🦋 The Olla Común (Common Pot)

The Olla Común (Common Pot)

In the hills of Lima, inflation struck like a dust storm. Prices doubled. Wages did not. Mothers worried how to feed their children.

So the women gathered.

They brought what little they had — a handful of lentils, a carrot, a cup of rice — and poured it all into a single massive pot set over an open flame.

This was the olla común — the common pot.

One woman joked, "None of us has enough. Together we have plenty."

Every day, they cooked a meal large enough for the entire neighborhood.

Everyone contributed something:

firewood, salt, a piece of chicken, or simply time stirring the pot.

No woman was ashamed to take; no one was proud to give.

They were a circle.

The olla común became the neighborhood's heartbeat — beating stronger in crisis than in calm.

Reflection: When everyone contributes a little, the common pot overflows with enough for all.

This, too, is Butterfly Faith.