"Live the Cover!" Contest: Maldives

Great Travel Moment

I traveled to Guatemala with a head full of numbers: 56% of Guatemalans below the poverty line, 20% in extreme poverty, 48% of children chronically malnourished. Almost half the population is under 15. Maternal mortality remains extremely high, infant mortality is among the worst in the hemisphere, and female indigenous illiteracy is close to 100% in rural communities.I am haunted by this portrait of a girl in Chichicastenango tending to her sister, not only because of its tender beauty, but also because of its implications. The sight is common in Guatemala, where the average woman has 5 or 6 children and labors taking care of household needs. Unless significant reforms are undertaken, these two girls will, like their mother, have no access to education, health care, or family planning. Precisely because of the mother's absence, it is a portrait of what it means to be a girl in Guatemala.