“People Are So Creative!”
Thank you for your post, Wanjiku. [See the article “Sharing RC with Workers in the Jua Kali Industry,” by Wanjiku Kironyo, on page 27 of Present Time No. 207“.] I grew up in rural Puerto Rico in the 1960s in a coffee-farming area where there were poor people and few jobs. I was aware of some work women did in the informal sector to support their families. They called the work chiripas, or “strokes of luck.” I knew a woman who grew hot peppers, hemmed clothing, sold t-shirts, and made cakes for special occasions. Men commonly repaired broken cars, electronics, electrical wiring, clothing, and tools.
I have also spent time in Cuba. Cuba has been suffering from an economic blockade for sixty years, and there is a huge shortage of spare parts. Cubans are famous for keeping old cars running—cars from the 1950s and even the 1940s. During fuel shortages, people used medical blood bags and small metal tubes to make stoves. They attached small motors, bamboo poles, and baskets to bicycles to haul things around the city. They invented substitutes for foods they could no longer get—for instance, they cut out the inner peels of grapefruits, seasoned them, and fried them as imitation steaks. A driver in an informal car service used dish detergent for brake fluid.
People are so creative!
Maricao, Puerto Rico
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders in the transformation of society
(Present Time 207, April 2022)