Dorothy "Sustain"

Photography by Randy Bacon

"Many in the village die of tuberculosis because of the smoke from the stoves, but we have no choice. We must keep our wood burning stoves going all day to cook the small amount of rice and beans we have.”

What sustains Dorothy and her family of nine is often what ends up killing many in her small village in El Salvador. However, Dorothy doesn’t seem like someone who is dying--she seems like someone who is truly living. Happiness radiates from her face as she labors over the stove to form a perfect piece of pottery.

Sometimes it is the people who have the least who are willing to give the most. “I am poor and don’t have anything but my family and pottery. It does not matter because loving others is the best gift life has to offer.” As Dorothy handed us two of her recently hand-crafted mugs, she said, "I must repay you for what you have done and give you this in return for the little bottles of shampoo that you gave me.” 

The material things many people believe sustain them actually end up harming them the most due to the stress that is caused by trying to obtain those things. Dorothy had very few material things, but why did she have so much happiness?