4.7.08 ¿No hay agua?

On Saturday, I woke up early to do some yoga before Karen and I took off for our fieldtrip to Comayagua. I was a bit sweaty and looking forward to my cold shower. I stepped in, disrobed and turned the faucet on. I looked up at the hose that sticks out of the wall and nothing came out. Feeling confused, I turned the faucet off and tried again. Suddenly, a light bulb flashed on in my head…”there’s no water.” I know it sounds naïve, but I was genuinely amazed at what was happening. Never during my 23 years in the U.S. and even my time in Chile did I feel truly thankful and privileged to have running water. I mean, yes, I’ve said it before but until you don’t have it…you never really appreciate it. Luckily, my mom went across the street to the church and brought back a nice big bucket of water, which I used to bathe.

What I had failed to realize until that very moment is how different life is here…how different =my= life is now. So as everyone sits in their comfy computer chairs and reads my blog and giggles at my stories of having no running water and riding in the back of pick-up trucks…this is my reality, this is the reality of this country. We are so privileged in the United States yet so many of us fail to realize that. The thought of a life without Internet in our house, a plasma tv and dreams of a new Benz never crosses our minds so why would a life without electricity, running water or basic healthcare?

I read in the newspaper that 69% of indigenous children in Guatemala are malnourished…and overall, almost half the children in country don’t get enough food either. Sixty-nine percent…that number is overwhelming to me. Yet our government is spending trillions of dollars on a useless war and the citizens of my home country consume and waste more food in one day than the people here could ever imagine. It makes my heart hurt so much to see and hear about these things…yet most people turn their heads and ignore the injustices that are going on all around us. Even worse, they don’t take the time to be grateful that they never have to worry about where their next meal will come from, simply for luck of birth.

I’m not trying to preach to anyone and I’m not saying that I am suddenly enlightened or high and mighty. But we are all humans and we are all living together in this world and I think we all need to take a minute and think about what we can do to become global citizens and make a positive impact on this world.