In a land where there is no running water it is hard to tell someone to wash their hands. In a land where you don't own a pair of shoes it is hard to tell a person to keep their feet clean, or not to play in the mud. In a land where there is no electricity it is nearly impossible to ice your sore knee, or aching feet. In a land where your family consists of 15 kids all sleeping in the same room, sharing hammocks together it is impossible not to spread scabies to one another. It is difficult to eat healthy when all you can afford is rice. It is difficult to watch your diabetes when all you eat is starch. It is hard to afford birth control when you can't buy a ticket into town to be seen by a provider.
How can you compare your life in the states to a life in this developing country? What do you really need? When I look at my life and all the frivolous things I own, all the things I seldom use but somehow need, I am disgusted. I feel sick with the excess all around.
In a land where you mow your lawn with a machete, and fill your water buckets at a pump that has visible worms coming from the spout, how can you expect to help with a small bottle of tylenol? I don't think I have gotten used to seeing pigs and chickens sharing the same house that 16 people live in, I don't know if I ever will. How can you help people medically, when all they need is clean water? Where do you start?
The people here are happy. Most families live well below the poverty level in Toledo- I believe it is 70% are in extreme poverty. Yet so many are content with what they do have. There is a great sense of community. For instance, last night I took a walk around 5 pm and came upon a soccer field full of kids playing together. They had gotten out of school and decided to enjoy the coolness of the evening by starting a game of tag. There must have been 40 of them out there, running laughing playing. So refreshing...
Life here is a paradox. I am still learning what it is all about.
No comments:
Post a Comment