In the village we were in last week, all the houses are made of tin, with dirt floors. But at the top of the hill near a house we laid a cement floor in, there's this big, fancy house, where some big, douchey government official lives. We were told he put it there as a big "f you" to the people of Don Bosco. In our nightly reflection time, one of my friends shared that he had come to recognize the smell of poverty - something pervasive and undeniable that he associated with unwashed people, rotting garbage, and neglect. The thing about a smell, he said, is that you can't ignore it. And he, like the rest of us, was unable to understand how that government official could ignore that smell, and go on living in his fancy house.
I spent a week in the DR and accomplished nothing. For every cement floor we laid there are 500 more that need to be built. The kids I cuddled were smiling while we were there, but after we left and the cries of "Americana!" vanished into the distance, they went back to the way they are: ignored by their parents and deprived of the love and physical affection that they so desperately need.
I did NOTHING. Nothing changed. No one was saved. If I was changed, it'll fade before too long, like a dream upon waking.
I've never been so close to dropping out of school.
Love always,
molly
1 comment:
I meant to comment in this when you posted it, but I am slow and full of forgetfulness. I apologize.
Don't drop out of school.
Do you want to try and change something? Get your education. Make it worth something. Get all you need so you can walk up to the people who try and deny you want you want and just take it from them. If you want to pull a Robin Hood, go all the way. Robin Hood wasn't an idiot. He was intelligent, he knew his way around both worlds. You need to do that too.
Get your bachelors. Or your masters. Or whatever. But finish your dreams, and then go help people who really need it. Unfortunately, even if you are in the DR to help them, people will still be hungry and will still be hurting. There will still be mud floors and sickness and greedy government officials. The changes you try and make are going to happen one person at a time, so you need to start with the person who matters: you. Give yourself everything you need to go back there and help them.
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