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urban poverty by the numbers

A friend recently sent this out:

Approximately 1 million people are moving to the world's cities each week, competing with others for jobs, public services, and housing.

95 percent of urban growth will occur in developing countries where there are the fewest resources to help them.

Urban populations are expected to grow at a rate of 1.8 percent per year, compared just 0.1 percent in rural areas.

The United Nations estimates that after 2007, one in three urban dwellers are living in poverty.

Latin America and the Caribbean are highly urbanized, with nearly 76 percent of the population living in cities. One-third of urban residents in these areas, or 128 million people, live in slums.

2007 marked the year that the world's population became 50 percent rural and 50 percent urban.

Some 35 million new housing units are needed annually - or 95,000 units daily - to meet the urban housing need alone.

Worldwide, slums are home to an estimated 920 million urban dwellers.

*Source: Habitat for Humanity

rear view mirror

This week in review:
-1 really awesome book started
-2 nights with the in-laws
-5 long days with out my hubby
-2 hard conversations
-1 crisis averted at work
-15 new supreme court justices elected in Honduras
-3 month strategic plan completed
-1 new haircut

birds eye view

a quote by Andrew Murray, found in the book, The Making of a Leader by Robert Clinton:

1. He brought me here. It is by His will I am in this straight place. In this fact I will rest.
2. He will keep me here in His love and give me grace to behave as His child.
3. Then He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends for me to learn.
4. In His good time, He will bring me out again-how and when He knows. So let me say: I am Here by God's appointment. In His keeping. Under His training. For His time.

ps-my husband won't be getting a moto anytime soon

On another shocking note, I've decided that we can measure 'how we are doing as a people/nation/community/world' by observing what happens when a stranger, alone on the road is in an accident.

This is a modern day 'Good Samaritan' tale. We found one such stranger on our way down from Santa Lucia on Sunday. A small group of men on motorcycles waved us down on the main highway. We nearly passed, but then stopped when we saw one man on the ground. They asked us for a ride to a near by public emergency clinic, which we obliged. They heaved their unconscious 'friend' into the back of our pick up and we followed them to the clinic. I looked in the rearview mirror, only to see a bloody and swollen foot sticking up with a few toes missing. We arrived at the clinic where we were cordially greeted by the security guard with instructions about where not to put the car. They finally agreed to let us in. When we did stop, I could begin to hear the groans of the man in the back. The nurses began to ask him who he was and what happened. Eventually, Guillermo and another guy lifted him out of the truck and onto gurney. Let me tell you, there was nothing tender or caring about the situation. Nobody from the clinic touched the man. He was taken to the back of an ambulance/van while his fate was decided. Please, don't mistake me for the good Samaritans in the story. I could hardly get out of the car for fear of throwing up or crying and was relieved to know that he had not died in our car. What we learned later was that the guy was a little drunk and had an accident on his way down the road. Some others stopped when they saw him there and then flagged us down. The man needed to be transported to the public hospital in Teguz, but they don't do that unless you are with a family member. This is an anti-dumping measure, I guess. They got in touch with the man's mom and she was on her way to accompany him to the hospital.

This got me thinking. So, if you get in an accident... there is no 911... so you might have to ride in the back of someone's truck to the nearest clinic.... where you will be skeptically greeted... and then only transported to the hospital if you are well enough accompanied to not be a dumping risk. What about people who don't have anybody? What if this happens to me? Of course, I'm tearfully asking Guillermo all of these questions after we leave the clinic. If you get in an accident, call a friend or family member first. Go to the best hospital you can afford that is close by.

