ROSS TAYLOR

costa rica

A girl plays unattended in La Carpio one afternoon on a hill overlooking the village. La Carpio is a Nicaraguan refuge community just outside of San Jose which is considered one of the most dangerous areas in Costa Rica.

A girl plays unattended in La Carpio one afternoon on a hill overlooking the village. La Carpio is a Nicaraguan refuge community just outside of San Jose which is considered one of the most dangerous areas in Costa Rica.
   
Police officers arrest an intoxicated man who was causing a disturbance in La Carpio. Police presence is high in this slum area and violence is a commonplace.
   
A man cries out to be released from jail after being arrested for public intoxication in La Carpio. The jail is a one-room area with no beds and no lights, and like many jails in Central America, is poorly maintained.
     
  
A young man strung out on drugs is passed out while holding a baby doll on the streets of San Jose. At right is his girlfriend. Teenage drug use is rampant by those living on the streets of the capital city.
   
A brother and sister pretend to play house in their home which is constructed of tin walls, dirt floors and used furniture in a slum area outside of San Jose.
   
A teenager girl smokes crack along the streets of downtown San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. She said she was sexually abused as a child and fled from her parents to the streets. She also said that hot oil was poured on her head as a child by her parents which caused bald spots on her head.
     
  
Two women work to sew their own clothes while the daughter of the woman at left takes a nap in La Carpio. Most families in the community can't afford to pay for someone to take care of their children while they work.
   
Jeoffrey Hernandez checks the sky for rain while walking to his mother's wedding. Carmen Ruiz (behind Hernandez) has lived with her future husband for many years but recently decided to get married. The children walking with Ruiz are all hers by her boyfriend and soon-to-be husband.