Rob and Anna's travel adventure

This entry is a radical departure from the usual concrete factual reporting of our travels, but rather, I´ve been compelled to share some of my observations and subsequent analysis/conclusions regarding the sometimes harsh living conditions observed in this part of the world. It isn´t my intention to be preachy, promote an agenda, rationalize our actions/beliefs, cast blame, or pass judgment, but rather make some sense of the undeniable gap between the "haves" and "have-nots".

While traveling through Central America, particularly the rural parts (but some urban as well), one can not help be struck by the poverty that is witnessed. Such sights have prompted a lot of introspection and analysis, the thoughts I´ll share in this entry. Naturally, I come from an industrialized nation, and the contrast is sometimes harsh. I`m also aware that I view things with an egocentric as well as ethnocentric bias, but do my best to analyze things as objectively as possible (in other words, I cannot help view things from my and my culture’s own perspective, but am aware of that bias and try to avoid it as much as possible).

BACKGROUND

As background on ourselves, my wife came from a poor country, and though I did not come from a poor family, was raised poor (by western standards). Examples of our "poor-ness" were that my wife`s family sometimes borrowed money to buy food, and my room at my parents house lacked heating (my room was a converted back porch, snow tracked in did not melt, and my breath would freeze on the blankets in the winter). However, I do not remember being unhappy about where I lived, neither does my wife. Quite the contrary, my wife´s family was very happy, and she has many good memories.
One of my life goals was to utilize my advanced degree in the area of environmentally/ecologically sustainable development, and I sometimes imagine myself working in these areas we are traveling in. It is these very places where I may have ended up doing a two-year peace corp term, etc.
Coincidentally, I recently something heard on Radio Netherlands when a woman was asked about poverty in Holland. Her reply was "I`ve been to Gabon and seen what poverty is. There, you can make a child happy with a ball. Here in the Netherlands, it takes an X-Box. We have no poverty here."

CENTRAL AMERICA SPECIFIC OBSERVATIONS

Fortunately, we have not witnessed abject poverty on this trip- conditions of bloated stomachs as a person slowly dies of starvation. Though often on the thin side, fortunately it seems that the people we encounter are not in those dire circumstances. One indicator I use is the situation of homeless dogs. I would think that if people were starving, dogs would eventually disappear. I know westerners look at all the cows in India as foolish, but fail to understand that the animals are worth more alive doing work, providing milk, etc. than a pile of steaks. However, I can´t see dogs serving in that role, and I think if people were really, REALLY hungry, dogs would be gone. Some volunteers met recently in Guatemala (also very poor) confirmed my analysis as valid and agreed with the conclusion (and also confirmed that though poor, they have heard of very little starvation).

Regarding housing, some of the living structures witnessed are shocking (to my western eyes). Pieces of wood and corrugated sheet metal patched together to make a structure we in the US wouldn´t house a farm animal in. I´ve also witnessed many stark homes with a hammock- often being used (I can testify that after logging a few hours in one myself, there are worse ways to spend time!). And of course, there is the "universal pacifier"- even the most basic homes seem to have televisions.

ANALYSIS

I frequently associate the notions of "poor" with "unhappy". This trip has led me to re-evaluate that correlation. In the west, we often associate where one lives with affluence, socioeconomic status, education, etc. Very bluntly, the somewhat offensive term "trailer trash" imparts notions of poor, ignorant, miserable, uneducated, "untouchable" people (using an Indian Caste reference, though the untouchables were viewed much lower than mobile home residents), or at the very least, prime Springer guests. Understand that the typical mobile home would be a Bel Air mansion to many of the rural homes here. But is would be a very grave error to view the residents here in these extrapolated terms. I´m afraid that less informed Westerners do make that assessment however, or at least get stuck on the notion of "How can they live that way?". This lead me to examine how one lives (their home) relates, if at all, to much of anything- including poverty (and happiness).
For myself personally, and associating where/how one lives with poor-ness and happiness, I`ve had some of the best times of my life while living in a tent during my bicycle trips in Europe. Certainly a nylon home is "poor" compared to modern housing in the west, but it didn´t feel "poor". Regarding size and cost, my tent ´home´ was much smaller and less costly than even the most basic dwelling observed here. On this trip, we technically are both unemployed and homeless (and happy for the most part). Of course I recognize the obvious difference between being barefoot out of choice and from not having shoes and realize that our situational comparison is imperfect, if not flawed, but hopefully provides one data point for reference.

However, I reflect to a time when the Native Americans inhabited my home state in the Midwest, their housing was an animal skin and the winters were very brutal (far more exposure than my room). Other than the invasion of Europeans and the time since, I don´t think of Native Americans as unhappy. Rather, I think of people going about their business and living their lives, much the same as I observe here.

My wife`s mother spoke of walking in the snow bare-footed in the St. Petersburg winters. In life, she was anything but unhappy or bitter, but instead embraced life, and was a kind and deep woman. In fact, I´ve often thought that her hardships added to her character, kindness, generosity, etc. Making a comparison with the ´rich world´, even if she would have ever owned an automobile, I could never imagine road rage crossing her mind.

Then I think of the opposite of "poor". Reflecting to the Radio Netherlands quote cited earlier, though not nearly so eloquent are my observations of children in the US. They have so much, and yet, many seem so miserable. This seems in such contrast to the children I seen in the Central American countryside where they seem elated to be splashing around with their friends at a water-hole or river. "Poor"? Maybe by our standards. Unhappy? They don´t seem so. It is possible that some of the poorest children observed here may well go to bed hungry, which would likely be a different story however.

CONCLUSIONS
So what is it that makes people happy at home? Is it the house itself? My conclusion is that the house has little to do with it, but rather a loving, stable, and supportive family structure and a meaningful/productive life seem better ingredients. This is what my wife had, in addition to her families economic struggles. I realize that this is a very long route to something fairly obvious, but I wanted to share the thought processes.
Beyond housing (one of the few readily observable data points), there is the usual crass commercialism that in constantly on the television, movies, and other media (yes, even here). The notion that everyone should strive to be pretty, well dressed, and equipped with all the necessary material trappings of a big house, cars, etc. seems evident. I think the material wealth portrayed in the media, and that many experience in the developed world are well beyond the means of many of the people I´ve seen in the region. It saddens me if they have bought in to this bill of goods that they need these things to be happy- chasing/wanting some unobtainable illusion, and feeling inadequate, lacking, missing out, and unfulfilled about a myth created and perpetuated by those gaining benefit.

So I wonder what the aide and development workers are focusing on here. Is it to get busy making money to buy things, not to be "poor"? I so much hope not. I hope that instead they promote taking care of one another, education, and preserving the environment that sustains them. Finally, I´ve thought about what our responsibility is in all this. We are very careful about where we spend our money. For example, we don´t patronize wealthy multinational establishments. We stay in small locally owned places and eat from similar (often from the street with a set of pots and plates). We don´t buy products that exploit the environment/wildlife, use local transport, etc. One exception is the odd Coke/Pepsi (which is virtually unavoidable, but even there we try to buy locally produced beverages). Overall, we believe that the money spent goes to their local economy. Personally, my priority is environmental protection, and prefer to make charitable contributions to such causes rather than the human condition- because without a home (physical environment), a human population can´t be supported or sustained. Furthermore, I’ve (nor anyone in my family for that matter) never voted for any of the political leaders that have helped mess this region up.


I assume that if you have read this far, you either have an interest in the subject/my views or have an opinion regarding some aspect of the material covered. Please feel free to post any comments you may have, or to set me straight if needed. I´ve given a lot of thought and struggled to make some sense about what I´ve seen, and sincerely welcome any constructive input.