andrea-mendoza
I create traditional fabrics that I sell to tourists who visit the town I live in. My mother taught me how to work with fabrics. She used to tell me I should learn to work so that I could cover the family expenses when I got married. My work did help my husband and me cover our many needs. Today, being alone, I realize that I can rely on myself. My children are already married and have their own needs. If I need to buy any medicine when I get sick, I don’t have to bother my children because, like me, they also live with many shortages. Learning to work for myself helps me live with a clear goal in life: if I don’t work, I cannot eat. I believe that God has been very patient and merciful because I still have the energy and the capacity to work. I see people at my age and can sense that they can no longer live as I do; I owe all that to God.

MORE STORIES

Desmond O’Grady, SJ

Desmond O’Grady is a Jesuit priest who served in many prominent positions throughout Ireland. He was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He shares what living with the disease has taught him and how it has changed the way he lives life. [Interviewer] And that’s the great thing about being open about it. You know, once it’s…

VIEW THIS STORY

Ana Maria de Castro Santos

On one of these visits, we found a young woman with four children who had nothing to eat. The mother was crying and showing us the empty pots. I looked at Anna, and she looked at me. There was a lady nearby selling jackfruit, and we asked the lady for a piece. Anna shared the…

VIEW THIS STORY

Eugenie Carmel Gazal

Eugenie Carmel Gazal is no stranger to work and struggle. In this brief video, she describes how her mother’s example inspired her to start a second career late in life.

VIEW THIS STORY

Martin Benton

Before I started making pottery, I had the idea that you had to make a perfect pot. Over time I have come to realize there is no such thing as a perfect pot. There is a relationship between the potter and the clay, and the clay has a mind of its own. You can shape…

VIEW THIS STORY

Desmond O’Grady, SJ

Desmond O’Grady is a Jesuit priest who served in many prominent positions throughout Ireland. He was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He shares what living with the disease has taught him and how it has changed the way he lives life.

VIEW THIS STORY

Ludovina Pacheco

The day before he died, my grandpa gave me a gift and asked me to pray for his soul because he was on the way to our Father’s house. We talked a lot that evening. Very lucid, he repeated once more: ‘My dear, pray for my soul.’ I went home, and at four in the…

VIEW THIS STORY