When I travel to a developing country, there are many differences from life in the United States, many of which I have written about in this blog. But today, as we wrap up Thanksgiving Day here in the U.S., I am reminded of one of the biggest differences: the level of poverty. You know and I know that people are hurting here in the U.S. these days. People are hurting all over the world. People who used to have jobs don’t. People who used to have money have less. People who used to find an abundance of food on their tables need to rely on food donations. People who once had their own homes no longer do. The land of plenty now has plenty of people going through difficult times.
So I'm not going to write a long narrative about how if we have a roof over our heads, food in the fridge, and a computer that allows us to read blogs, we should be grateful. Instead I am going to share part of an email I sent to some folks during my time volunteering for a community education center in Guatemala (so some of you have seen it). This is the experience just after it happened, and how I saw it. But I think it illustrates how many of us still have so much more than others could ever imagine, even in these trying times. If you travel, especially to developing countries, and make the effort to see what local life is like, you may also realize how much you really have.
What I saw yesterday went beyond inconvenience in the developing world. I saw poverty at a level I´ve never seen up close. I see poverty here in Guatemala. Everyday. The neighborhood where I work is poor. I mean dirt poor. Burning wood to cook food poor. If there is not wood, burning anything from cardboard to plastic bags poor. I mean no running water. No lovely tiled bathroom. No hot shower. No shower at all. A cement floor if you´re lucky. Dirt floor more likely. Mud floor during the rainy season. This is how it is. Our kids are poor.
At the school where I work, we have started a Godparents program for people in other countries (the U.S., Denmark, Sweden, Holland, etc.) to sponsor our students to attend public schools. It only costs $180 USD a year and includes the school, uniforms, supplies, a doctor´s visit, and any needed medical care during the year. As a result, we are accepting applications from the families with students who cannot afford to go to school. Imagine not being able to afford $180 a year. But they have nothing. As part of the application process, we go to the homes to interview the families and to see the living conditions. I did this for the first time yesterday... I went with my boss´s wife, Betty. One of the children who will be getting this scholarship is 6 years old and she is so unbelievably cute. The most amazing smile and she is so affectionate (as are most of the kids here ... they run up to you and hug you) and seems quite content.
We went to her house, which is a tiny building (shack) on the same property as a gravel pit of some kind. The pit is actually across the road, but here they load up the trucks or something. I wasn't really sure, but it made for a very dirty area. Their house is ONE room. ONE! And nine people live there. NINE! The mother of this little girl and the grandmother are the only adults. The grandmother and mother both have kids about the same age (little). The grandmother also has two teenagers, ages 13 and 16 and they do not go to school. Something is wrong with their papers and they were told they couldn´t get their papers to register them for school or something. I´m not sure exactly, but in any case, they are not in school. They live in this tiny, one room house with all these people, with nothing to do. Nothing to better themselves. No dreams to aspire to ... I just cannot imagine how depressing it must be for them. Or maybe it isn´t. Because that is all they know. The fathers of these kids are not around. It is just these two women, who are both very young considering, and their seven kids. The grandmother cleans houses and I´m not sure if the daughter does anything, but she is still nursing a baby who must be around 10 months old.
The house was one room, including a tiny space to cook. There were two double beds, which they also use for sitting and eating I suppose. There were no windows. Only a front door which they keep open in the day with a blanket strung across the entrance. I don´t know where they keep their clothes, or if they even have more than what they were wearing. Their clothes were dirty and torn. The floor was dirt. The smell inside was not good. I don´t know what it was because I have no idea where the bathroom was. They had a cat, and they had tied an old scrappy t-shirt around its neck like a leash and the cat walked around with this shirt dragging behind it. I don´t think the smell was the cat because there was plenty of dirt outside for the cat to use for the bathroom. The smell might have been a combination of dirt, sweat, heat from nine bodies and who knows what else. But they don´t know any differently. This is their home. This is their life. This is every day for them. Not a visit for 20 minutes. This is it. What can they possibly do? They have no education (although at least they can read and write, which is a very big deal). They have no skills really. Where does the change happen?
Hopefully with the kids. Hopefully with this little girl who will have the opportunity to go to school, see the world through different eyes and possibly find a dream that she can follow and realize as she gets older. Education is such an important part of empowerment. This is what my boss, Jaime, believes and it is the reason why he started this organization. You just don´t fully understand what you are up against until you see the living conditions of the people you are helping. I am a spoiled American. I know how lucky I am and I know there are people in the U.S. who have very little, who fight to put food on the table, who can´t afford to pay their heating bill. My dad volunteers in a food pantry and he sees this everyday he works there. Being here just makes it even more obvious to me how bad it is for many in other parts of the world. And we can only do so much. Which is frustrating. But every little bit counts. I have to believe that.
Thank you for reading my blog. And Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, even to those of you in other parts of the world where today was simply "Thursday."
