Tears roll over Maria Rosa Mendoza’s cheeks as she turns away from Cotopaxi.
The 5,897-meter (more than 19,000-foot) volcano has cast itself over her entire life.
The water she drinks falls from its glaciers. Her cows graze in the pastures on its slopes. To her children, she tells handed-down tales of its killer 1877 eruption. She sings a local hymn that praises its fearsome majesty.
In this Sept. 2, 2015 photo, Maria Rosa Mendoza wipes tears as she evacuates with ash looming overhead, spewed from the Cotopaxi volcano in her village of Caspi in Mulalo, Ecuador. Mendoza had to leave her childhood village behind, alongside her husband and seven children to get out of harms way. They moved in with her in-laws in El Boliche, a nearby town considered a safe distance from the volcano. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
Mendoza, 42, has returned home beneath the Earth’s second-highest volcano with her husband to collect belongings and sweep the ash from their house. It is in easy reach of calamity should Cotopaxi blow.
On Aug. 15, when the volcano rumbled back to life, ash billowing from Cotopaxi penetrated her simple brick and concrete home and nearly asphyxiated her seven children.
The family left that day, moving to safer ground where her brother-in-law offered them rooms. Mendoza’s 9-year-old, Angelito, asks daily if they can go home. They all want to. But the uncertainty keeps them away.
The volcano has been spewing ash and steam and, on a few occasions, a small amount of molten rock for a month. Scientists say there is no imminent threat of a major eruption and the government has declared a yellow alert, the lowest kind. It means everyone potentially at risk should have evacuation plans.
Some 300,000 people live in the potential path of the lahars — fast-moving flows of splintered rock and mud that are the principal danger of such a snow-capped volcano.
Cotopaxi is considered among the world’s most dangerous volcanoes because of its proximity to a major city — Quito, Ecuador’s capital, is just 50 kilometers (a little more than 30 miles) away. People here literally live atop the solidified lahar flows that buried hundreds alive in 1877.
In this Aug. 28, 2015 photo, wild horses run through communal land used for grazing livestock as ash fills the sky from the erupting Cotopaxi volcano, in the village of Ticatilin in Mulalo, Ecuador. Cotopaxi, among the world’s most dangerous volcanoes for its proximity to a major city, has been spewing ash and steam and, on a few occasions a small amount of molten rock, for one month. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
Mendoza and her husband have moved the family’s 12 cows to a relative’s land farther from the volcano. Their pastures are smothered by ash.
Sales of the cows’ milk, she says, have given the couple income enough to provide for their children, ages 3 to 20. The minimum wage of $354 a month that she earns working at a rose plantation and the same amount that her husband is paid at a sawmill simply doesn’t suffice.
Mendoza’s life, although now upended, is deeply rooted in these rich, volcanic soils and she yearns to remain though reason would dictate she should leave.
Living beneath a volcano has its contradictions.
“To be at peace,” says Mendoza, “I want to see the eruption.”
