As I flip through my mental photos of my past year in Paraguay, there's one photo that will always appear as vivid as the moment I took it.

In this picture, a stranger might see an older woman hanging up some meager clothes on the line to dry. If they're observant, they might wonder about her bright smile that lights up the night.

But to me, there's much more to it than that. This photo tells about a Paraguayan woman, best known as my host mom, Enca. It tells about her hard work. It tells about her dedication to her only daughter and the joy of her first grandchild.

Enca Torres grew up in the campo, or countryside outside of Asunción. As the oldest daughter growing up on a small farm, she had no choice but to model hard work and perseverance. This is shown in the photo, simply by the time of day it was taken: evening. Often, Enca rose before sunrise to boil water for the Paraguayan tea, tereré. She would work all day, even through the sweltering afternoon heat, through the siesta and would not rest until late at night, after her last stitch was sewn.

The dedication to her only daughter, Marcela, was very apparent, every minute of the time I spent with them. In the photo, it’s shown through Enca’s washing of the baby clothes for her daughter, Marcela. I came to live with Enca´s family during the nine months of Marcela´s pregnancy. There was never a dull moment in the house with this kind of excitement going on! Enca always made sure that her daughter was eating right. This usually meant not to eat a sweet spread, called dulce de leche right after something salty or drink water with stew; to prevent getting sick of course!

Enca’s first grandchild was born just a week before my departure to the states. In all of my time spent with my host mom, I had never seen her more energized, enthusiastic and full of delight as I remember when her grandchild, Maximiliano, was born. Because Enca didn’t have the blessing from her family when her daughter was born, it was now that she could fully experience the joy of a new birth. This deep joy seemed to seep out from each wrinkle around her eyes and mouth when she smiled.

After taking a deeper looking into this photo becomes much more than an “older woman.” It takes a humanizing form to become my host mom, Enca Torres.