|
Until almost the end of the Franco regime (1975), women walked over an hour to work in the fields all day, fetched water from village wells which they carried in clay jars on their head and at the waist, swept and mopped unpaved streets, and washed clothes by hand in a spring. They made bread and took it to the town ovens, forns, to be baked. When they went to Tortosa, 45 kilometers from Cālig in southern Cataluņa to pick olives, they traveled several hours by mule drawn cart and stayed for three months leaving their children behind with grandparents. Older children who accompanied their parents dropped out of school.
Until the later 70's, women's lives were restricted to working in the home, caring for family members, shopping, and helping in the fields as needed, usually at harvest time. Few women were able to attend a university and have careers.
Some women have told me how much they wanted to continue their schooling, but education was not a necessity, in their day, for most farm families. I sympathize with these women who read whenever they have a spare moment. They want their children to take advantage of educational opportunities they didn't have but many of today's youth prefer working to studying. Perhaps Our Lady of the Innocent and Helpless will watch over these women and young people in their separate quests.
|
