Day 4

I'm starting to think more and more that this film should be called the Shoeshine Girls. I just can't help being drawn into their stories. The majority of the men I have come across, they have no dependents, no one relying on them to put food in their mouths, shelter over their heads. So if they fall, they fall alone. By no means am I suggesting that the men have given up because no one needs them. But I cannot deny the resilience of the women I have met, all of whom are mothers. The image of a lustrabota cradling her little boy on a street corner, of her trying to feed him whatever scraps she can find, is a testament to the power of the maternal instinct. These women are low, about as low as you could possibly go, and yet, they are still holding on. Perhaps a dream is too far for them to reach. Maybe hope is as well. But they are trying like hell to cling to reality. They can't give their children a good life, but the least they can do is keep them alive. And they keep it together just enough to achieve this.