In the 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda”, the true
story of hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina
(portrayed by Don Cheadle) saving over 1,000 refugees from the nation’s genocide
in 1994 was told. Part way through the
movie, an exchange takes place between Cheadle and an American camera man
played by Joaquin Phoenix.
The dialogue is as follows:
Paul Rusesabagina (Cheadle): I am glad that you have shot this footage
and that the world will see it. It is the only way we have a chance that people
might intervene.
Jack Daglish (Phoenix): Yeah and if no one intervenes, is it still a good thing to show?
Paul: How can they not intervene when they witness such atrocities?
Jack: I think if people see this footage they'll say, "Oh my God that's horrible," and then go on eating their dinners.
Jack Daglish (Phoenix): Yeah and if no one intervenes, is it still a good thing to show?
Paul: How can they not intervene when they witness such atrocities?
Jack: I think if people see this footage they'll say, "Oh my God that's horrible," and then go on eating their dinners.
I’ve always found that excerpt to be one part
powerful and the other insightful. We commonly watch the news; make broad
statements to those within earshot about how things need to change and then
move on with our lives. It’s an understandable reaction within a culture where
every terrible thing happening on earth is hurled at us each day by a myriad of
media sources.
| A little CHAMPION in Managua's Children's Hospital |
We battle to push it out of our heads. We
distract ourselves to avoid facing the thought. We make up excuses to focus on
something else. Many people sleepwalk, some stay in the shallow waters of the
pool to avoid the depths they’ll find at the opposite end, and still others
hone their ability to remain apathetic. These are all ways to cope so that we
can remain happy and optimistic about life, but unfortunately, they are also
equally ineffective at solving these terrible things that are happening.
The people of Nicaragua are poor.
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| Oliver & his family's Pigs |
The average per capita income is less than
$1,000 a year. Nicaragua is the second most impoverished nation in the western
hemisphere (Haiti being first) and the poorest Spanish speaking country in the
world. The underemployment rate (those unemployed or working for less than
Nicaragua’s legal minimum wage) hovers close to 50%. Minimum wage scales range
between $0.40 and $0.80 per hour (officially) depending on industry. Those in
the population not malnourished subsist on a diet of mostly rice and beans
every day.
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| Elizabeth handing out medical equipment in Solis... Thanks Shane & Jen for your support of our community! |
Houses, particularly in rural areas, are often made up of a
composite of materials from the nearby landscape, both natural (stones, tree
trunks or branches, etc.) and fabricated (aluminum, tin, lumber, etc.). There
is no heat and no air conditioning in almost all of the country’s
non-commercial structures. The rural population
approaches 50%, but only about 1 in 20 Nicaraguans own an automobile. The
average person spends less than 5 years in school and almost one-third of
adults over the age of 15 are considered illiterate. All of this is ordinary to
the citizens there.
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| Cedro Galan public school |
So, imagine a life where all of the above is
true. You are average, which means you are poor and surrounded by those who
share that same status. Jobs are scarce and when available, they are hotly
contested to the point where the winner often ends up working for a wage
beneath the required minimum. The government and police exist, but make little
more than you (sometimes less) and are almost never above reproach. Most are
only accustomed to small bribes, but there is always the possibility they are
complicit in more serious and violent crimes. Theft is so widespread it is an
accepted part of daily life. Trust, as we understand it, is a foreign concept.
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| Billy & Francesca Learning to DANCE! |
During my family’s visit, it was unexpected,
but at least a little encouraging finding that despite all of the above,
happiness does not evaporate entirely. People smile and laugh easily once
they’ve had a little time to warm up. They tell stories and ask how you are
just like anywhere else in the world. To the casual observer, you might even
say that they live like you might imagine you would in their situation. It’s
when you peel back away from the surface a little that the differences become
more apparent.
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| Chapel time on the Edge |
While happiness and laughter are present,
characteristics more rarely found are hope and a belief in the future. I don’t
think it’s a coincidence that both are in such short supply. What the
circumstances in Nicaragua seem to have caused is a permanent survival mode
mindset.
In the U.S. people around my age associate the
Latin phrase “carpe diem” with “seize the day” (that and Robin Williams standing
on a desk at some stuffy New England prep school in the 1950s). However, it’s
the extended version of the saying that goes, “carpe
diem, quam minimum credula postero” meaning “'pluck the day, trusting as little
as possible in the future” that applies here. You see, there is no future to
hope for in the minds of many Nicacaraguans. There are only the needs of today
that must be met and tomorrow isn’t considered until it arrives. Goals and
dreams are commonly uncommon because, really, what’s the use? The population at
an overwhelming rate is locked in a regular struggle to survive.
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| The Disciples, disciple... |
I was supremely impressed by the 8 young men
in the guesthouse that I met while staying with the Briens. All of them fall
somewhere between very skilled and incredibly talented as “trickers” (street
gymnastics) and/or dancers (bboy – breakdance, and electronic). They are
delightfully adept at improvising and are applying themselves each day to
learning choreography. They also seem eager to finish their education and learn
English. Having said this, what does their future look like if they don’t have
faith that there’s a good one waiting for them? If they don’t believe they can
overcome the challenges they are sure to face, how far can they go? Absent
hope, is the effort worthwhile?
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| Elizabeth & Lorenzy working with Missionary Doctors to Make Sure the People of Cedro Galan get Appropriate Medical Care |
In the Bible (Jeremiah 29:11), it says, “For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and
a hope.” This is what I pray for in those 8 young men and also for
Nicaragua as a whole.
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| Francesca Brien, a 15 year old missionary in Nicaragua |
I believe the opportunities will arrive, but
also know that such prospects come and go frequently all around the world. Do
the people of Nicaragua know they have a future and a hope? Is it just a
whisper in the ears of a few or will it be heard as a shout from the lips of
thousands?
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| The children of Capital Edge Community School |
This is why my friends and others like them
have come to Nicaragua. It’s so they can be used as tools to help bridge the
gap between the few and the many.
What of
you and me? Why have we been placed wherever it is we’re currently taking up
space? What’s our purpose?
I think we can come up with more than a few
good answers, but I’m pretty sure it’s not so that we can go on eating our
dinner.
