Reality hit home today.
As some of you know we are at the tail end of a house building project for a single mother. Progress was slowed up due to the recent activities. Today I checked on the job and purchased the final pieces to pull it all together.
While I was out there, my heart sank as I noticed people cooking using pieces of bamboo and scraps of wood from their fencing. They ran out of gas and were unable to replace the tanks.
I spoke to them, gave hugs all around. They explained how the increases in the cost of food has taken its toll on them already. They are getting hungry. Even the sickly looking street dogs seemed worse as the number of scraps dwindles.
I’m not saying I agree with the type or level of demonstrations; I always believed dialogue works best. I am saying I do understand their anger and frustrations at a system and policies that keep the most vulnerable down.
The largest demographics here in Ecuador are living day by day from lower-income families to extreme poverty, the kind of poverty that is difficult to envision until you see it first hand. These sudden economic policy changes are hurting the most vulnerable.
We can debate it, but it doesn’t change facts.
We can debate the topic but the fact is the type of economic system we have in North America doesn’t work here and will only make the situation worse for those already struggling.
In a dog eat dog system, only the strong survive.
It can only work here if they develop safety nets for the people, which they do not have and I doubt they ever will. They would need to improve the quality of the public education system and provide truly equal access to education programs, not just those that can afford to go.
In North America, a single mother can apply for welfare, apply for grants/loans to go to school. They can live in subsidized housing with subsidized daycare, collect food hampers and use the services of various local charities to help the family get through. In the end, the mom has an education where she can become gainfully employed and raise her family. I know because I did it myself as a young single teen mother.
My country, Canada, has these safety nets in place that provided equal opportunity for people to change their circumstances if they choose to.
There is no such thing here for these struggling families.
The most vulnerable are already feeling these increases deeply and painfully. Even my driver today felt heavy, with tears welling up in his eyes when he saw what I saw and heard what I heard.
There is a deep-seated belief that people living in these outlying barrios in extreme poverty is because they are ‘lazy’, or ‘drunks’ or ‘criminals’.
That is simply not true.
There are some that fit that description; surely, but the majority lack education and opportunity to break out of their cycle of poverty.
Poverty is not just about money, it is about a lack of hope that anything will or can change.
The reason for this post is simple… we all could use a daily dose of reality to Living in Paradise.
I would like to challenge you to reach out to someone today, ask them how they are coping. Bring them a pineapple, or a bag of potatoes with a smile. Those street vendors that rely on tourists are hurting, let them know you realize that.
Peace out xo
