I
received an email in response to the recent post, The Caserio Casa de Madera.
In the email the writer commented that, in contrast to the poor conditions I’ve
described, the school and people in the photos “don’t look poor”. I’ve
occasionally heard similar comments about other posts I’ve written. What I’d
like to do with this post is to try to deal with the philosophical question, “What
does poor look like?” But in doing that let me explain that this post is not a
rebuttal to the email I received, and I’ve already hopefully made that clear to
the sender. I appreciate constructive comments, questions and criticism.
Some
years ago there was a slogan on the wall of Chiclayo’s post office that read, “Poor
does not mean dirty.” I was never sure if the intent was a defense of poor
people or if it was to exhort people to focus on cleanliness, but either way it’s
at the heart of what I’m about to write.
Peruvians
are a proud people, and especially in the small villages where a sense of community
is still found. They may not know where their next meal is coming from, but
they will do everything humanly possible to insure that their church and school
are clean and provided for.
Does
this classroom look poor? The furniture was donated five years ago (and has
been kept in remarkably good condition). The paint on the walls and ceiling was
donated last year. When a floor tile breaks, the schools director, Maribel
Andaviza Vilchez, who with the other teacher mops floors and washes walls, will
get a donated replacement tile and one of the men from the village will install
it. The food the kids eat for lunch is donated by the Peruvian government. The
kids don’t wear the required school uniform because the families can’t afford
them. The teachers are paying transportation costs for at least three students to
and from the school out of their own pockets because the parents don’t have the
money. We have a formal request in our files from Maribel asking
us to donate a chalkboard because the village has no money to buy a new one. The
classroom in the photo is bright, clean and well maintained. It is kept that
way not because of any wealth in the community, but through the diligent effort
of the parents and school staff and donations. So…is this classroom poor or
not?
Do
the kids in this photo look poor? Peruvian pride carries through to personal
appearance. These three kids of the Fuentes family are well dressed in what
appears to be new clothing, sandals and shoes. The kids are clean, well groomed
and their hair is freshly washed. We see this every time we visit a family if
they know we are coming. Every person in the house will wear the best
clothing they have. If they don’t have suitable clothing they will disappear until
we have gone. The clothing these kids are wearing is used clothing and was
donated by a family in Lima. It arrived a few days before our visit with their
older sister who works as a maid for the people who donated the clothing. What
will happen after we leave is the clothing will be taken off and put away, to
be replaced by raggedy shorts. Young girls with developing breasts will wear a tattered
t-shirt. Kids under the age of five or six may go naked. Nobody will wear
shoes. All seven members of the Fuentes family live in one room behind the
kids. They washed themselves and their clothing in the red tub in the room on
the left. Occasionally there isn’t enough food in the house. Their teachers pay
for their transportation to and from school, and that’s after the kids have
forded a dangerous river to get to the highway. So…are these kids poor or not?
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