This morning I sat in the 10X20 foot, one-room home of Lucilia in the municipality of Apopa in the city of San Salvador, El Salvador. Lucilia is 40 years old, but could easily pass for 50 as the sun and stress of life has aged her face far too quickly. She lives in her small home with two daughters, 15 and 3. And although she never told us, the chickens and the scale in the home made it clear that she sells eggs to make her living and support her family.
In-between tears, Lucilia shared with me the heart-wrenching story of her 15-year old daughter, Rachelle. For the past 2 years, Rachelle has lived with a terminal disease that attacks her bones. It has left her body deformed and virtually useless. As a result of this terrible disease, in the near future, this beautiful teenager will lose her life far too early than she should. But today, the disease causes Rachelle pain that is both excruciating and unrelenting. Unfortunately, as her mother explained, there is simply not enough money to pay for the pain medication that would alleviate her pain during this final phase of her life. And if you looked close enough, you could almost see the daughter’s pain on the weathered face of her mother too. Like any mother, she desperately longed to bear the burden for her.
During our conversation, a scene began to unfold on the floor of the dark and dirty home that has forever been etched in my mind. Lucilia’s three-year old daughter briefly left the room and returned with one small bag of used crayons and one coloring book. As the father of a young daughter, I was deeply intrigued. The young girl sat down on the tile floor, pulled two crayons from the bag, and opened her coloring book to the first page… it was already colored. She flipped to the next page… it was also colored. So was the next… and the next… and the next… and the next… and the next…. all colored. My heart again broke for this family – the third time during our short conversation. Oh, how I desperately longed to run to my daughter’s closet and grab just one of her coloring books to give to this incredibly precious little girl. Oh, I longed to see her smile and have a page to color.
The impact of poverty evidenced this morning was among the greatest I have ever witnessed.
While this scene unfolded and the gravity of Rachelle’s situation sunk deep into my soul, my mind raced to a familiar story of the ancient Israelites. The story is told that as the Israelites left Egypt in search of their new home, they found themselves hungry and without food in the Middle-Eastern desert. As the story continues, God provides bread from heaven each morning with only one instruction: Each member of the wandering nation was too “gather only as much as was needed for their family.” And when they did, no one gathered too much and no one gathered too little. But there was equality.
It became very clear to me this morning that this world desperately longs for equality. We need more people who gather “only what is needed.” Because maybe then, others could “gather what is needed.” Nobody will gather too much… and nobody will gather too little.
Now, I am not naïve enough to think that the cycle of poverty around the world will be broken by simply choosing to gather less and give more… there are far greater factors at play here. But when you sit in the home of a dying 15-year old girl and her mother who can’t afford the pain medication available across the street, you feel called to action. You long for the day when people will gather only what is needed. You begin to plead for the privilege of sharing with others. And you begin to realize that Lucilia’s story is far too closely tied to ours.
Tiffany says
This is such a sad story. I had a life-changing experience myself in the Dominican Republic. We were visiting a tiny school in a very poor area. The area served as a dumping ground for the local factories (banana republic, gap) and all the kids were wearing scraps of fabric around their wrists, heads, ankles, wherever they could tie them…like jewelery. Some had fashioned them into clothes.
Their toys were medical waste from the local hospital (or maybe shipped from other countries, who knows?) They were playing with dirty needles the way kids play with straws…blowing bubbles, making funny noises…it was absolutely heartbreaking.
As we left a family was begging us to take their 2 year old daughter back to America with us to give her milk. They had no milk and barely any food.
I had a hard time coming back to the US. It seems that the world would rather forget people like this. At times I forget, too.
Thank you for this reminder. I was just debating donating my wedding dress to charity (married in June!) and now my mind is made up.
I think it is so important for people to get in touch with this side of life. Maybe then our society can stop worrying about the size of Jessica Simpson’s waist and start caring about things that matter!
Living the Balanced Life says
Joshua,
Our church works directly with a group of missionaries in Romania that serve the gypsies. Gypsies are the poorest of the poor and treated like outcasts. The people will not hire or buy from gypsies, so it is very difficult for them to provide for themselves. It is heartbreaking to hear and read these stories, however, may they remain in our hearts and spur us to do something to make a difference.
And let me just say that while there is definite poverty outside the US, there is actually quite a bit of poverty here close to home. We have served several summers in Appalachia in Kentucky and it is a sad situation there as well.
