Mission in Mexico - Part 5

Poverty, Mexican Style

This is another in a group of posts to keep you all up to date on what I’m doing in Mexico.

I’ve mentioned a lack of resources several times in my posts already. I want to write directly about how difficult things are here. While there are many relatively wealthy big cities and other places in Mexico, what I see here is poverty. Some families live in homes that are constructed of surplus wood and sheet metal.

The cars that they drive are beat up — broken windshields, no bumpers, busted taillights, dented body panels, and engines that alternately whine and roar when they work at all. When they stop running they are often left in the yard or on the street. Water in Mexico is famously undrinkable, so big bottles of drinking water called garrafóns are hauled everywhere. Many homes have outhouses and no running water. People sell everything imaginable on the streets. There are piles of trash around every corner.

Many of the roads in this area are unpaved, and by unpaved, I mean dirt. So when it rains, everything shuts down, because some of the roads become flooded and impassable. Classes are canceled and businesses close. It is hard to get anything productive done. I’ve come to see that all these things are obstacles to progress.

There have been times when I’ve been uncomfortable here because things are so unfamiliar to me. I’ve lived in prosperous areas all my life, so not having access to reliable tap water and internet service feels like I am camping. As a matter of fact, that’s the reframe that I’ve used to tolerate many things here: “It’s like I’m camping.” Somehow that view makes things easier for me.

The book Factfulness by Hans Rosling has helped me to develop some perspective on what I am seeing. It may be one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read. He points out the enormous changes that have occurred in the world over the last 50 years. While we used to be able to label countries as either rich or poor, the dividing lines are not so clear any more. While there are still relatively wealthy nations, only about 9 percent of the world lives in true extreme poverty. These are people who have no shoes, little to eat, no transportation, and have high levels of disease. Child mortality is common. Instead of just rich and poor, Factfulness talks about 4 levels of wealth. Level 1 is extreme poverty, and level 4 is the wealth that is common in Western nations like the U.S. and Japan. About 75 percent of the world lives somewhere between the rich and the poor — including where I am here in Mexico. Think about it this way: there are cars here. Almost all the children are vaccinated. People have enough to eat, shoes, and clothing. Clean water doesn’t come from the tap, but it is easily available. There is electricity and internet access for those who can afford it.

It looks and feels poor to me because of my privileged background. As Rosling says, when you look down from a skyscraper, everything looks low. The work I’m doing here isn’t addressing extreme poverty, the kind you find in Somalia or Afghanistan or Haiti. What I’m doing is helping to level the playing field for our neighbors who live with less than I do. It’s addressing relative poverty.

So is that worth doing? I think so. I wouldn’t know where to start in Somalia. Here, I speak a little Spanish, tell some Bible stories, help teachers teach, and provide some psychological assistance. I can help a few children and show them that someone cares. The whole idea of Manos Juntas ministries is to help people to improve their lives. Providing medical care, education, housing, and community events does just that. As long as the people here want me, I’m glad to help.

I’m ending all these posts the same way:

Everything is funded through donations. Giving is easy through the United Methodist Advance site - https://gbhem-umc.my.site.com/hemgm/s/donate-to-campaign?id=a3fPo000000D43R. Every little bit helps.

Please send a prayer or kind thought down this way. They all help, too.