The High and The Low

Hey Everyone-
I wanted to share my experiences from this weekend with you. I had the opportunity to stay with the family of Rafael in Tegucigulpa, the country capital. Rafael works with youth development within my NGO here in Ojos de Agua. We had a great time. Friday we went to a mall and I could have sworn that I was back in the States. I ran into one of my Peace Corps language trainers there in the mall and she told me that two volunteers from the new September class were also there. She said that they were absolutely stunned at the difference between the poor communities that we volunteers live in and the what is known as the "zona de ricos," or rich peoples places. It did feel like sort of an enclave where there was a TGI Friday's and a Costco or Sam's Club by a different name. There were Volvo's, BMW's, and I also saw one of those $150K Mercedes Jeeps. One of those new volunteers lives in a community without electricity or running water. I didn't have the luxury of being chauffeured around in a Mercedes Jeep but I was thankful that Rafael was driving us in his old blue Datsun. Which only has seatbelts in front, which don't recoil, and has a nasty tumbling noise from the front wheels when turning. We fit 6 people in this car in what is said to be a 5 person car.

I must confess that I had a lot of questions for Rafael when we went to the mall. There was a hint of suspicion in my questions. With all I know about Honduras, the first questions I asked my friend was who are these people, what do they do, and how did they get there? Rafael told me that they worked for government, communications companies, and for other services and finance companies including banks. The government is popularly known for corrupt and one hears how many of those in power have family connections including legislators, heads of business, and those whom we can say are in the executive branch of the government who have ties back to 12 powerful families. Also, just as an example, the American government has declared the national communications company as corrupt and advised American businesses in recent months not to do business with them until things straighten up. These guys have ties to heads of government, which I can't say in this blog, but you get the idea. So my natural hesitation and apprehension was warranted but I knew it had to be tempered by the fact that many of these people are making an honest living and have succeeded, however few they may be relative the the nation's size. But the question remains, if I, as an American, who is considered a walking wallet and is used to this type of lifestyle, and I am hesitant about the Honduran "ricos" which are developing the country by creating demand and later jobs due to excess income, then how do the people who live in the campo, without water or electricity, see these people and there personal reality in attaining these material goods? There is suspicion, and hopefully what I saw was not just a product of the elites but the beginning of some greater movement occurring such as what we associate as a functioning middle class. I do believe that this idea of a greater movement is happening but it is interesting that because of this inequality contrast and a real lack of doing anything creates my apprehension and, I believe, slows down this greater transition.

Rafael also told me how people dress up and just go to the mall to walk around or to buy a Burger King ice cream cone, which are all the rage here. I told him that is what we do in the states too. He replied that about 37% of people there are actually there shopping or buying something while the rest pass through.

To make my point clearer, crystal clear, I want to share my experience from Saturday. Saturday Rafael and I went to witness the basureros, otherwise known as the capital's trash dumps. I really don't know how to explain how I feel about this experience. I can't make any wide proclamations or pronouncements about what I think. All I can do is convey the pictures that are included in this post and in my picture blog. What I can say is that the smell was wretched and I only had on sandals. People have huts where they stay during the day to escape the heat which climbs well over a hundred degrees during the summer. That is now, after there where laws passed prohibiting people actually living, sleeping, and eating here. There is a sign in front of the entrance of the dump which says that children, young women, adolescents, and those who are pregnant are not allowed to enter. I can say from what I saw that this is not entirely enforced, as my pictures show. One thing I can say is that the people shown have found it in there interest, there economic interest, to be there going through the trash in order to collect what can be recycled and sold. In one of the pictures there are huge bags of collected plastic bottles. When sold to the recyclers, a person can expect to receive L. 150, or, about $7.50 per giant bag. One of these collectors and fill two to three of these a day. While a coffee picker during prime season can look forward to receiving L. 100 ( $5) per day of long back breaking work. (Which I plan on doing myself for 3 days in December during the harvest, without being paid.) So, this is why I don't know what to say. There are not enough preferable options in this case to picking trash while it brings in a higher than normal income.

Is this humane? Look at the pictures and tell me yourself.

http://picasaweb.google.com/barkerbj07/TegusBasurerosNov172007