Looking in the box of memories, a nostalgic day, Maira found a photo of her grandmother with her children that always has caused her admiration. The photo shows a sadness but also a story of courage. She was widowed when uncle Mario (the baby in her lap) was just 3 months old. Imagine how she must had felt. Still young, with five children, a farm that just had a small area of coffee to harvest, the rest was land without crops, and in which her grandfather had placed all his hopes and efforts, that one day he would see it entirely cultivated. Her grandmother never took off her mourning. Maira always remember her suiting in a black dress. Well, she had learned, in the wake of that unexpected event, to continue working on the dream of her late husband’s coffee farm, which she named “The Hope”. She borrow money from banks, paid, did well with coffee and paid her boys’ education up to university. She had a generous heart, she later adopted a little girl as her only daughter. During Christmas she would give away toys to the children of her coffee plantation workers, and busting them piñatas. El Salvador was a coffee exporter mainly to Germany, but when World War II started, declared war to this country and joined the allies. The country entered into economic depression, so she decided to traveled to the United States with her sister, to work together at shipyards helping build US battleships in Arlington, Va. The expression of her grandmother in this picture is of a woman with determination, as if she was a descendant of Spartan women, haughty and struggling. No one knew that behind that enigmatic smile, that kindly expression and that black dress she waged battles against all odds to bring forward her family.

Un día, buscando en el bahul de los recuerdos, Maira encontró una foto de su abuela con sus hijos que le causó admiración. La fotografía cuenta un triste acontecimiento, pero al mismo tiempo una historia de coraje. Su abuela quedó viuda cuando el último hijo tenía 3 meses de nacido. Imaginen qué sentimientos la atacaban, todavía joven, con 5 hijos y una finca que comenzaba a cultivarse de café, y en la cual su abuelo había invertido tiempo en la siembra. Maira recuerda su abuela siempre vestida de negro. Bueno, la historia continuó para su abuela. y cultivó lo que faltaba de café. Se financió con bancos, pagó la educación de sus hijos. Su abuela tenía un gran corazón, era generosa con los niños de los trabajadores, les regalaba juguetes en Navidad. Adoptó una hija. Se vino la 2a Guerra Mundial, y el mundo sin excepción entró en depresión. EL Salvador declaró la guerra a Alemania (su máximo comprador de café) y se unió a los aliados contribuyendo con mano de obra para trabajar en las fábricas de armamento. Su abuela se unió al grupo de trabajadores que viajaban hacia Arlington, Virginia, para trabajar en la construcción de acorazados. En la foto, la expresión de su abuela es de determinación y coraje. Nadie sabía que detrás de esa enigmática sonrisa, ella libraba batallas para sacar a sus hijos adelante.