Well last fall I took a Developmental Economics class last fall, and now here I am living with the people who the class was focused on. It’s funny but everything I learned in that class kind of takes on a different meaning being here with this family. It’s no longer some abstract calculus equation to be derived, but it’s the reality that the great majority of humanity deals with each day. The family is so curious about all the “amazing” technological things that I have. My computer that has always been too slow for me, my camera cell phone that I always complain about not having all the features I wish it had, and my camera, the one that I settled on because I couldn’t afford more megapixels. I kind of wish I could hide it all from everyone here, and maybe it would have been better had I left everything behind. I feel bad about ever complaining about everything I ever had. I have never seen a family living in such humble circumstances than this family of whom I am now apart of. A four room home to house a mother, father, and four sons, no shower just a tuj, which is a primitive kind of sauna, and a latrine is what they have here in their home. The father commented to me yesterday that he has never driven before and he would like to learn how. Wow, I feel really guilty.
Why is it that by crossing a small strip of land we call the border and we are opened up to so many more opportunities to earn so much more economically? It’s almost immoral that we are born into so much more and we work so little for what we have while people here have to work their whole life just to get by, is it that we understand how to use capitalism to our advantage? Is it that the economic rules we have set up function better? Is it the repressive effects of Globalization? Or perhaps that Protestant work ethic? I’ve always been interested in economic development in third world countries but I think being in these circumstances brings new gravity to the subject.
Therefore, yesterday I began to think about what way I could make a meaningful contribution to this family and to the community, a way to reciprocate the help that they are giving me with my studies and research. I don’t want to just throw money at the issue to ease my conscience I want to give something which will actually help the people out. I tried to remember all I had learned in Macyntire’s Developmental Economics class. The problem is that when you closely study the history of Economic Development you are faced with so many failed attempts to help third world countries, sprinkled with a few treasured successes, the German and Japanese Miracles, and a few Asian economies. I’m not sure if we have found any simple magical solution we can simply apply then add water. Maybe my contribution could be some material things, increasing the capital of the family, maybe what is needed is a development of human capital, by means of me teaching them something which would help them out. The only problem with both of these ideas is that being a young student I don’t really have the means to give what I would consider a necessary material donation, also my small amount of knowledge concerning the universe consists mostly of information revolving around literature and the humanities, hardly anything which would help this family or the community in the way I would like to. I guess I’m still not sure, any suggestions? (dj_draper05@yahoo.com), one thing that I realize though is how meaningless all the material things we have are. There is a beauty in the simplicity of life here that escapes most of American society. This family is happy, and they are not always thinking about the fastest way they can get ahead in life, they don’t have a lot but they enjoy each day and they enjoy each other, and that is something to be admired, something I need to learn how to do better, because it’s really not that easy and my experience tells me it takes work, the art of being happy, I guess in the end that’s what we’re all about. Well that’s all I’ve got for now I hope you enjoyed. Next step, listen to Jack Johnson, Gone.
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Hey Dustin - You may be sorry you asked, but - it's really great that you want to help out this family/village. Probably you have been other places also where you might have wanted to be able to contribute something to make life better for others. Helping others is a tricky business because there if a fine line between helping and hindering. Checking out the Church's Humanitarian efforts can be a help for you. The Church used to come into a village & build the people a well. They would check up a few years later & find the well broken & the people not able to use it. Now they make sure the villagers help plan and work on the project so they have a vested interest and knowledge about how to maintain their new asset.
So probably seeing your family as your equal, or partners, in any project would be the first step. As you know, prayer is always a great idea, but it's very counterproductive to see yourself as a benefactor swooping in to help the poor unfortunates. You might take a tour of your father's business & ask him about improvements he would like to make. I wonder if your mamacita would like to learn to read. These are things that would benefit them long after you are gone. Or maybe a water source closer to their house. It would be fun to hear about what you decide to do. I'm sure we could all pitch in, especially Jason. Hope this doesn't sound too lecture-y; this is what happens when we have just a little bit of knowledge.
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