In 1978 reports of fighting kept travelers from spending much time in Nicaragua. During this year I journeyed alone throughout all of Central America. I was one of the few to visit Managua. I wanted to see the core of this city which had been destroyed by an earthquake in l972 and never rebuilt. The blame was placed on the corruption of the Nicaraguan dictator, Anastacio Somoza.

Standing in the empty plaza, drinking warm Coca Cola, I watched truckloads of National Guardsmen pass by…

Managua, June 28th, 1984. Midnight. Doña Mercedes greeted me in her nightshirt with her hair down and her arms open. For the next three weeks she and her family provided a home for me while I photographed for Oxfam America. She told me stories of her life before the Revolution and through her I experienced the excitement and incredible hardships of daily living in Nicaragua Libre.

The history of the Montano family is not unique, generations of Nicaraguans had fought against the Somoza regime. The success of the revolution rested heavily on the aid given by mothers to the young people fighting against National Guard, Somoza private army. Doña Mercedes was one of these mothers.

I returned for two weeks in July of 1985, to continue photographing in the Montano home. At 10pm on the eve of my departure, Doña Mercedes sat down and wrote out her story for me to take to the United States. I have presented it here with my photographs in an effort to keep attention on the personal toll of our political actions.