November 2009
Greetings from Guatemala,
Before our first service team arrives tomorrow and we have no time to write, I wanted to share something that happened last week that reminds me why we are down here.
When I went to the park,a street woman stopped me. She is a woman who I have known for some time, but she was barely recognizable. She is probably in her forties and has been living on the street for at, least, as long as I have known her. She sleeps at night in a door way and begs for money. She only has two teeth left in her head and her mental capacities,over the years, have diminished greatly.
She stopped me on the street and spoke to me in English. “Hello…how are you?…….I remember seven years ago. You gave me ….a sandwich…..a fruit ……a cookie and a drink.”
I recall that day vividly. We had been in Guatemala for six months, and I was feeling overwhelmed by the plight of the street people. I felt I had to do something, so I made up a dozen bagged lunches and gave them to the poorest people I could find. Having no idea what their reaction would be, I was relieved to see how grateful they were to receive the lunches.
On that first day, a relatively young woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked me if she could have a lunch. I was really taken back, because this woman was well dressed and clean and seemed to have it all together, but I felt if she was asking for a lunch, she needed it, so I gave her my last lunch. When I finished giving out the lunches, I went about my regular Saturday market routine. At the end of the day I turned around and their was Patty with a huge smile on her face. She said “Thank you for the good lunch. It was very delicious.”
At the time, I was really not very familiar with the Bible, but I clearly remember thinking of the ten men Jesus healed and how only one came back to thank him. The feeding program lasted for a year and a half, at the end of which, Richard and I were feeding up to seventy-five homeless a night, before our return to Canada.Though the people were very appreciative Patty was the only one who ever came back to thank us.
A sandwich……a fruit……a cookie and a drink……..a simple act that impacted her life. Did it make a huge difference? No……..not in the big picture, but maybe it made a huge difference for that day! What I learned is this:to never underestimate the value of the small things we do for others.
Mother Theresa understood this,when she said “We can not do great things in this world. We can only do small things with Great Love.”
Feeding the street people has been a highlight for me, of our time in Guatemala. In closing I would like to share my experience of working with some of Guatemala’s most destitute.
The Dinner Party
I had a dinner party last night,
It was a grand celebration,
Everyone wore their finest,
There were seventy-five in all.
Some of them I call friends,
Others…..just acquaintances,
Some I know not,
Not at all.
Many are regulars at my dinner parties,
Sometimes they bring their children,
But mostly they come alone,
Very much alone!
Patty was there,
In her beautiful sequin sweater
(her only sweater).
And Mercedes let me smell her imported cosmetics,
She is a fine lady from Italy(or so she imagines)
She says “Yo no hablo Espanol”…….I understand Mercedes.
Felix ,Martin and Jose were hungry,
They had not eaten all day
(or days for that matter)
Dinner? I asked………..Gracias Dios!
And how is your wife Felix?
Oh Hello Maria….I didn’t see you.
My God, what happened to you?
You say “The police were there and they did nothing!”
Lo siento Maria…….I am so very sorry…….
Would you like some dinner Maria?
Gracias Senora…….Dios bendiga.
Yes I see your infected leg Martin,
And yours too Felix,
I wish I could help………I
I don’t know what to do.
Why are you crying Jose?
Grown men…..helpless….. shattered…… grown men!
Chuchini was happy last night………
The only time I’ve ever seen him happy.
He found a dog……….an amigo.
The police said to me,
“Don’t feed Chuchini”…….He’s crazy!!!!!!!”
“Oh really?………Crazy people don’t get hungry?”
And today his dog is gone,
And you ask me, why he is behaving so irrationally!
Marco was there………
He’s fifteen and lives in a cardboard box.
Luis was there…..He’s nine……
No mother……no father…….empty eyes……….sniffs glue.
And the babies, the little helpless babies,
They were all there,
The little girl in her school uniform,
Digging through garbage with her family.
Rudy is five…..he was there
Just waiting……..big sad eyes.
One lady was not there tonight.
She died last week at the age of forty-two,
Liver cancer……..they said she had a swollen stomach,
Everyone thought she was pregnant,
We brought food to her with armed guards,
She said she wasn’t hungry….
Rolling in filth, wailing……..
Empty bottles of rubbing alcohol all around.
“Can we not take her to the hospital?” I ask.
They ignore me…..
She is one of the disposable people
And when she died a few days later,
There was no one to pay for her funeral.
I didn’t even know her name.
But the rest……..they came……
They all came running……smiling……laughing
The Gringa……….the gringa…….they shouted.
Dinner was served!
A bean sandwich……..a drink……..a banana….and two cookies.
Gracias Madre”…….”Vaya con Dios”.
“Tank you very much”.
IT WAS A GRAND CELEBRATION!
In Solidarity and Love with the People of Guatemala,
Susana y Ricardo