Quico Chico

Life. As I sit here typing this, people in every pocket of our world go about their daily lives. It boggles my mind. Pictured here is Chico Quico, a small community in Nacion Q'eros, Peru. No roads, no electricity, no toilets. These people have inhabited the remote Andes for hundreds of years largely unaffected by the "outside" and "modern" world. Things are changing dramatically, but much remains the same. This is the community. That's it. Maybe 20 families or so who eat a 90% potato diet. It's really all they can grow at high altitude. Life is hard. I spend a week here at a time and already start to miss a hot shower, a diverse diet, a bathroom, access to communication/information and the freedom to travel. If you get sick here, you have to hike out to the nearest road. Every time I turn on the faucet, I think of this place. Each time I get into bed, I imagine huddling close in a smoke filled house with wind drafts penetrating the loosely fitted rock walls, and I think of having to stumble in the middle of the night in absolute darkness out into the freezing temperatures and scour the area just to find a suitable place to use the bathroom. I think of this community all of the time. It is indelibly part of my imaginative thanks to my privilege to travel. I don't romanticize it. I will never fully understand it. I just know it's out there, and there are so many other similar pockets around the world where life goes on....It's bigger than me or you. Think about it when you make decisions.