Was does that mean?

Oh, so you are in Nicaragua to help the poor. 

So, what do you do to get these people out of poverty? 

And are these subsistence farmers getting anywhere? 

Are they actually producing crops?

What is it like to work with the poor?

When living in North America I had a conversation with a good friend who grew up ‘poor’.  “We had an addition just made of wood slabs cut from the bush and the walls were covered with newspaper.  We didn’t know we were poor.  That was just the way it was.  And we were OK.”  I often think of that conversation when groups come to visit the communities in which we live.  What does it mean to be poor?  Are we poor because someone tells us we are poor?  Is poverty or being poor a comparative measure?

Although the people with whom we work do not have much, they have a lot.  They have what they need for their basic needs, to share with their neighbours. Santa Gertrudis has been suffering from drought.  No one harvested a first crop of corn, except one lady who followed the conservation agriculture guidelines.  When I asked her if she had enough to last for her family until the next harvest she looked at me with a huge smile on her face. “Oh no, I gave it (literal translation would be gifted it) to my family and neighbours.  I have a little left and we are making tortillas today.  Do you want to see them?’ She proudly showed me the tortillas they were making for the family and the half a bag of corn that she kept for herself and her children.  I could not help but think that Jesus was smiling.  Sobelva produced enough to ‘get ahead’ and yet, in contrast to the economic system dominant in the world, she chooses to share her abundance.  I cannot call her poor.

We hear comments such as “I don’t believe it.  They are so poor and yet they are so happy”, insinuating that in order to be happy one must have material wealth.  There is also the implication that if one is poor one is not successful, that they have not reached an unspecified goal that would magically make them ‘not poor’.  When I share a cup of tea in Melva’s house she explains, “My house, it is humble.  But it is mine.  It is my home.  I have what I need. We have this piece of land for crops because there is water. Our other piece of land is for animals because there is only grass.”  I cannot call her poor but I would call her content and full of hope.

These two friends are subsistence farmers. These ladies, and others in their community, don’t have a lot of money and but have just enough food from the land to feed their families.  They live from crop to crop with the faith the God will provide.  They always have a cup of coffee and a rosquilla to share.  They remind me of my Auntie Tena, a wonderful faith-filled lady who lived with little by walked so close to God.

After being in North America this summer and attending Justicecamp I wondered who are rich and who are poor: my friends in North America or my friends in Nicaragua.  Many in North America live pay cheque to pay cheque; those in Nicaragua live crop to crop.  Many Canadians are mired down with personal debt.  Our Nicaraguan friends are unable to get a loan but also do not live under the fear of losing their homes or their land.  Many North Americans live lonely lives far from family; our Nica communities are full of relatives who rely on each other.  North Americans are reluctant to talk about their faith and their reliance on God in their daily lives; Nicas love to tell you about the blessings they have received from God.

So, who is poor?  What does it mean to be poor?  And would my Nica friends comment when visiting North America. “And I don’t understand it.  They are so rich and they are so unhappy?’ as they watch us rush through life.

Recently I read an article in the digital copy of the Converge magazine, a magazine for which I am always thankful.  Daniel White writes in his article ‘Making a Career of Humanity’

“This is something that one of our team members said to me when we were facing setback after setback in the tea kitchen. I asked him if he was feeling discouraged or disappointed, and that was his response. But he also said, “We have not yet achieved our goals. But this does not mean we are not happy. We Kenyans are happy, and we will work hard to achieve our goals.” I explained to him that in North America, people are often unhappy because they are not where they wish to be in life. “Oh,” he said, shaking his head. “That is very sad.”  http://convergemagazine.com/social-enterprise-justea-14582/