Disclaimer: Didn't proof this.
I connected to the wifi this morning and my phone started going crazy! "What is going on???!" ... Everyone on Facebook was telling me Happy Birthday. I laughed at myself. Who forgets it's their birthday? Me haha.
We're leaving for the garbage dump in a few minutes. I've seen pictures of people living in dumps, but I've never seen it in person, and I'm honestly a little apprehensive about seeing it. We're not taking photos because "we're not going to make a spectacle of these people."
...I don't know where to start. The dump is big. Very big. It's rainy season so there are puddles of water sprinkled throughout the trash. When you walk through there are flies everywhere. It's Mother's Day, so there aren't many people digging for trash today. But there are a few. A young woman with a baby on one hip and a bag to collect plastic and metal in the other hand. Trailing behind her are two young boys (sans shoes), no older than 3 and 5, carrying their shovels. The 300 or so families that live along the edge of the dump make money by digging through the trash and selling the plastic and metal they find. They live in open homes that are essentially one room with a tin roof. The walls around the property are made of sheets. They make their own electric wires and poles and steal the electricity from a nearby wealthy landowner. The agreement is that they stay off his property and he let's them take the electricity. So maybe they aren't stealing. That's a bad word to use.
"So what's the government doing about this?"...well the people here in the dump aren't educated, so they don't vote. And they don't have money, so who cares. That's the real answer...I eavesdrop on their history lesson. Another corrupt dictator supported by the American government. Let me tell you what the American government will do: support a ruthless, corrupt dictator for the sake of avoiding communism...Trujillo en la Republica Dominicana...Pinochet in Chile...Nicaragua...anyone else feel free to chime in on this list...
...On the bus leaving Villa Catalina. Loved the people. They're so industrious. Real business people live here (and other places for that matter). They just need the opportunity to prove themselves...bus slows to let calves pass. A little JB in the background followed by Ms. Swift...People on the trip keep asking where else I want to go (and offering to help!!! Blessings pouring down). So in case you're reading and wondering, my next stop is Peru. There are three organizations in Ghana that I've talked to, an organization in Jordan, Mexico, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Guatemala, and Ecuador that are interested in having MODEL26 help with their volunteer recruitment. Before we agree to put an org in our database and send volunteers their way, I have to do a site visit. Well where does funding come from? Right now from my pocket, but that won't be enough. If you want to help stop by the site www.model26.org and make a tax-deductible donation online or send us a check made out to MODEL26. If you're between 18 and 27 and you want to volunteer in one of these countries or need help finding an internship with an org that helps state-side, download an application and send it to applications@model26.org. There are billions of people around the world that need YOU. They don't need you to throw money or supplies at them. They want you to work beside them. Dig water wells with them. Build schools with them. Help them start their own businesses. Teach them.
...Let me tell you about this full body workout called making cement...
...Thank God for cold showers!! Power just went out. Dinner in the dark via ipod light. Authentic Central American tacos. Love....power's back. All's we'll that ends well.
Peace and Love
*Galatians 6:9*
