in the face of poverty

hey all,

i made my way out to the Quito City Dump yesterday with a handful of other people from HCJB, The Alliance Academy (school across the street), and a girl who's on exchange here from Michigan. we met as a group and was briefed on what normally goes on for the couple of hours that we are there. essentially, Extreme Response does a more "official" Kids Club during the school year, but since it is summer holidays now, most of the highschoolers that go, are out on holidays. so it was this small group of people that continue to go in order to maintain relationships built with the kids and families that live at the dump.

in two car loads, we made our way over and two girls were dropped off just outside the dump to gather the kids to come to the Kids Club that we host. "Venga" we'd say, meaning "come." as i entered the dump, and walked admist garbage, i saw a baby, no more than a year old sitting in a pile of garbage as her mother leafed thru remnants of a stack of garbage. as i went further, i soon saw small groups of kids playing in the garbage, with rope, or with stray dogs. but as they saw us approaching with our colourful crayons, paper, and balloons, their faces lit up as they ran towards us. with my limited spanish i proceeded to ask them their names, their age, and later, what their favourite colour was.

before we begin the "fun stuff" we wash the kids up. we had two large bowls of water and asked the kids to come. we had soap and so i took the smaller kids and washed their hands with them, and their faces. imagine a large salad bowl full of clean, clear water, completely darkend after two washes from two kids - that's how dirty these kids were. living in garbage, and smelling like it is the norm. but as i washed their hands and faces, i was completely humbled and priviledged to do such a task. they smiled as they were cleaned and i proceeded to moisturize them with some lotion we had.

after cleaning, the kids came into the room where other volunteers had set up tables and were teaching them a song. i hung around to wash another kid, cos i can't sing with kids... after that we did arts and crafts and we made a pinwheel. i met a 9 year old girl named Leticia and i coloured her paper with her. i drew hearts and suns, and clouds and flowers, and she would colour in the lines. when the pinwheel was completed, many were overjoyed as they blew to spin the pinwheel.

towards the end of the club, we rounded the kids up and gave them snacks - some peanut butter cookies, jelly tots, and a small "hotel-size" bottle of moisturizer. many left smiling and happy. as we left, i saw many of them return to their pile of garbage, this time with their snacks and pinwheel in hand.

i later learned that many of the kids' parents work in the dump doing recyling work. and live just a few steps away from the dump. sometimes the kids will help the parents, but from what i observed, many hung out...waiting for ...i don't know what. i asked why they weren't in school, and the response was that uniforms and books cost too much. and so these kids, while they should be at school, are spending countless huors, smelling, playing, and living in garbage.

i think this was one of THE most eye opening experiences of my life. watching this on TV, i can easily change the channel. reading it in a book, i can simply turn the page. hearing a band promote causes like World Vision of Compassion International, i can easily start tuning them out and start talking to my friend....but actually being in the dump, touching the children and talking to then, playing soccer and colouring with them, shows me that the face of poverty is in a 9 year old girl named Leticia. admist all this, i learned a great lesson, however. happiness is not based on a circumstance, but is a choice that we all can make.

i didn't take any pictures because i wasn't sure what the situation with cameras would be like there, but apparently the kids love having their pictures taken, so i'll post some next week.

be thankful for today, because you are breathing fresh air, your hair is clean, and you have clean running water at the turn of a tap. tell someone you love them, because being loved is fundamental to human existence.

much love
dL