Cookstove smoke seeps through the cracks between the haphazardly placed wood and sheet metal hunks forming the walls of the first house we see when walking up to the squatter's community known as el Precario. A sign hangs in front of the home with hand lettering reading "Aqui se venden tortillas," tortillas sold here.

The smoke comes from a closet-size kitchen. Two heavy flat pans sizzle over wood fires as a mother and daughter knead dough into the tortillas that support the family.

Maria de Socorro Garcia Castillo began making tortillas to support her family after being bedridden for two years when she lived in Nicaragua. She brought her skill with her to Costa Rica when she immigrated seven years ago.

Maria received legal status to live in Costa Rica one year ago. It was then that she brought her six children to be with her. The money she earns selling tortillas pays for educating her children and making payments on a 13-inch TV she bought for "her children's happiness."

"I am very poor," says Maria. "I work what I can, and I make sacrifices in order to keep my children."

--Mónika Lugo