He lives in a small settlement high in the barren mountains of Bolivia in South America. His home is a small room which he shares with a younger adopted "brother" (who has no family alive). They support each other as best they can. Miguel's father and uncle have died, because of accidents in the mines or silicosis.
This terminal condition is a lung disease caused by the dust in the local tin mine, which has no safety procedures. People working there for less than a Dollar a day, have no protection and the local cemetery has so many graves - as many for children as adults, it is hard to find the one you seek.
The boys have never been to school, and never travelled off their mountain, where they will die. They will never touch the sea or see green fields, and do not know how to play. Ironically they have Coca Cola, and a plastic Mickey Mouse is their only ornament.
Because they know no other way of life, they accept their sad state and when not working in the mine, sleep to escape the poverty in their young lives. Both boys have a constant dry cough and breathlessness, which will get worse unless they can leave the mine...
Every day another child will die!
COMMENT
Today`s story, on your blog, brings home reality concerning life, how others in this world suffer silently, while we in the west become fat, selfish and worried about our own little lives.
Every day I thank God for my life for the things that I did in the past, present, and will do in the future. However, sometimes it is hard to think about other people who are worse off in life, because we are all blogged down with our own worries!
< C N N, Devon >
