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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

rhythm

the right girl
the right bike
the right time
the right place

choosing the bike, adjusting the seat, selecting the clothes
well rested, well fed, excited, ready
choosing a path, considering a destination, gauging the challenge
going solo, riding in a pack, consulting with an expert

I feel like for the first time in many months, I am finally the right girl on the right bike in the right time in the right place. I feel like I've set a route that is the right mix of challenge and comfort. I feel both free and responsible as I commit to making it to a destination.

worth your time

1000 Questions Video from the Willow Creek Leadership Conference that we attended via video here in Honduras.

i forgot to show these off

I'm pretty sure this isn't right

Why doesn't my cheesecake look like the one in the picture? It was poofing out of the pan and a little brown on top, but it actually settled down and we tried it this morning... delicious!

3rd Christmas in Honduras

This is my third Christmas in Honduras, and my third time to get a nasty cold at Christmas. We have basically been on vacation since the 19th. We went to Ajuterique to visit our friends Anibal and Yadira and their two kids. We hung out at their house and visited Anibal's dad's tomato farm. We have mostly been at the house or visiting with friends and family. On the 24th we went to the soccer field here in Santa Lucia and I had a soccer lesson. On the 25th Guillermo took some boys from Los Pinos/church youth group, up to El Hatillo to play soccer. Here are some highlights:

Los jovenes on the 25th

Learning how to shoot

Already a pro!


Fun times in Ajuterique

At the tomatera

Beautiful!

vacation here we come!

Well, we are ready for some rest. It has been a busy couple weeks and weekends. Between Christmas parties and closing out the books for the year and a new project with an organization called Institute for Orphan Advocacy, our plates have been full.

This weekend we have the Christmas service at church on Saturday night and on Sunday we are off to visit some friends in Ajuterique (sp? it is near Comayagua). After that, we will just be resting, in the house and hanging out with family and friends on the 24th. We are hoping to go to Olancho on the 1st.

Sunday afternoon in Honduras

i will participate

I think this is a great. Count us in: http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

la H

morning commute

what's new?

What is new with the Jiménez house? Not a whole lot. Last week was a nice week because Guillermo didn't have any trips for work. I had a nice week too, with lots of variety. The first part of the week, I hosted Bryan, who was stopping in to check out Servant Partners on his way from Peru to Pennsylvania.

Guillermo had a soccer game, which he won! He is back in shape after being knocked out by a nasty flu-like bug a couple weekends ago.




Friday night was a fun night out! We had a meeting for our small group from church around 7:30. We went to the mall after work, before the meeting and ate ice cream cones and Guillermo bought some new shoes for work. We ran into a few friends and printed some pictures for the wedding album and a portfolio I am working on. We had a great time at small group, eating enchiladas and talking about funny political spoofs (for the US and Honduras) and also all of the many Caliche (Honduran slang) words and gestures. It was almost 11 before we left for home with eyes wet and bellies aching from so much laughing.


This weekend, we were at church a lot. We are joining the leadership team for the youth group. There is going to be a 3 day youth camp in February, for which there was a planning meeting on Saturday. Following was a community movie night at the church, complete with popcorn and a chorizo cook-out.

Sunday was church and then a meeting for CCUH, the Honduran chapter of IFES (Intervarsity). Guillermo was elected to be a member of the board for this coming year, which was special since his dad was very insturmental in founding CCUH in Honduras. We also had dinner with our friends José and Karla and their two girls, lots of fun!

it finally hit me

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the colour of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome". Yes we can." Excerpts from Obama's victory speech

I became a little emotional reading this and looking at pictures from election day on the internet. I know that the role of race in this election has been debated, but today I feel up for celebrating.

I am currently blogging to you from Los Pinos, Tegucigalpa, Honduras: a slum community where hunger, violence and miserable living conditions are a reality for thousands of families. In my 2 years of living in Honduras, I have asked myself, how can things change... can things change? Sometimes the poverty, corruption and injustice seem overwhelming and overwhelmingly complex. I have been re-reading a book called The Allure of Hope by Jan Meyers. It talks about how we respond to brokennes and stolen dreams:

"..the option of hopefull remembrance and vision. Frederick Buechner says, 'The world can be kind, and it can be cruel. It can be beautiful and it can be appalling. It can give us good reason to hope and good reason to give up all hope. It can strengthen our faith in a loving God, and it can decimate our faith.' .... Choosing to respond to hope requires courage, vision, and patience."

"Perspective is a keyword in our society.... A new point of view that produces change when our hearts are swept away in disappointment and we are looking for some moorings? In many ways, yes. But perspective settles for a little glory. God does not have perspective about our transformation, He SEES it. Perspective shifts the puzzle pieces of our circumstances around until we feel better about the picture; vision sees what the puzzle was meant to be. Perspective helps us cope, but coping is so much less than what our lives were made for. I can't imagine Jesus looking around at His twelve friends at the Last Supper and saying, 'You can have the peace I leave with you if you work really hard at keeping a good perspective on things.' No, He invites them to see differently, to see beyond. He says, 'My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.' (Jn 14:27). Jesus tells us there is something different that we haven't seen yet-what we need are new eyes. Perspective must flow from a vision for more, for what we haven't yet seen... Buechner puts it this way: 'It is in Jesus, of course, and in the people whose lives have been deeply touched by Jesus, and in ourselves at those moments when we also are deeply touched by him, that we see another way of being human in this world, which is the way of wholeness.' This is what my heroes have done for me. When our stolen dreams are the only ones in front of our eyes, there is no choice for us but to lose heart. When our vision is expanded to include prostitutes turned tender, crusty women turned luminous, lonely women turned lavish, we find that our dreams matter to God."

This books is written more for women's personal lives, but I would continue her train of thought to include the stolen dreams of communities. It is in Jesus that we see a way of wholeness in the community, a shalom community made reality. When our stolen dreams are the only ones in front of our eyes, we lose heart, become cynical, bitter and fearful. When our vision is expanded to include broken communities made whole (Nehemiah), spiritual communities gone astray and then returned to God (Israel), corrupt leaders turned to justice (Zacheus) and enemies become family (Jews and Gentiles, Paul)- we find that our dreams matter to God. We find that hope is the right response to the stolen dreams of the community. Today I find encouragement and my hope for Honduras is renewed as my vision is included to see a nation that once outlawed African-Americans and women to vote, turn out in record numbers to elect an African-American president.