In this Aug. 24, 2015 photo, a farmer walks her sheep through communal farmland to buyers parked nearby in a truck in the village of Chaspi, in Mulalo, Ecuador. Volcanic ash has rendered fields unusable for grazing, and farmers who fear more volcanic activity from the Cotopaxi volcano are selling their livestock at less than half market value. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Sept. 2, 2015 photo, Maria Rosa Mendoza sweeps her home during a quick visit to remove belongings in her village Caspi, in Mulalo, Ecuador, due to recent activity by the Cotopaxi volcano. On Aug. 15, when the volcano rumbled back to life, the ash fall penetrated her simple brick and concrete home and nearly asphyxiated her seven children. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Sept. 2, 2015 photo, Maria Rosa Mendoza returns home to quickly remove belongings in her village Caspi, in Mulalo, Ecuador, where ash from the Cotopaxi volcano fills the sky. The volcano has cast itself over Mendoza’s entire life. The water her family drinks falls from the volcano’s glaciers, and their cattle graze on the pastures on its skirts. To her children, she tells handed-down tales of its killer 1877 eruption, and sings a local hymn that praises its fearsome majesty. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Sept. 7, 2015 photo, Mariano Yuquilema, left, and his wife Blanca Regina Jarrin stands with their son Widison’s pet llama named “Martin” alongside the family dog “Bobi” on their property in San Jose de Loreto Pedregal, Ecuador, where the Cotopaxi volcano spews ash nearby. “The situation is alarming, but I’m not afraid,” said Jarri. “I feel respect for the volcano and I’ve learned to adapt and live with it.” The family raises dairy cows and grow potatoes, lima beans, barley, ulluco and onions. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Aug. 28, 2015 photo, the Cotopaxi volcano fills the sky with ash and vapor near the village of Ticatilin, in Mulalo, Ecuador. Scientists say there is no imminent threat of a major eruption and the government has declared a yellow alert, the lowest kind, meaning everyone potentially at risk should have evacuation plans. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Sept. 2, 2015 photo, Maria Rosa Mendoza watches her family load a motorcycle into a truck as they evacuate their home in their village Caspi, in Mulalo, Ecuador, as ash from Cotopaxi volcano fills the sky. The family also moved their 12 cows to a relative’s land farther from the volcano because their pastures are smothered by ash. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Aug. 24, 2015 photo, ash from the Cotopaxi volcano decreases visibility for drivers in the middle of the afternoon along the Panamerican Highway, between Pasto Calle and Mulalo, Ecuador. Cotopaxi is among the world’s most dangerous volcanoes for its proximity to a major city. Quito, the capital, is just 50 kilometers away. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Aug. 31, 2015 photo, Maria Manuela Manitasig Tayupanta, 70, uses a sack to dust volcanic ash from her onion crop in the village of Ticatilin, in Mulalo, Ecuador. Manitasig, using goggles and a face mask help diminish the irritation caused by volcanic ash, has lived on this property near the Cotopaxi volcano for 54 years, along with her 79-year-old husband Jose Almache. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Aug. 24, 2015 photo, a boy wearing a mask over his mouth plays in the public school’s soccer field, coated in volcanic ash from Cotopaxi, in the village of Chaspi, in Mulalo, Ecuador. Cotopaxi, the earth’s second-highest volcano, has cast itself over villagers’ entire lives. Drinking water comes from its glaciers; animals graze on the pastures on its skirts; there are tales of its killer 1877 eruption; and even a local hymn that praises its fearsome majesty. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Sept. 5, 2015 photo, residents watch a religious procession during annual Holy Cross celebrations outside a church in the village of Joseguango Alto, in Mulalo, Ecuador, located near the Cotopaxi volcano. Cotopaxi is among the world’s most dangerous volcanoes and the people here literally live atop the lahar flows that buried hundreds alive in 1877. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Sept. 3, 2015 photo, field worker Graciela Changoluisa harvests onions by hand in Chaupi, Ecuador, where the Cotopaxi volcano spews ash and steam into the sky. Locals know the volcano by an Aymara indigenous name which translates as “The Neck of the Moon.” (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Sept. 12, 2015 photo, Maria Virginia Guanochanga Chulca holds her dog “Compadre” as her husband Juan Francisco Cumbajin LLumugc stands by at their home in San Jose de Loreto Pedregal, Ecuador, near the Cotopaxi volcano where they raise livestock and grow potatoes. Some 300,000 people live in the potential path of the lahars, fast-moving flows of splintered rock and mud, that are the principal danger of such a snow-capped volcano. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Aug. 24, 2015 photo, buyers load sheep into their truck in the agricultural village of Chaspi, in Mulalo, Ecuador, after buying them from local farmers. Buyers are scooping up livestock at rock bottom prices after eruptions from the nearby Cotopaxi volcano, whose ash has rendered fields unusable for grazing, and farmers fear more volcanic activity. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
In this Sept. 3, 2015 photo, Maria Juana Veloz watches the Cotopaxi volcano from her property in Santa Rita, Ecuador, as she stands with her dog and donkey. Veloz’s family, who grow potato and lima beans, is one of about 10 who decided to stay put, while others are evacuating. Maria, 44, said this is the first eruption she’s ever witnessed. (AP Photo/Cris Toala Olivares)
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