I recently watched a documentary about three college students who went to Guatemala and lived off of a dollar a day, like the majority of the local Guatemalans. From the beginning this video was both startling and eye opening. After watching it I realized that I never had even the slightest idea of what those in poverty are faced with every day. Nothing, not even this documentary, will ever give me a full understanding of what it is like to live in such terrible conditions. It would be difficult to live like this and I don’t think I could do it. Every morning, to wake up with the fear that you or a loved one will get sick or die, that your money will get stolen, or your children will have to drop out of school… worries as big as these are the normal, everyday reality for people in poverty. There are countless reasons why I would not be able to live in these conditions, but the main one is that it would be so hard to deal with the constant fear of such terrible things happening in my life or the lives of those I love.
While this documentary had many profound facts and stories, the thing that stood out to me most was that while these people have next to nothing, they had the biggest smiles I'd ever seen throughout the majority of the video. In the United States, you hear complaining nearly everywhere you go from nearly everyone you see. We complain about things like not having the newest phone, having too much homework, having to wake up early for school, and many other things that we are too blind to see are really blessings in our lives. These things are luxuries that we have started considering necessities. The families in Guatemala often don't have enough money to send their children to school, much less having a phone or any so called "necessity" we have in the United States. Some of the people I saw in the video had lost everything, whether it was money being stolen or a hurricane that destroyed all their farm land, they had all gone from having nearly nothing to having even less, and I never heard one of them complain about any of it. They told their stories as if it were just another problem to deal with, sometimes smiling even then, as they talked about how they had lost the little they had in the first place. It blew my mind that while having so little, the Guatemalans were able to see the bright side of their situation and give a huge smile even in situations that would have any American, including me, in tears.
People living in poverty encounter hardships every day that most of us will never experience in our entire lives living in the United States. Life always seems to have a challenge coming their way and the uncertainty of what is coming next seems almost unbearable. Most Guatemalans work as home laborers or farmers, neither of which are reliable jobs. As a home laborer or farmer you never know how much money you're going to make or when you're going to make it. The average annual income in Guatemala is a dollar a day, but this is the average income over the entire year. A local farmer may not make any money for days at a time and then start making three or four dollars a day over the next few days. This may not sound like an issue but if he hasn’t been able to save any of the previously earned money to purchase food the family goes into even more extreme poverty for the days that the farmer isn't able to make money. Finance is just one example of the uncertainty people in poverty face every day. They never know if they or their loved ones will even make it to the morning alive and healthy. If you or a family member gets sick while living in poverty, it is nearly impossible to afford the trip into town to get to the doctor, much less pay the hospital bill afterwards. Again, there are countless other ways people in poverty are put into the worst and most uncertain situations possible.
While many Americans, including myself, put different values on things than Guatemalans, you will be surprised by how many things we put similar values on. For example, the "policy" of family first applies in both countries. Many people in Guatemala have large families of about 6-8 people, but family is just as important, if not more so, to them than it is to us in America. We also value money similarly. While Guatemalans have much less money than most Americans, money is, unfortunately, very important. The difference is that the Guatemalans want money so that they can do what we already have enough money to do in the United States; such as go to school, afford transportation, improve their housing, etc. In America most people want money for pleasure or so that they can afford things that we see as necessary, but really are just things that we could live just fine without. That brings me to my next difference between the two countries: "everyday" objects. The vast majority of Americans have a phone, a home, enough food to eat, and enough water to drink, these are all things that have become so common in America that we take them for granted. In Guatemala if you have a phone, enough food to fully nourish your entire family, a home bigger and nicer than a small hut, or enough clean water to drink that you're never thirsty, you are considered extremely wealthy. Many of the things that we see as necessities, the people in Guatemala see as extreme luxury.
After watching the documentary, one major question dominated my thoughts, what can I do? You may think that living far away from countries like Guatemala, you can do little more for those in poverty than donate to a charity every now and then, but you are mistaken. There are opportunities everywhere you go to help those in need, you just have to be willing to look. There are organizations like Children's Global Alliance that can put you right into the action, or there are simpler things like hosting a local Community Supper to feed the people in need that are right here in our own backyard. I have chosen to be put into the action already, but after watching this documentary there are more things to learn than I thought imaginable. I will take them all with me on my trip to Nicaragua in April. After seeing the bonds the three students made with the local Guatemalans, I have learned that every second you spend with others makes a difference. In Nicaragua I will do the best I can not to waste any of my time with the students at Escuela Especial Sor Romero. I am grateful to be going with a slightly better understanding of what I might encounter when working with the students and their families or going on home visits. I hope that whether it be volunteering at a local Community Supper or traveling to a different country, you choose to make a difference in the lives of people around you who are less fortunate and struggling. Remember that no matter your age, capability, or situation, you can make a difference; just keep your eyes open and you will find the opportunity. I hope that when your opportunity comes, you’ll be brave enough to take it.
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