and Marc talked some of his interns into buying that.  She sat down at our table and Marc bought her a drink.  We visited for some time with her.  Once before, when Marc was there, he bought all of her candy.  There was another little girl also selling candy.  We bought her a drink, too.  The South Baton Rouge people left Valley of Angels with a small bag of candy that they purchased from the other little girl.

It was a pleasure to talk to this little girl today.  It is sad to me to think about a child so young having to work so hard so her family can eat.  She didn't seem sad or resentful that she had to work like that.  Today, she was glad all that candy was gone. 

Terri