I feel like I am more ready to learn to accept these realities with faith, rather than fear. In many ways, I think the culture of the US is insulated from the realities of life. I’m not talking about rich Americans being insulated from the realities of the world, I’m talking about being insulated from realities like death and life, hunger and need. The cushion of credit has been taken away, which constitutes crisis for many. Here there is no cushion of credit. There is income, and then expenses like food and water and shelter. I think the equation is much more simple. Also, our practices of dealing with death and sickness are much more ‘cushioned’. When someone dies, the body is taken away and handled elsewhere and the grieving process can take up to weeks. Here, there is much more actual contact and presence with a corpse and memorial processes often only lasting as long as 2 days, or as long as the body can go with out stinking. 911 is not a phone call away, but your neighbor, cousin, friend or co-worker is. There is a richness that comes from this messy-intertwined-interdepenant-i-need-you-and-you-can-count-on-me way of life.

So here is to life, the adventure that really is an adventure, to getting your hands dirty, to being ready to ask someone to give you a ride even though you might get blood on their car, to trust in the community rather than trust in 9-1-1, to a trust in God that really makes you live in faith everyday you step foot outside your door.

trouble lurking everywhere

disclaimer: kids, please don't try this at home. if you are writing some sort of report about Honduran current events, please don't use this as a source. i'm just a gringa living in Honduras.

I am surprised that it is only Monday night. Honduras narrowly missed a constitutional-sized disaster that put at stake a few things like democracy, balance of power and justice. I witnessed the atrocity that is public health care here, up close. Some things at my job are a bit crazy right now and my husband is out of town for work all week.

Allow me to explain...

Every 7 years, the Honduran congress elects a new Supreme Court. There is a process including a committee that I don't know all the details about, but, they basically start with a list of 90, then choose 45 and then vote to get it down to 15. There has been discussion about the re-election of Supreme Court Judges, but from what I understand, they can only be re-elected if the sub-committee includes them on the list of 45. This year's list of 45 did not include any re-electees. The National Congress was set to elect the 15 new judges from the list of 45. In order to uphold the constitution, they had to elect only from the list of 45 and do it by midnight last night. The first danger was that there was rumor that they wanted to re-elect 2 judges who were not on the list of 45. The congress was set to convene last night at 5 PM. The senators from the Liberales party did not show up until after 10. There were protesters outside and around the country calling for justice, calling for the Congress to uphold the constitution, calling for the congress to choose justice instead of corruption. What was at stake? For some white collar criminals (former presidents and other very high government officials), a jail sentence if certain judges were to form the new Supreme Court. For the Honduran people, stability, democracy and a balance of power between the three government branches. Many were gathered last night wondering what would happen. Would the Congress fail to elect a Supreme Court? Would Honduras enter into a string of consequences set-of by breaking the constitution (including postponing this year's elections)? What in the world is going on when this kind of thing can come so close to happening? We were relieved to hear on the radio as we drove home, that the Liberales had shown up and that a list of 15 had been chosen from the list of 45.

friday's list

a list of thoughts swimming around in my head:

1. can't wait for Guillermo to come home, it has been a long week with out him
2. this report i need to get in asap is a big mess
3. it is cold, but at least the sun is out and the clothes are drying
4. contemplating the best plan of attack for the afternoon
5. just remembered that the 2 videos (the office and burn after reading) i rented with sarah were due at noon today, an hour and a half ago
6. note to self: rent more season 4 disks of the office at metro media
7. it has been a fun week staying with friends and family while Guillermo has been out of town, but at the end of the day, i miss him and wish he could be home more often!!
8. feeling satisfied with this month's finances after paying a few bills this morning
9. thinking about my church in Boulder
10. very happy every time i walk into the living room and see the newly painted shelves/tables that actually match, aren't moldy and sort of make the room look cozy and cute
11. thinking about making friends here, gringo and honduran
12. thinking about my job, maybe my recent post about finding rhythm was a bit too soon
13. a few friends on my heart
14. deciding where i should get the car washed: $4 semi-sketchy place at the bottom of Suyapa that only costs $4 for inside and out, or safer place that will run me a little more
15. grad school seems to be continually flirting with me, but i really have no idea what, when, how or why...that seems to be a sign

yes we can, Honduras

If you speak Spanish, you will appreciate this song: Honduras Through Different Eyes