Gringal
May 10, 2008, 8:31 AM
Post #6 of 6
(1426 views)
Shortcut
|
Maybe they see it as "poverty-lite", as in the shacks with the tarpaper roofs and much "quainter" than the gruesome public housing structures NOB, and the kids are just so very cute and charming. Who knows? When we were SMA volunteers for "feed the hungry", the villages were, indeed, "charming", movie-style, and the kids were very appealing...even with their ribs showing. It was sad, very sad. It also seemed like a bottomless pit of misery with little liklihood of visible improvement without massive government intervention. Under the circumstances, not very likely. The best we could hope to do was try to get the young ones' bellies full enough so they could concentrate in class. With luck, some of them would float to the top and have better lives.
Some of the volunteers in that program were amazingly generous people. One of them donated 10K of his own funds to build a kitchen in a distant campo. Others were contributing in many ways. It was one program we could get behind without joining a "gang", in that we only saw other volunteers at the grocery pickup point.
In general, those who come to SMA to reinvent themselves have the problem of the old self following along like a doppelganger. The temptation is to take oneself too seriously and lose track of whoever you are or were, in the process, leaving a straw hat with a ribbon bobbing along the Jardin.
|
Forums Index
Search Posts
Who's Online
Log In or Sign Up
