Ever feel that your iron doesn't heat up fast enough? This is Ana, whose 7 year old son has leukemia and has to go to San Salvador on the bus a couple times a week for chemo treatment. Ana earns some money by ironing clothes for others. She and her 4 kids live in a 2 room adobe house on a steep hillside, accessible only by climbing down a switchback path from the road. Their bathroom is remote from the house, and they have to carry water to the house. There was no electricity in the house, so her iron is fired by wood scraps. I had never seen one of these used before, and was very impressed with her work ethic. Look closely in the lower photo and you can see smoke coming from the iron.

Her conversation repeatedly contained the term, "I am blessed".

I will have more to say about Ana in future posts.