Following is part of an article from the latest Tico Times
Quote: A Look at Poverty
Walking in San José 's Triángulo de Solidaridad shantytown, one is hard pressed to see this improvement. Homes are patched together with scraps of wood and tin; wooden planks provide bridges over streams of trash; the stench of sewage wafts up from time to time; Ch*ldren wait anxiously at the doorway of a home where free plates of lunch are handed out by volunteers serving donated food.
Like so many of Costa Rica's slums, Triángulo de Solidaridad is in the middle of the city, with wealth a stone's throw away. It is bordered to the east by the highway to the Caribbean-port of Limón; to the west by well-known Motel Eden; and 400 meters to the south is a Mercedez Benz dealership.
A tangled network of wires overhead indicate that electricity does arrive at these makeshift houses. Walking along the narrow, dirt paths that weave through the maze, televisions and stereos can be heard announcing the lunchtime news or blasting Salsa music. And some homes do have refrigerators, although whether they work or not is questionable. Water is even kind-of available through a series of faucets that residents use to fill buckets and then carry to their homes, although pressure is sometimes reduced to a trickle.
But despite these “advancements,†resident Teresa ChavarrÃa said her life has hardly improved in the six years she has lived in the precario with her Ch*ldren and mother, Germania ChavarrÃa.
“Poverty continues as it always does,†she said. “Is my life better with a television? No. How am I going to feel better just because I have a television if I don't have anything to eat.â€
ChavarrÃa said she was given the television, but added that other furniture and appliances she acquired by finding extra work when she had a job. She has since lost her job and whatever work she can find is used to buy beans for her Ch*ldren.
Anyone have any first hand experience visiting this neighborhood?
I thought maybe some of the more adventerous members may have visited.
The Motel Eden (mentioned in the3 article) is the 'no-tell' drive in hotel, right? and is next door to this area?
anyway, I did see some hard conditions near the Cartago Bus Teminal last trip, but honestly have no time spent in neighborhoods like this in CR.
maybe this article helps explain (not excuses) the sometimes little darling's acts of desperation
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