Third World War-rior

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So leaving Coban, a medium sized town, for the north and more rural part of Guatemala took me to places where most tourists whizz past on the highway without stopping, kinda like Bakersfield, or Compton. It took me to the town of Chisec for a bus change and then to the town of Raxruyjah (Ray-roo-haah). Being in two towns with absolutely no tourist appeal, let alone tourists, and no interesting indigenous Mayan practices or dress, I had an opportunity to ask the question that was on my mind coming down here: What is third world poverty like?

First of all, this question and its investigation gives me some guilt. To be a poverty voyeur seems wrong. These aren't anthropology subjects, they are people. But I've worked with low-income folks in the US, with poor people in Israel, and the Ukraine, and I want to know what the difference is in Guatemala. How is it different?

It is different. In most towns, people live in small cinderblock houses and have a small yard. They work as repairmen, bank clerks, etc. In this backwoods rural part of the country which was a breeding ground for the revolution 20 years ago, houses are clapboard shacks with tin roofs. At best. Only the luckiest folks live in tiny cinderblock homes. Some of the worse off folks have clapboard houses with a thatched roof. Thats quaint if you are living on Gilligan's Island, but I think that would get old pretty fast.

Only the richest folks in the Guatemalan country have cars. A few have cheap 100cc motorbikes, most have bicycles. Bike repairmen outnumber auto repair guys 3 to 1.

They all have electricity, but today, power was out in town all afternoon. In addition, my fairly well-off middle class family in Antigua conserved electricity constantly: the fridge wasn't even plugged in. The river floods and washes out the roads, so people built their little shacks on stilts. A home 10ft by 20ft has 5-7 people living there. I'd rather not think about that.

Lastly, when we drove out of Coban and off to Semuk Champey we passed thru an area called Finca De Acuña- a plantation that took 1 hour to cross, with sharecroppers on both sides of the road. In Guatemala, corn is grown everywhere: in fields and backyards, ditches and steep hillsides. If you are really lucky, your family has a coconut or a few banana trees for variety.

It is, then, no wonder that they fought a civil war for 20 years about poverty, communism and landdistribution. Driving north, our van stopped twice at police checkpoints, looking for arms I suppose. The govt. here is still the same repressive tyrant that ruled in the 80's.

I spent the afternoon on Wednesday when I was stuck in Rayruxjah taking photos and walking around giving gum to children (I bought a little at a vendor and then thought it'd be fun to have around when I see kids.) I don't have any greater observations other than being thankful to be born in the US to parents of means and money, to have every chance in the world to do anything I want with my life. I could easily be one of the these children I'm giving gum to- working in the fields after school or cleaning floors.

Lastly, I've met a lot of people who worked in the US as gardeners or housekeepers here, or have relatives. All of them were really proud of those jobs, and praised the standard of life in the US that they had. 6 people, in fact have admitted to living in the US illegally. In order to legally go to the US, you need to file 4 sets of papers, each with a different office, plus demonstrate that you have $2000 in the bank in Guatemala, and have a person in the US vouching for you. I couldn't do that. And if I lived like the people in Chisex or Rayruxjah, I'd be lining up to sneak across the border.

We live a blessed life in the US, so remember how lucky we are. Can't we share the blessing of our wealth with a few more people, and make it easier for hardworking Guatemalans to do jobs you and I don't want?

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