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| Click on images for a larger view. |
Words and Images by Nathan Van Coops, FSC 05
on Duraznal, Ozxaca, Mexico.
on Duraznal, Ozxaca, Mexico.
Name: Nathan Van Coops
From: McSherrystown, PA
From: McSherrystown, PA
Degree: FAA pilot instructor, certified mechanic
Interests: Teaching, youth ministry, maintenance,
mechanics, art, sports, writing
Service: Teach English, art, farming, mechanics
Interests: Teaching, youth ministry, maintenance,
mechanics, art, sports, writing
Service: Teach English, art, farming, mechanics
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
What kind of price can you put on opportunity? What is the real value of
education,or of privilege? I suppose you could add up the figures from your
college tuition, tally your assets and compute something or other as a
value, but what about our potential, what is that worth?
Living in Duraznal Mexico the last three weeks has put me face to face with
an unanswerable question: Why me? Why was I born into a world of
opportunity, where I can accomplish anything I set my mind to? What about
the child in the arms of the woman next to me, doesn´t she deserve the
same?
I see the inebriated "Borrachos" teetering down the streets and wonder
what they thought their lives would be like. What were the real options?
A comfortable lifestyle in this town means having solid walls around your
kitchen or perhaps a little store in your front room where you sell sodas and
beer to passersby. You show off your static screened television that picks
up two channels with a sense of pride.
So what is it about me? Why do I get a car and high speed Internet access?
Do I really deserve better health care than the man next to me? Why does
he only get to keep some of his teeth, and I get to keep all of mine?
I´ve had a lot of time for Bible reading recently and it´s hard not to notice all
the warnings for those with wealth. In the Parable of the talents we do not
all start out with equal assets but we are all asked to double the good that
has been given us. More is demanded of those to whom more has been
granted, so if we count ourselves blessed with much we are responsible for
returning the same and more. If it´s easier for a camel to get through the
eye of a needle than for the rich to enter heaven, I imagine this is where the
main hang-up is.
Perhaps then the drunk sleeping in the ditch may be in less danger for
wasting his opportunities than I would be for wasting mine. Will he be held
accountable for his actions? I imagine so, but what did he have to start
with? When I think of all the blessings I´ve been given in my life, health,
education,an enjoyable career, a loving family and excellent friends,
returning double the good I´ve been given is certainly a challenge. In that
light I´d day I have my work cut out for me.
When I see men here working hard everyday to support their struggling
families and make a better life for them, I see a kind of courage that´s
beyond admirable. I see courage in the faces of the women who go on
working even when they have husbands who have given up or become
abusive with drinking. Children head off to Mexico city or Oaxaca to try to
earn money for their families.
The oldest daughter of the woman I was staying with is fourteen. She left
last Saturday for a place near Oaxaca where she will work in the house of a
doctor tending children and cleaning. She will earn 50 pesos a day. That´s
under five dollars, less than the minimum hourly wage in the States. They
go on laboring in these conditions in the face of tremendous odds, without
opportunities, money or good fortune, knowing full well that they are
unlikely to escape this poverty in their lifetimes. To me that makes them a
rare breed of hero.
I am a volunteer here so I can stand the flea bites and rough conditions for
a couple of months and then return home to my comfortable existence. The
people here however are not likely to ever have the things I take for
granted, like flushing toilets, mattresses or home telephones. This hardship
is theirs for all their lives and there is no relief in sight.
I used to think cultures like this might be better off where they are, that
there was something noble in a life of simplicity. There may be some places
where that´s true, but not here. Here people live in shacks surrounded by
starving dogs, getting eaten by bugs all their lives and praying that they will
be able to feed their kids next week. There is nothing noble about these
conditions, only the people who endure them.
There was a time when I would complain about things like Wal-Mart and
corporate America being bad for small business. The next time I complain
about a Wal-Mart I´m going to have someone slap me in the face. Shame
on me for complaining about things being too damn convenient and
inexpensive. I should wake up every morning and thank God that I live in a
country where I get to have that as a problem.
I don´t know why I was born where I was and not war torn Angola or one of
the many other places where suffering is a constant way of life. I certainly
didn´t earn all of the many opportunities that my country and education
have given me. I am not more deserving than the suffering souls here just
because of the location and situation of my birth. I am seeing now that the
blessings I´ve been given will never be a free ride but rather that every step
we take up the ladder is a mandate to be elevating others with us.
