I watched a "Nooma" video lately titled "Rich" that talked about how Americans are some of the richest people in the world. And some of the poorest live right down the street from me. Do you wonder what their lives are really like? What does it really mean to be poor?
We see handicapped people out on the streets every day. People swinging along with crutches, hopping, dragging themselves on carts. You don't see this kind of thing in America. Most likely many of these people have a deformity from birth that could have been corrected by surgery. Some have injuries that could have been healed with proper care, others could benefit from a prosthetic. Their poverty means that they spend their entire lives in this state, and most are unable to work since even the able-bodied struggle to find employment. Many handicapped people beg in town.
Poverty means that when it is cold, you sleep close to each other since you have no blanket. You sleep on a bamboo mat instead of a mattress. You don't have a mosquito net and the house has no screening. Bugs and mice live in your straw roof. At night, you light the house with a small oil lamp. You walk to wherever you need to go, miles at a time. If you need medicine that the hospital is unable to provide, you go without or sacrifice something else, or borrow or raise the money.
Children do not drink milk or take vitamins unless they are very ill and the hospital dispenses them. They have no toys, usually, although sometimes one has something. They are washed in a basin of cold water with the harsh homemade soap available in the market. There are no children's books in the home, no crayons, no playground nearby.
If your baby has a fever, you must carry him or her for a great distance, and then wait for hours for treatment. If the nurse doesn't know what the problem is, and death isn't imminent, you'll be sent home to see if it gets better on its own. If there is a serious problem, you may eventually see a doctor for several minutes after hours of waiting. A prescription will be handed to you with no explanation of the condition or the treatment.
Your bathroom (if you have one) is a reed enclosure divided in two sections, one half has a stone in it and maybe a bucket-this is your shower area. You stand on the rock as to not get too muddy and dip cold water over yourself. The other half is a short-drop toilet.
Even if you need glasses, you will probably never receive them. The fuzziness in your vision is just something to cope with. If you are losing your hearing, there is nothing to be done. A tooth that has a cavity will be pulled, most likely after weeks of pain. The pinched nerves, arthritis, skin problems, back pain and other chronic problems that you have will continue until you can find a home remedy, visit a witch doctor for a cure, be healed in the church, or the symptoms go away on their own. If you have a headache or muscle strain, you have no medication for this. No bandaids for cuts, no antiseptic to clean wounds.
You carry water in buckets on top of your head daily, for cooking, bathing and washing the dishes. You purchase food in small quantities, paying higher prices. But there is never enough to buy in bulk. If you did buy in bulk, your neighbors will expect you to share. Meals are cooked over charcoal and it takes a long time to heat water and to cook anything. It is smoky and hot. You cook with oil rather than margarine, since it is cheaper. Hunger is just a part of life. You can't afford to purchase "convenience foods" like bread. Therefore, if you must be away from home for the day you do not eat unless you have some coins to purchase something someone else has cooked. Food at home is mostly corn porridge cooked in a pot over the fire, with some tomatoes, garlic and onion made into a sauce. Meat is rare. A coke is for special occasions, a chocolate bar unheard of.
You might have a cell phone, but rarely have money to buy the prepaid credit to use it. You pay a small amount of money to recharge it now and then at the market's small shop with electricity.
You do not travel as that kind of money is never available to you. Though you live only two hours drive from the ocean, you've never seen it and never will in your lifetime. Your clothes are well-mended and faded. Fit doesn't matter. You've never purchased a newspaper or a roll of toilet paper. You sit on a dirt floor in your home as the one chair belonging to the family is used by someone more important than you. Gifts are not purchased for birthdays or Christmas, though perhaps a cake might be baked one year or a special meal prepared.
Does it sound like I am being dramatic? Unfortunately I am not. This is the situation for probably 50% of the population of our town. Owning a camera, using a computer, or understanding how to use a library are things that will never happen to them. Now, none of this is to say that people are unhappy. It is only to say that when you are poor, much of life is more difficult. Things are complicated and tiring.
It is amazing to us what good humor people here have! We frequently see people laughing and smiling on the street. They are used to this kind of life, though we would like to see things easier for them and healthier for them and their children. However, ease of life does not equal happiness. How many Americans do you know who are really happy? I bet I know just as many Mozambicans who are. But people here do suffer, and we would like to see that change as time goes by. More distressing, however, is the poverty of thinking. They feel that God is distant, they do not understand who He is or how precious they are to him, they do not understand their faith or feel that there is hope for change in their lives. That is true poverty. - C
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