Lito the Shoeshine Boy [Documentary Photo Bk] (Book Review)

"Lito - The Shoeshine Boy". By Lito Chirinos; as told to, translated by, and with the photographs of, David Mangurian, #0590073826, c1975.

An excellent little documentary project. This book found an audience far different than publisher, and perhaps author, envisioned. While initially intended as a children's book, it was perhaps more popular with adults. It is accompanied not by cute drawings or animated figures, but B&W images taken in some of the least appealing places, of an extremely poor country. The story comes mostly first hand from the young Honduran boy, who had been abandoned three years earlier. He was already alone and streetwise, when he ran into then former United Nations and then UNICEF photographer David Mangurian, who found him trying to eek out a living, on the tough streets of the national capital, Tegucigalpa.

Mangurian, has spent a good bit of time in Central America, and he has provided the documentary images used in many reference and educational tools, including those for the Nicaragua- and Honduras-related articles, in "World Book Encyclopedia" and several other publications. While for the last 30 years he has been a photographer and audio-visual officer for "IDB America" (information magazine offered by the Inter-American Development Bank), in 1975 he was in Honduras. The project came together quickly, and the resulting book was widely read and was nominated for awards, but has for whatever reason, all-but disappeared from memory. Unfortunately, it is not included on countless suggested reading lists for people interested in social topics or public policy in Central America.

From the press release: "When I was let's see maybe nine years old we came to the city [to Tegucigalpa, from Olancho]. We were walking in the market when my mother said to me, "Do you want to stay here?". "No", I told her. Then she hit me. She hit me a lot. And than walked off an left me there."

The story is told by Lito (transcribed exactly as spoken) and Mangurian, and it is straightforwardly honest. Lito's possessions include a single outfit of clothes (no socks, nor shoes of any kind - like many shoeshine boys to this day in Honduras, he goes barefoot), an automobile lug nut, the electrical cord from a discarded iron (serves as a weapon, if other shiners attempt to rob him), and a crude wooden box used to transport his tools of the trade.

Lito offers his story, an account by someone who is still a child, though has really not had much of a childhood, and perhaps has no concept of what was lost. He describes where he is from, how he came to be in Tegucigalpa, what his family was like, where he now lives, who his friends are - and what he does to survive each day. He also reveals aspects of this working life many readers, even adults, might not infer without his reflections (for example, why he dislikes rain - since people never get a shine on a bad day, so on rainy days he can often go without food). He has friends with similar stories. Some were abandoned like Lito, others left on their own - for obvious reasons. Lito realizes what school means to most people, and is obviously crushed by the fact the he will never go, though he is still hopeful that when he turns 19, he will study to learn a trade.

The short book (just 60 pages) concludes with a reflection and admission from the author, who before leaving Tegucigalpa, bought some clothes, shoes, and a jacket for Lito. Mangurian admitted that, after he had done this, he realized how preposterous Lito looked, as a shiner - a young boy in new clothes, asking for money or for the "honor" of giving someone a shine, for a few centavos; he new that while Lito was genuinely happy with the gift, his business prospects would be mostly killed off, due to the fact that he simply looked too good for such work, or pity (he usually begs for food, since shining cannot cover all necessities).

Mangurian returned to Honduras, 18 months later, and managed to find Lito and his best friend Churro (another street child), and eventually took them to "Children's City" - a special project for abandoned children, staffed by Father Guillermo and Sister Maria Rosa, where children receive food and a place to stay, while learning a trade, such as shoe repair or carpentry. Guillermo thought their services would probably be wasted on the boys, since they were older and were conditioned to the ways of the street (he had a very poor success rate with older boys, due to their unwillingness to adhere to the rules of communal living, and he had very few resources). Eventually, he agreed to accept Lito, but warned Mangurian not to be too surprised if the boy didn't stay around long. Shortly thereafter, while on a photographic shoot in South America, Mangurian learned that after month or two, his letters to Lito were being returned, unopened. He knew what had happened, and that Father Guillermo had been right about the ways of the street.

This book takes a first-hand look at a topic usually left to statistics and second-rate newspaper journalism, even to this day. While more than 30 years have passed, this book is still insightful, and Mangurian deserves credit for pursuing a project using his own photographs, and not some watered-down substitute. While this account obviously takes place in Honduras, there is no comparable account I have ever seen from Nicaragua - and it is basically a story of one of the countless abandoned children in Latin America, one who just happens to be Honduran (he could just have easily been from any of the Central American countries). After being unavailable for 30 years, most used copies are ex-library books, of varying condition, but the book can still be located without too much trouble.