Omar

Omar is fourteen years old. He lives with his mother, father, and four brothers and sisters in the El Espino community. His father is a farmer who raises corn, beans, sorghum, and onions. He is a member of the farming cooperative in El Espino. Omar loves to help his father on the farm, and he has learned a lot by doing so. He says that slugs are a problem in the bean crop, and that cuerudos (small pests) eat the onions. Omar says they use agrochemicals for pest control. He also describes the terraces they build to prevent soil erosion.

Omar's house is made of red brick and it has one bedroom, a living room, and a kitchen. There is no electricity in the community so his family does not have a television. In order to watch television, they have to go to a friend’s house in San Marcos, which is two kilometers way. Omar complains most about the lack of potable (drinkable) water in the community.

Omar is in the fourth grade. The school he attends is a typical Nicaraguan red brick school with a tin roof. In addition to his studies, he helps keep the school clean and works in the garden weeding, pruning, and watering.

In the afternoon, he works in the garden at home weeding and watering. He also builds fences, furrows, and mounds in the fields. When he grows up, he wants to be a coffee harvester because they earn a good living and because he wants to know what it is like.

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