MEADVILLE, Pa. (PRWEB)
October 29, 2021
“Mi Cuajara: Stories and Poems of a Girl Born in the Valley of the Rio Mira”: a potent examination of life growing up in an isolated community and the rich historical background of the people found there. “Mi Cuajara: Stories and Poems of a Girl Born in the Valley of the Rio Mira” is the creation of published author Lola M. Laben, a loving wife and mother who was born in the isolated valley of the Rio Mira in Ecuador. Laben married a Peace Corps volunteer in 1977 and immigrated to California.
Laben shares, “The 1960s don’t seem that long ago to many of us. Given how crowded and closely connected the world of the present is, it’s hard to imagine there were places then that had been settled and cultivated for four hundred years but, as recently as the 1980’s, had no electricity, no plumbing, and very little traffic except for horses, donkeys, and (mostly bare) feet. The valley of the Rio Mira in Ecuador was such a place. Jesuit priests brought slaves – including Lola Laben’s ancestors – to farm sugarcane almost four hundred years ago. Slavery was abolished, but the work continued. Agrarian reform came, Lola’s parents became land owners, and the work continued. Lola was born in a mud house identical to the ones her slave ancestors had been born in for generations. She helped her parents farm a little farther downriver in the same manner that her ancestors had farmed. She explored her tropical paradise and wondered about faraway places and listened to the news of the outside world: the world beyond her valley and the city where the train came to and from three times a week.
“Fate determined that the outside world would find her, and she now resides in the most thoroughly modern and up-to-date nation on the planet. Guess what? Her childhood was full of wonder, beauty, adventure, and freedom even though survival was less certain. This book recounts the world that Lola was born into and how her heritage prepared her to meet the challenges of her future.”
Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Lola M. Laben’s new book is a poignant arrangement of personal reflections and poetry.
Laben paints a vivid picture of life in the Rio Mira area in hopes of spreading awareness of the importance of valuing one’s cultural heritage.
Consumers can purchase “Mi Cuajara: Stories and Poems of a Girl Born in the Valley of the Rio Mira” at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.
For additional information or inquiries about “Mi Cuajara: Stories and Poems of a Girl Born in the Valley of the Rio Mira,” contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
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