Pursuit of happiness for a rural family

 Martín Escobar I DP C

Pursuit of happiness for a rural family

Martín Escobar

18 November 2021

It's been 10 years since this exact date where my whole family completely changed their life when we moved from a rural area to an urban one, but how was this change? Was it a positive or a negative thing? Is life in the rural area as bad as it sounds, how is it different from the urban one? If you want to know these answers and more, stay reading what's coming from this blog on the Pursuit of happiness for a rural family.

What is life like for a family in rural areas?

Why does a family decide to move from a rural to an urban area?

To narrate what happened we must first start from the beginning. My family was from Alamor, a smallest town in Loja, Ecuador; I remember clearly that my family was composed of 7 people, there were my four brothers, my parents, and my grandfather, we were dedicated to a variety of activities, each one had a specific job, my father carried goods of different types from one side to another, for example from Alamor to Quito, the trip is very long exactly 10 hours and 35 minutes, and so he made trips from one side to the other, to bring food to the house, however, he always had that perseverance and although the salary was very low his goal was always his family.

My mother, on the other hand, was dedicated to everything related to agriculture, ranching, also had a bakery, but it closed very soon, the above mentioned requires great responsibility, I remember that she had to get up early every day, that is already had to be awake from 4:30 in the morning if she got up late was a big problem, because of our small farm, also came income, when a person wanted to buy an animal or request a product, in short, the work was very arduous.

My grandfather was a retired policeman, but the problem was that his monthly salary after his retirement sometimes did not reach him or his colleagues, once they told him that they did not send him because they did not know his location, they did not believe he lived in Alamor and it was a serious problem.

While my siblings, we called ourselves the four musketeers, where one went, the other went, I remember that we studied in a school very far from our home, we had to get up very early to catch the only bus of Alamor or else we had to run to school and very tired, usually, it was always happening the second thing, and not the first thing.

However, any challenge or obstacle that appeared we always passed them, sometimes wounded, but among the family, we help each other and thus heal the wounds of the other and vice versa, we have been characterized by being a united family, responsible with their obligations and very religious, However, at that time many limitations prevented our progress and growth, and you can see it by what was said above, for these reasons is that one day we all sat at the table in our house and presented our problems, we concluded to travel to Quito, to an urban and safe area to preserve the future of the family.

When we made the trip, I was filled with fear, but I remember that a day before practically the whole town gave us the last goodbye, they offered us food and even money, the little they had, but for education, we didn't take it.

In the car I was very insecure because in Alamor I formed beautiful relationships with many colleagues and even teachers, I did not know if I was going to do well in Quito, I asked myself what if this does not work, among other questions, but thank God there was my grandfather who distracted our minds as much as he could, telling us his stories in the police, to which and how many presidents he served, as well as telling us how is Quito, among other things.

To what extent would this change of life affect a person, either financially, emotionally and so on

In the beginning, I have to admit that the whole family was strongly affected by this change of life, from a rural to an urban area, we had a budget with all the animals and products that we sold, together with the sale of the house and the farm we kept us stable, I remember when we were enrolled in the school Provincial Council of Pichincha, that affected me too much, I was separated from my brothers exponentially, also my father could not find work, while my mother for a moment thought of returning, but here who was the support of all this was my grandfather, he gave us all his support, he told us not to give up, we did not give up because an Escobar and even less a Sisalima does not give up.

Those words were the impulse for the whole family and after that came only successes, my father found a job in a multinational company to which he made shipments of goods, but now with a much different job and with a higher salary, while my mother found a job in a private school and at the same time gave courses of what she did in Alamor to different universities, she later decided to explore this subject in greater depth and become a professional.

My brothers arrived early to their classes, they improved their grades a lot, they practiced sports in different clubs, they even were in the Pichincha Concentration and finally, my grandfather received his retirement payment, monthly, on time, and without excuses.

Is this change positive or negative?

In conclusion, all those families who live in rural areas, and the pressure is too much, as well as the stress and require a change as soon as possible, travel to an urban area, do not hesitate to do it, because you will not be starting from scratch, you will be very advanced by experiences that life has given you, my family does not regret at all this change that has been made, it has positively influenced our lives, yes at the beginning it was very complicated, but you only have to give time to time, in rural areas you will not find what you are looking for, while in urban areas there are more job opportunities, more educational opportunities among other things, it is just a matter of adapting.

In addition, I want to thank my grandfather because he was important for the development of this blog.