03/27/2003

The lack of economic opportunity available to the Mlabri is evidenced in every aspect of village life. Children wear the same clothing for months until it wears out or new donations arrive. Food is scarce and water runs sporadically from a system of plastic pipes that frequently separate, flooding the ground and draining the shallow well. No one owns shoes or even flip-flops, so they traverse the gravel road connecting the village to both the fields and the children’s schools barefoot. Coughs, colds, ear infections and other treatable illnesses abound. The whole village turns out to play if a soccer ball finds its way onto the mountain.