It is weird to be back. I have returned from a town where the “nicest” homes in the community lay on the main street where dogs fight, moto taxis zoom by, and all sorts of livestock wander through. These are the nice homes that have access to the cobblestone road. The best have tile floors, but the majority still have dirt floors that have to be watered down on hot days and constantly swept. This street is where I spent my week. At the outskirt of the town are the more rural dwellings and where the most of the people live. Most of these families’ homes consist of old boards with a tarp that makes up one or more of the walls. The center of these abodes is a place to store the pottery that supports these families. One home I remember in particular was two makeshift boards with a blue tarp roof. On the dirt floor was one queen size mattress next to their pottery. This 100 square foot area housed a couple and their three small children.
Now being home it is hard to come to terms with the idea that my closet is bigger than the homes where people are raising their children. I look at things like the floors of my house, the warm water in my faucet (or running water in general), and the clothing on my children differently. What I think of as necessities are actually luxuries. I am not sure what to do with this awareness yet, but I will continue to digest it.
-Angela
1 comment:
Especially in this economic time, it really is important to remember that SO much of what we think of as necessities really are luxuries and that we will survive and perhaps flourish if we have to cut back and do without. If we have to find ways to spend time with our friends and families without it being an expensive ordeal or require a lot of resources. But it's particularly hard to remember this when everyone else around us is not remembering, or even aware.
Thanks for sharing the insight that you found in your journey!
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