Palenstu is a beautiful place inhabited by the Epinayu clan. It is located at kilometer 55 on the Maicao-Riohaca highway. There lives a girl with light eyes and black hair. She is a humble girl who lived with her mother, a woman who dreams of seeing her daughter grow up.

There are 80 families in Palentsu, a community full of harmony and brotherhood, but just as there is happiness there is sadness, too. A sadness that has left them disconsolate and worried, because the community lacks the basic conditions to meet the needs of the Wayúu children.

The crowing of the rooster announces the arrival of dawn. The birds can be heard singing, and the morning sunrise is both the reminder of a new day and the warning of a new challenge.

Leaving early to walk to school, daydreaming along the way, "I wish I had a ride," says that little girl, who usually eats very little, if anything, for breakfast at home. There is a beautiful smile on the girl's face, but a closer look reveals a weak body. She is the survivor of a life that became hard too soon.

She's withstood hunger, lack of water, abuse, and indifference. I'm not sure she can bear it, because the solutions are as difficult as they are distant.

The girl is not only malnourished in her body, but also in her soul. Going to school hungry hinders her ability to focus and learn, even less so with almost non-existent facilities due to the lack of government will. It is not silence, but the will of a government.

Translation: Andru Shively (VUB)