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Background

Saul is a young boy living nearby the heavily tourist centered city of Cancun, Mexico. He travels daily by bus out to the hotel zone to sell his mother’s products to tourists on the street. This is his story:

Life in Sales

Saul is just nine years old, but he works full time along with going to the school to help provide for his family. He’s a shy boy, who speaks only Spanish to the mainly American tourist who flood into Cancun’s hotel zone strip. He’s the oldest of three children and lives with both his parents and grandparents in a city a few hours’ bus ride away from Cancun.

However every night, and even into the early morning hours, Saul comes with his aunt to sell small trinkets to tourists in order to get by. His main focus is small woven bracelets his mom hand makes, which he holds tightly onto until he makes his sell and pulls them individually off their sewn on strands.

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His Perspective

Despite being very independent at such a young age, Saul is not too aware of where he is or where he comes from. He knows he likes working a lot more than being in school and that each sold bracelet means more food and security for his family. He doesn’t think much about the future or other opportunities, he’s so quiet and so used to people speaking to him in a language he doesn’t understand that he’s become solely focus on exchanging money for bracelets.

He likes what he does, likes convincing people to buy and presenting beautiful bracelets to his customers. He loves Spiderman and other super heroes, but despite being a child, he doesn’t wish for a nonexistent reality. He’s grounded in the here and now, with a concentration that rivals the best sales people in the world.

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