What is the Real Cost of Living?

“There is enough for everyone’s need but not enough for everyone’s greed.”
          -Mahatma Gandhi

 “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”
          -Mother Teresa

Poverty.  For most of us this concept is quite remote.  I mean, we hear it, many of us empathize with it, and some of us may even begin to conceive the statistical detail of it, but still, it is doesn’t affect us much and we really don’t understand it. 

I want to share two things that have opened my eyes a bit and expanded my view of poverty.  One involves the work I’ve been doing.  An important part of what I do here is in regards to the orphanage’s water project.  There are still some parts of Peru that do not readily have access to water.  In these pueblos, they have to buy it, either from a store or from someone who bought it at a store.  In theory, the government will extend its own water initiative and reach these towns, but as of now they are in a rather tough spot. 

At the orphanage we have our own water system, and put in place is a program to reach a nearby town called Alto Salaverry.  This pueblo is an example of poverty that we as westerners do not know. There are homes made out of adobe bricks, desert “trails” for most of the roads, trash strewn here and there, and a multitude of dogs slumbering about wherever.  We expanded the project to reach another part of the town and had to briefly use the house of one of the villagers.  It appeared that the whole place had one light bulb.  There was no TV, no washing machine, I don’t even know if there was a couch.  A rooster roamed the premises out back, and a hen poked her head in.  Yet the people in this village were kind and seemingly happy people, content in the simplicity.    

Of course there are people in Peru that live more towards the semblance of what we are used to, though internet is not as prevalent and it seems almost none have more than one TV.  And it really means something if you have a car.  But let’s look closer.  I have a friend here that told me that the pay for a job he either had or currently has (I can’t remember which) is 27 Nuevo Soles a day.  This seems to be decent here for someone his age, and he doesn’t seem to be in money trouble.  However, one U.S. dollar is approximately 3 soles.  So he makes about 9 dollars…a day.  The realization hit me that in the past I have made more than that in an hour. 

So we have the poverty that is right before our eyes, but we also have the poverty that comes from the stark disparity cross-country.  The key is relativity; it’s not so much as someone having so little, but someone having too much.  It really is a messed up situation where someone can make more money in a day than a family makes in a lifetime. 

I don’t want to call people into guilt.  Let’s face it, there is more than meets the eye.  The cost of living is much more difficult in the States, and there are a lot more bills.  But when poverty is in the village your standing, your paradigm has to be shaken.  And look, Peru is a developing country, but there are many more countries in much lower categories. 

There is so much to say on this topic.  The above quotes from two of recent history’s most prominent figures add some practicality to this discussion.  The world has enough resources, but it’s the distribution that’s off.  However, if change is to come, it has to come from Love.  Without Love, money will not really change anything.  We can make a difference, bit by bit, if we truly care.  You have to ask yourself, do you care?

Some sites I recommend in regards to this topic:  http://www.charitywater.org, www.worldvision.org, and www.kiva.org.           

Below are some photos from a day I worked in Alto Salaverry, plus some interesting pics from an animal refuge center I visited!