Gaining Perspective

While working for Habitat for Humanity this past year in Guatemala I have been exposed to some amazingly powerful stuff. I have made great friends with my many co-workers that range from American, Canadian, British, and local Guatemalan. Their diverse backgrounds, likes, dislikes, and personal stories have allowed them all to teach me more about themselves, as well as more about myself and others around me through increased interaction.

 

I have been fortunate to travel to many remote parts of Guatemala - a beautiful country rich in culture, history, and the human spirit – parts I may have never otherwise given a second thought to had I simply visited on a week-long vacation.

However, rich in natural beauty and smiles of locals all around me as it may be, Guatemala certainly has its crippling problems and ugly history (read: a 1980´s Civil War and genocidal atrocities of its indigenous peoples during dictatorial rule) that it carries with it. Fortunately, as a visitor here of one year I have been able to learn more about this side of Guatemala, taking into account the opinions of friends young and old, as well as friendly locals. And I say ¨fortunately¨, because no matter how grim the history or how dire the poverty, I feel enriched and empowered to know. To otherwise be oblivious to these realities only blinds us to the realities of how others are really living, and only leaves us sheltered in our comfortable bubbles we call life - pristine and safe from certain realities of the world that are valuable tools in teaching us how to empathize, how to appreciate our blessings, and how to love.

I am currently spending the week with a volunteer group of Habitat builders around Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, where I have had one such instance of knowledge and gaining valuable perspective. The Lake Atitlan area is highly indigenous and an area where Spanish is often the second language behind one of the many ancient, Mayan languages. Around the world, indigenous populations are grossly mistreated and misrepresented and Guatemala is no exception.

Today I took the Habitat group to visit a home where a previous Habitat volunteer group had helped build a stove for a family living in extreme poverty in October of this year. Habitat for Humanity has recently adopted a stove project in Guatemala to provide a safe and clean way of cooking to families living in extreme poverty, who otherwise cannot afford a new home. This simple ¨housing solution¨ makes a vast difference in the families´ lives, especially considering that respiratory illnesses are a leading cause of death in Guatemala, which is alleviated by these cleaner, more efficient stoves.

I am inspired to share this experience (even without photos) with those following this blog because I was so moved by what I saw and felt with this family that we visited. As we approached the small hut that must have been only 7x6 ft. in area, I knew before even entering that what I was about to see would impact me greatly for the rest of my life. Having worked with plenty of Habitat families before in Guatemala, I felt that I had nearly seen it all when it came to the question of poverty, but this brought things to another level for me. The small hut was made of corn stalks and sugar cane and the whole house was really what we´d just call a single room - really no bigger than most people´s bathrooms. The majority of the room was dedicated to their new stove at this point, which was already hard at work as I stepped inside. The family invited us in 3 or 4 at a time because trying to fit more in was otherwise impossible. Here the family sat awkwardly posing for pictures as the volunteers snapped photos of them, their stove, and their home (To no fault of the volunteers of course, we politely asked if the family minded). However, it was impossible to ignore the façade that the mother and her husband presented. A smile to cover up the years of struggle and pain. A smile to show us all how strong she was although I could see in her eyes she longed for so much more. As she held her sleepy 3 year old child in her arms while staving off the energetic 5 year old nipping at her heels, she told me a little more about the stove, how it worked, and how she loved making tortillas each day on it. I translated this to the curious volunteers as they took turns filing in and making space for one another, many too tall to even stand upright in the home. By the last group the mother could no longer contain her bottled up emotions. In what felt like an eruption of 20 years of despair and wanting nothing more than simple comfort, her eyes welled with a wetness that I do not think I will ever be able to forget. Despite the husband´s otherwise stoic demeanor, not even he could resist this moment to unburden his feelings as tears streamed down his face as well.        

I tried to console this complete stranger, who I now felt immediately connected to, with a simple hug. Through her profuse thanking of us and Habitat, I knew her tears were also filled with great joy as she informed us that the stove greatly improved her family´s life, which helped soothe me. However, despite this I couldn´t help but feel a deep sadness as volunteers began asking where the family of 4 slept and I had to tell them frankly, ¨On the floor next to the stove.¨

 Whatever the moment may be in your own personal life, I think we all need to experience something as powerful and moving as what I experienced with this poor family of four in their hut, no matter how depressing, disheartening, or lugubrious it might be. Reading about such tragedies, seeing graphic photos, or watching a powerful documentary will certainly move us and beg us to put our lives in perspective, but there is no substitute for such direct, personal interaction, which can be overwhelming.

I am a strong believer in people making their own decisions regarding whether or not they feel compelled to take action in the face of such issues and as such, I have no intention of ever preaching to others about which things they should or should not care about. However, I do strongly believe that educating oneself about and acknowledging that certain issues, problems, and injustices exist all around our world is a powerful tool not to be ignored. And while the remedies to these maladies may not be within our own reach, reflecting upon them and learning more about ourselves and those around us through that process will allow us to grow.