Enterprise and Poverty

PovertyCure - A Six-Part DVD Series [EXTENDED TRAILER]

This is a great video trailer from PovertyCure about poverty and enterprise. I really appreciated what Andreas Widmer says in it, "I'm frustrated with this idea that poverty means living on one or two dollars a day. That is a very bad way to state the problem." I appreciate it because I've asked myself many times recently, "Who are the poor?". It really can't just be reduced down to who makes a certain amount of money (defined by the U.S. dollar, of course). That would automaticaly exclude many of the poor in U.S. cities. And it would include some people who can provide for their families and live contently with what they have. It's just not that simple.

This video doesn't address that exact question, but it does talk a bit about how enterprise is so very different from aid when it comes to caring for the "poor", whoever exactly they may be, because it draws on the richness and creativity of the human spirit. And that is not determined by how much you have in your bank account.

Community Organizers

Sorry President Obama, but you got nothing on them! Anyone who wants to study community organizing needs to visit Peru. At the health center where I've been volunteering, I've been spending most of my time working on a family health initiative that was recently started. Certain neighborhoods around the center were targeted as a result of being in the most material need. Lesser material wealth is often equated with lesser access to health care and lesser education about health, so it makes sense to start in those areas.

Last Tuesday a young woman in the neighborhood where we've spent the most time was badly burned while cooking. We were told she had severe burns on 90% of her body. Within a few days, neighbors had organized themselves to hold a "pollada", an event where they would make fried chicken lunches and sell them to raise money for her hospital bills. When you go to the hospital here you have to pay by the day. If you don't pay, you don't get treated. Literally, you will not get the antibiotics you need, burn treatments, etc etc etc. Pretty shocking, but it's what hospitals have to do to stay open. So these neighbors made over 340 portions of fried chicken, potatoes, and cabbage salad and by selling them for 10 soles a piece ($4), they raised enough money to pay her hospital bills for many days.

The woman who is my "boss" at the clinic was excited to explain to me what Peruvian solidarity meant and encouraged me to take photos. She even handed me her plate full of chicken bones and empty soda glass to hold to prove that I ate there. Yeah, a little strange, but hey.

Me with Rosa (who works at the clinic) and Hilda, Miriam, and Elizabeth (the three nursing students working on the project as well). 

Marinating the chicken and cutting the cabbage

A vat of marinated chicken!

The big pot is for boiling potatoes and the pan is for frying the chicken. They are bigger than it seems from this picture!

Does God Hear You When You Complain?

Of course God hears us when we cry and when we pray and is inclined to our prayers and delights to answer us. But when we complain and sulk, is he just "disappointed"? Or does he still care about our concerns despite the fact that we are not honoring and trusting him with our thoughts and feelings? Do we have to be "holy" in order for God to love us and take care of us? Obviously the answer is no, since we are only holy through Christ, but through ourselves we are far from it.

Last night, we felt lonely. It's not that we don't know people. I actually feel sometimes like I don't have enough time to get together with all the people that I want to in a week. It's not that. It feels kinda silly even writing it out. So long story short, we were just feeling alone last night. Like there were people that we could call anytime, but that we weren't fully a part of any community here, even in the church.  We felt like exactly what we are...foreigners.

So today at church as we were leaving the service, a woman ran up to me and asked if we would come to lunch with her and her family. She said they'd seen us around and wanted to invite us out. She said, "so you will feel like family." They'd even asked the pastor if it was okay, which of course he said yes. I had never seen her before. When I told Steve what she'd said, we just stared at each other and smiled. I asked, "Does God hear you when you complain?". We didn't even pray about this. We don't deserve this. They said we'd meet up at 1, after they went to the following service. While we waited I sat with one of my favorite people and talked about our families, some hard things we'd gone through, and she proceeded to tell me that she really wanted to be friends. Real friends. Who are there for each other and walk through things together. I cried multiple times during our conversation.

Then at 1:00, we met up with the woman I had never seen until an hour before. Her and her husband took us to one of our favorite restaurants and then out for ice cream. We spent the entire afternoon with them and their two boys. The father spoke English well, too, which was a unexpected, but nice, change from normal. I know they will continue to be friends.

Did God provide these interactions to shame me and show me how foolish I was for complaining and crying or just because he delights to show mercy to his children? Does it surprise him that we are weak and continually lacking in faith and trust? No. Does he love to shower grace on his children anyway? Yes.