Living in a country of contrasts...

One of my good friends will be working this summer in Kenya and recently asked me how I’m dealing with the contrasts of Brazil. I thought it was a good theme for a post. Whenever you’re in a “country of contrasts”, it’s normal to feel that your contributions are insignificant and to feel guilty for having privileges that you do (e.g. traveling within the continent if you have the opportunity)...so how do we deal? I wrote to my friend saying that feeling guilty and not taking advantage of the opportunity to travel along the coast if she has the chance is not going to solve the problem of poverty...i encouraged "have a blast, learn all you can, and then use that as inspiration to figure out how you want to contribute to society."

I'm gonna re-post a story that's on one of my first blog posts because it's something i often think about. A while back at a Baha’i fireside, one of the ladies shared a dream she had...I remember it to this day because it has really helped me put some perspective to the social issues we face:

there was some kind of reservoir and lots of people were drowning in it. People ran to the side of the water and attempted to pull out individuals one by one. Sometimes they were successful, sometimes they themselves fell in. And this lady noticed Abdu’l-Baha sitting on a hill nearby overlooking all this. She got angry because she didn’t understand why He wasn’t doing anything about it. People were dying and He was just sitting there. She approached Him and saw He had paper and pen in hand. And upon questioning, He told her that He was figuring out a way to drain the reservoir. Can you imagine how many more people will be saved? Though individual efforts are noble and courageous and will save precious lives, they will not ultimately solve the problem of people drowning in the reservoir.

So the challenge we have when we come across societies that are marked by contrasts is to try to figure out how to drain the reservoir...in the end, much more people will be saved. When it comes to our everyday lives, I think moderation is key. We shouldn't give up all our possessions just to help a cause, but at the same time, we shoudn't go overboard with unnecessary material things. Find the balance. That's the philosophy I'm trying to stick by.

José and I have had many a discussion on the differences that exist between the United States and “los países de nosotros”, and of course, poverty always comes up. If you compare poverty that exists in other parts of the world, the poor in the US have it good...

Anyway, it’s a topic of long discussion...I’d be interested to hear your comments on the issue.