Thanks to Aime for making the video! And thanks to Jose and his family for taking part. You may be interested to know that Jose was the boy who suffered bad burns earlier in the year, but now, as you can see, he is doing well.
Jose’s House
Possibly a reaction to seeing a little mud-brick house like that with all four kids and the grandma sleeping in one room, the almost non-existent kitchen and the outside sink as the only water supply, is to think of how they could be helped to improve their living conditions – maybe they should build another bedroom, get a table to eat at, buy an oven, a fridge even ....? When we see poverty we often want to pile in with money or ‘stuff’ to help the people we think are ‘in need’. We genuinely want to help, but our immediate ideas of how to help may not be the best ones. I have recently read a book called ‘When Helping Hurts’ (Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, Moody Publishers 2009) which I would recommend to everyone with an interest in helping those considered ‘less fortunate’ – it deals with questions such as ‘What is Poverty?’ and the difference between, and timing and appropriateness of, relief, rehabilitation and development. (See separate blog entry for more on this.)
On a slightly different note, although there are undoubtedly things that José and his family would like to improve in their house, maybe one important question is actually how we can move our lifestyles more in their direction.
I recently read a book by a church leader from India who was given the chance to study in the USA (Revolution in World Missions by KP Yohannan). His reflections are very interesting. For example, he writes: ‘What impresses visitors from the Third World are the simple things Americans take for granted: fresh water available 24 hours a day, unlimited electrical power, telephones that work and a most remarkable network of paved roads.’ And also: ‘I discovered most Americans have cupboards of clothing that they wear only occasionally – and I remembered the years I travelled and worked with only the clothes on my back’.
(The comment about the water reminds me of something I heard recently: ‘ Do you know that in Europe they wash the streets with drinking water?!’ )
Comparing his comments with Cusco, in our house we have mains water supply morning and evening (and a tank on the roof so we rarely run out), the electrical power is OK (although with slightly worrying sparks at times!), the phones are fine in the city although outlying areas don’t have fixed lines or cell phone networks, and paved roads do exists although they are often full of potholes, and many routes only have tracks or paths and it takes hours to get to the nearest town. Of course many people here don’t have a mains water supply or electricity in their house. At the recent youth camping night it was interesting to see that many of the kids came in their school tracksuits as they have very little choice of what to wear.
The author also quotes from another book where someone has suggested how to turn a middle-class Western house into a typical developing world house. Here is some of what he quotes: ‘ We begin by invading the house to strip it of its furniture. Everything goes: beds, chairs, tables, lamps. We will leave the family with a few old blankets, a small table, a wooden chair. Along with the cupboards go the clothes. Each family member may keep his oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. We will permit a pair of shoes for the head of the family but none for the wife or children.
We move to the kitchen. All the appliances have been taken out, so we turn to the cupboards ... the box of matches may stay, a bag of flour, some sugar and salt, and a few potatoes. We will leave a handful of onions and a dish of dried beans. All the rest we take away: the meat, the fresh vegetables, the canned goods. The bathroom is dismantled, the running water shut off and the electric wires taken out. Next the family can move to the tool shed. There are no more newspapers, magazines or books. There are no postmen, no firemen. There is a school 3 miles away with two classrooms. The nearest clinic is 10 miles away and is tended by a midwife. It can be reached by bicycle, provided the family has a bicycle, which is unlikely ...’
The author is not actually expecting you to do this to your house, you may be pleased to know, but it makes a point doesn’t it? Even small changes to our lifestyles can free up money that could be used in a variety of ways and can be beneficial to the environment and our relationships too. Last year, although we weren’t in the UK, we read a bit about the SIMPLICITY campaign, and through that looked at some web sites connected to it and also some articles written by a friend of ours, Ruth, who works for ‘Living Lightly’ and who wrote a book a few years ago called ‘L is for Lifestyle’. I’m sure she won’t mind me quoting from her blog:
I was being interviewed about the way I live and the guy, Ian, said, 'well that's all very well for you: you're a bit of a hippy aren't you, but what about normal people?'. Oh my goodness, it's that H word again.
But why is this not normal?
Why is it not normal to be concerned about our world and its inhabitants? Why is not normal to want to live well in relation to those around us? Why is it not normal to give away more of our money than we spend on food for ourselves? Why is it not normal to try to stand against the messages of greed and consumerism that surround us? Why is it not normal to want to have some sort of a connection with the earth on which we live?’
If you’re interested in looking further into practical ideas to simplify your lifestyle, here are a few websites:
www.arochalivinglightly.org.uk
