Strong heart

Widow in the tree, Ziar nad Hranom, 2006

I was sitting in a pizzeria in Ziar nad Hranom, a small city without a centre, when I saw this woman in the tree. At first she refused to be in the picture. "Why are you interested in an old woman who has to use her old week muscles to do such hard work because her husband died? "She asked me. Because you must have a strong heart to do so, I answered.

In countries like Slovakia many elderly still have to work or keep vegetable gardens to feed themselves, since their pensions are worth close to nothing in modern times. Especially in the smaller cities or villages you will find old women and men fixing roofs or shovelling the snow off the streets.