Someone Take Care Of Me (Magazine Feature)
It is morning, but Noelia Espinoza squeezes her eyes closed, pretending she’s still asleep. If she had a blanket, she would pull it over her head.
But there are no blankets.
In this crowded bedroom in Cochabamba, Bolivia, there are no pillows or furniture. Just a row of stained mattresses on the floor.
Six people sleep here. Bodies pressed tight. One child turns over, setting off a chain reaction. Knees curl into backs. It might be fun if it was just one night. But this is no sleepover. It’s every night. And 6-year-old Noelia is sleepy.
She hears her aunt, Maria, move in the next room. The sound of a spoon scraping against a pot is a good sign. Today, there will be breakfast. Slowly, the mound of children in the middle the floor untangle and boys and girls yawn and stretch.
Noelia and the five other children stumble into the next room where Maria stoops over a steaming pot of rice. She peels a few bruised banana and stirs them in with the rice. The rice was given by a kind neighbor. The nearly spoiled fruit brought cheap at the market. Even then, each child will only get a small scoop of food to eat. Maria knows in a few hours they will be hungry again.
