Cecilia Bocel Cun

(A-46) Status: Not Sponsored

Needs: food, blankets

UPDATE Dec 21, 2012:  Cecila recieved the gift of a blanket!
For more stories and photos of the ancianos in the Feeding Program, please consider purchasing a book compiled of our participants. All profits go to the Elderly. You can preview the book here.  

All of the sudden, Cecilia’s eyes clouded up and she went blind.

Since her sister died half a century ago, Cecilia has been surrogate to five grandkids.

They squeeze around her on the tiny bed, where sitting across from her on the other wall their knees nearly intertwine. 

When she could see, she and many other women in San Jorge about her age went washing onions for less than 25 cents a day. 

Now that they are older, they find themselves widowed, in crumbling houses, often alone and without a way to work or feed themselves.

Her grandkids help their mother make beaded jewelry to sell, as their father can't work. He spent eight months in bed after suffering a stroke and anemia, accumulating debts for his treatments. They still owe $2400 US, and pay about $30 monthly in installments. 

Because of this they often go without food. A grandchild brings home the lunch from the Program, and it is divided among the family.