Juana

I felt compelled to write a bit about Josh's work after viewing a video clip of the couple Pedro and Rocío who wash windshields on a busy thoroughfare. In Josh's video the focus turned to a tight shot of Pedro's mother's weathered face. His mom sits on a nearby sidewalk all day and sells gum to passers by. She is nearly blind and waits on her son to walk her home at the end of the day.

It is apparent that life has not been easy for her. She is probably in her early 60's, but looks to be in her late 70's, with deep wrinkles, missing teeth and cataracts. And what is so stirring to me is that in this video clip she is crying, revealing to Josh that she is not happy and that life has been hard. I choked up when I saw this, and am choking up as I write about her. I do not know much about her, nor her long life, but I know she does not deserve to sit in the hot sun day after day wishing that her life was better. This morning when I was talking to Josh I remarked on what I deem the lottery of life; where and what you are born into can determine so much of your destiny. We are very lucky to have what we have.


Some day Josh will publish the video, which will be much more powerful than my description. He is developing quite a collection of still and moving images of many stories which are going to take him months to edit. I am hopeful that his work can help be an agent of change for this very story and beyond.