A Young Entrepreneur, Zihuatanejo

Maria gently places her small hand on the dinghy as she walks alongside, as if she were blessing it.  She doesn’t lift her hand from it as her father hauls it onto the beach.  Some days, she comes to the beach directly from school, still wearing her uniform.  Other days, she’s in shorts.  Always, her hair is disheveled, falling carelessly out of a barrette or ponytail.  Sometimes, she brushes the stray strands away from her face; sometimes, she’s too busy to notice. 

Whether it was out of a need to take care of his family or his entrepreneurial spirit, or perhaps a little of both, her father, Juan, saw a need and filled the gap and at the tender age of six, Maria is helping when she can.  Juan provides a welcome service to cruisers by helping them land their dinghies safely on the beach in Zihautanejo.  Watching from the shade of the palm trees, he wades out to meet them, always with a smile and a polite greeting.  He holds the dinghy steady while the passengers hop out into knee-deep water, the driver shuts off the engine and hops out before pulling it up past the surf line.  Most bays do not have dinghy docks so beach landings are a necessary evil and having shore help is really nice.  After landing, Juan will keep an eye on your dinghy until you return and then he helps you launch, reading the waves and trying to keep everyone dry.  For this roundtrip service, he charges 20 pesos, about US$1.80. Some days, he may help 10 boats.  During a festival there may be 20 or more, but his average daily income rarely exceeds US$20. 

For many of us, Juan embodied the hard-working, entrepreneurial spirit that we encountered throughout Pacific Mexico.  Doing something is better than doing nothing. By filling a niche he found a means to provide modestly for his family. We don’t know his whole story.  He may have other income, he may do some fishing occasionally, but based on the hours that he was on the beach, it’s hard to imagine that there was time for anything else, and he was teaching his young daughter the same principles of hard work. 

Maria is a shy girl of few words.  She mostly just wants to touch the dinghies and walk alongside them.  I usually gave her some small coins for her efforts.  One day, I gave her a coloring book and some crayons.  She smiled and held them tightly.  On another day, I gave her a Barbie sticker book and her eyes lit up.  Next time I see her, I will have some clothes for her.  Sometimes, it's the little things in life that really matter.