Marietta

Hi everyone, this is my Mum's friend, her name is Marietta, she tries to carve out a living selling straw brooms and carries huge bundles of them on her back, mile after mile. I'm not sure where she lives exactly, she speaks very little English and my Ndebele isn't what it used to be, but once a month she comes to visit my mum, who gives her a meal, a cup of tea and some money to try and help. She is always so grateful to my mum and always tries to give a broom in return. Even though she has nothing, this poor old African lady is full of dignity and always smiling. You can always hear when Marietta is coming up the road because she sings, "brooms, brooms". Once Gerald thought it was some kind of strange bird approaching . The day I took this photo Marietta was so tired, she had been walking with this huge bundle all morning, but when she saw the camera her face broke into this broad grin and she was delighted, she has never forgotten me and still asks my mum how I am doing. It is incredible how people keep surviving, against all odds. Gerald said that going to Africa changed his perspective on life.If you see how poor people are there, they have literally nothing compared to us, yet they are grateful for what they do have and they never complain, they just accept. Marietta, I salute you!