The annual visit
All that signals that there may be someone living here is a tiny break in the underbrush growing along the rutted dirt road. Flory, GMRP continuing care coordinator, waves a visitor on, past a broken path of rocks and up a small hill to the front yard of dirt, where a dog growls suspiciously and a brood of hens and chicks pecks at the dirt.
One small electric light dimly shines through the hut. The kitchen table is on the front porch. Past the doorway swing four hammocks in the first room of a thatched hut that is covered by a corrugated steel roof. Behind the main room is a storage area, where plastic bags and chairs contain this family of four’s worldly possessions. The chicken coop is literally three giant steps from the main hut. A smoldering fire – the cooking and heating area – is between buildings.