Bernice
Sharon says
I am a reader from Singapore. Can you please tell me how I can send some money and colouring books to this family? Please email me the details if you have them and thank you so much for sharing this post.
Debi @ One Heart says
Joshua, I’d like to hear how I can help as well. I’ve read all the comments with interest and am sitting here shaking my head in agreement with them all. My favorite quote, that inspired my journey toward a simpler life, came to mind: “Live simply so that others may simply live.”
Tasmanian Minimalist says
Profoundly moving. People’s lives we have no knowledge off and that seem so far away from our own level of understanding are a privilege to learn from. We can all take so much from this story, thank you for sharing. Let’s all work together.
Duncan says
Heartbreaking.
Incredible how the affluent, me included, for the most part block these realities out of our everyday life.
-> ‘expenditures for pet food, perfume, and ice cream in developed nations vastly exceeded the total resources needed to eliminate world hunger, immunize every child, provide clean drinking water and sanitation for all, and offer universal education’
That’s perspective. The World and Humankind can be wonderful, but are also sick and twisted. It’s so sad.
Religion is mentioned. If all the ‘religious’ in the World acted in accordance with their scriptures, their wealth, numbers, resource, influence, etc would eliminate poverty in no time at all. Not decrying the amazing work a (miniscule) minority do.
The World is in desperate need of a new model. Maybe ‘minimalism’ might contribute even a little to a new answer.
Jill Foley says
Proverbs 30:7….”give me neither poverty nor wealth, but give me only my daily bread”
I had similar experiences last year in Peru on a trip I took with Compassion International. When you sit and fellowship with those living in dire poverty, simple living takes on a whole new meaning. It is stories like these and my own desire to like Christ that fuels me on this journey.
Earin says
Hi,
After reading this I got remembered of a similiar moment I once had.
I was In Kenya (several times actually). Doing safari, enjoying the animals an so on.
When visiting Kenya you see alot of poverty on every corner, you nearly get used to it…
But there was one moment that was a real eye-opener.
We were driving in our jeep direction Mombasa. It had rained a few hours earlier, the roads (unpaved) were more difficult to drive then usual when we entered Mombasa. Alot of traffic jam.
As I was sitting there in the jeep, exhausted because of the temperature, with a nicely cooled plastic bottle of fresh and clean water in my hands. We passed a child. Something between 6 and 10 years old. It came on the edge of the road, got to it’s knees, reached his hand down, cupped water from the road and drank it. I got to see how dirty the water was. Full of sand, motor-oil, and what not else…
A few seconds later the moment was gone, we turned around a corner.
I was so ashamed and disgusted of myself. And I still am now when I think of it…
That moment changed my life…
But we forget so easily during our daily routines…
(if you find any spelling errors, keep them – english is not my native language)
Ishak Latipi Mastan says
http://my89.tumblr.com/post/8856044332/one-morning-i-was-talking-to-a-family-of-ten-i
laura says
I’ve been keeping up with the famine in N. Africa on the news. Americans and Europeans can barely afford raising one child. Most Africans have many children that they can’t support/feed. This is unsustainable. Clinics need to be set up for family planning and volunteers to run it, and others can teach them how to grow a garden, etc. People should have children only if they are able to support them, otherwise don’t. Over population and millions without clean water and enough to eat should be a wake up call in these deprived countries.
Rebecca says
You say this about family planning and volunteers–but would you be willing to do this–go there and educate men and women–many who can’t read or write, who don’t have enough food for themselves or clean water, don’t have basic health care available, and don’t have any opportunity to better themselves? If not, then your opinions on the matter really don’t matter b/c you actually want someone else to take care of the problem. Clinics need money and volunteers–both of which Western rich countries rarely like to give to third world developing countries.
Elizabeth Whiteman Destouches says
I read this just today in Duane Elgin’s book, Voluntary Simplicity:
“The UN Human Development Report of 1998 reported that expenditures for pet food, perfume, and ice cream in developed nations vastly exceeded the total resources needed to eliminate world hunger, immunize every child, provide clean drinking water and sanitation for all, and offer universal education. If we live moderately, we have the material means to establish a decent standard of living for everyone.”
Living the Balanced Life says
This is sad, yet so true. Was having a conversation with a friend who owns a hardware store. He was telling about the 100’s of dollars people will spend to feed the birds in their yards, and then the money they will spend to keep the squirrels out of the bird food.
Not that there is anything inherently wrong with feeding the birds, however….