Perhaps ignorance is bliss and I am shooting myself in the foot by having
experiences like this. After being here I don´t think I can just donate twenty
cents a day to sponsor an orphan in Africa, deposit my loose change in the
Salvation Army bucket at Christmas time and consider myself square with
the world. I think my debt is much greater than that. I guess I´ll find out.
education,or of privilege? I suppose you could add up the figures from your
college tuition, tally your assets and compute something or other as a
value, but what about our potential, what is that worth?
Living in Duraznal Mexico the last three weeks has put me face to face with
an unanswerable question: Why me? Why was I born into a world of
opportunity, where I can accomplish anything I set my mind to? What about
the child in the arms of the woman next to me, doesn´t she deserve the
same?
I see the inebriated "Borrachos" teetering down the streets and wonder
what they thought their lives would be like. What were the real options?
A comfortable lifestyle in this town means having solid walls around your
kitchen or perhaps a little store in your front room where you sell sodas and
beer to passersby. You show off your static screened television that picks
up two channels with a sense of pride.
So what is it about me? Why do I get a car and high speed Internet access?
Do I really deserve better health care than the man next to me? Why does
he only get to keep some of his teeth, and I get to keep all of mine?
I´ve had a lot of time for Bible reading recently and it´s hard not to notice all
the warnings for those with wealth. In the Parable of the talents we do not
all start out with equal assets but we are all asked to double the good that
has been given us. More is demanded of those to whom more has been
granted, so if we count ourselves blessed with much we are responsible for
returning the same and more. If it´s easier for a camel to get through the
eye of a needle than for the rich to enter heaven, I imagine this is where the
main hang-up is.
Perhaps then the drunk sleeping in the ditch may be in less danger for
wasting his opportunities than I would be for wasting mine. Will he be held
accountable for his actions? I imagine so, but what did he have to start
with? When I think of all the blessings I´ve been given in my life, health,
education,an enjoyable career, a loving family and excellent friends,
returning double the good I´ve been given is certainly a challenge. In that
light I´d day I have my work cut out for me.
When I see men here working hard everyday to support their struggling
families and make a better life for them, I see a kind of courage that´s
beyond admirable. I see courage in the faces of the women who go on
working even when they have husbands who have given up or become
abusive with drinking. Children head off to Mexico city or Oaxaca to try to
earn money for their families.
The oldest daughter of the woman I was staying with is fourteen. She left
last Saturday for a place near Oaxaca where she will work in the house of a
doctor tending children and cleaning. She will earn 50 pesos a day. That´s
under five dollars, less than the minimum hourly wage in the States. They
go on laboring in these conditions in the face of tremendous odds, without
opportunities, money or good fortune, knowing full well that they are
unlikely to escape this poverty in their lifetimes. To me that makes them a
rare breed of hero.
I am a volunteer here so I can stand the flea bites and rough conditions for
a couple of months and then return home to my comfortable existence. The
people here however are not likely to ever have the things I take for
granted, like flushing toilets, mattresses or home telephones. This hardship
is theirs for all their lives and there is no relief in sight.
I used to think cultures like this might be better off where they are, that
there was something noble in a life of simplicity. There may be some places
where that´s true, but not here. Here people live in shacks surrounded by
starving dogs, getting eaten by bugs all their lives and praying that they will
be able to feed their kids next week. There is nothing noble about these
conditions, only the people who endure them.
There was a time when I would complain about things like Wal-Mart and
corporate America being bad for small business. The next time I complain
about a Wal-Mart I´m going to have someone slap me in the face. Shame
on me for complaining about things being too damn convenient and
inexpensive. I should wake up every morning and thank God that I live in a
country where I get to have that as a problem.
I don´t know why I was born where I was and not war torn Angola or one of
the many other places where suffering is a constant way of life. I certainly
didn´t earn all of the many opportunities that my country and education
have given me. I am not more deserving than the suffering souls here just
because of the location and situation of my birth. I am seeing now that the
blessings I´ve been given will never be a free ride but rather that every step
we take up the ladder is a mandate to be elevating others with us.
Perhaps ignorance is bliss and I am shooting myself in the foot by having
experiences like this. After being here I don´t think I can just donate twenty
cents a day to sponsor an orphan in Africa, deposit my loose change in the
Salvation Army bucket at Christmas time and consider myself square with
the world. I think my debt is much greater than that. I guess I´ll find out.
| Click on images for a larger view. |
"Experiencing, Sharing Life in Christ"
|