As Joel took us to the National Cemetary, we were ovewhelmed both to the size of this place and the stench. I will confess, I've never been to a cemetary where vendors are selling food. Really. Who would have thought...but really, I've been hungry at the cemetary. The place really is huge. At lease 2 miles long, full of...you know...death. For the wealthier families, they buy land at the cemetary and build a mausoleum. But for the poor families, they get a place in a wall. A rented space. These families must pay a yearly fee to have their loved one there, if they do not pay for three years, the tomb is opened, the casket removed and broken and the body is thrown over the cliff into the dump.
The dump. Twenty thousand people live around and work in the dump. They are workers there...they must have ID badges. This became a new rule a few years ago when eight children were killed in a garbage slide. Children are no longer allowed in the dump, but all adults must have proper ID, just in case something happens and a body needs to be identified. And that something does happen. As bulldozers and pushing the garbage to the edge of a cliff, the workers and scrambling to keep looking for items they will be able to sale.
It is a very organized place. No one steals from another. This is their job. When a truck comes in...I think 12 workers put their hand on it. And that is their garbage, no else jumps in. Their circle of garbage is respected. They find plastic, glass, paper, really whatever we throw away, and they find a use for it. They resale it and that is how they make their money.
I aksed Joel, "Are they happy?" And Joel said, "Are you happy?" "Yes." This is their life. This is all they have known. This is where they grew up. This is what they learned to do from their parents. Do they know thier is something better? Sure. But they are content with what they have and thank God every day for providing their daily bread. I would never say that this is a place that anyone should work or live...but what has to change?
These are uneducated people. The change has to come to their children. Their children need to be educated. And in comes the organization Safe Passage. This school is built just outside the dump. Five hundred children attend and more are on a waiting list. To be in the program, parents much not use drugs or alcohol. Children must attend classes and homework must be turned it, signed. They check up on families to make sure they are following the rules...if they are not...the children are out.
It is a huge difference, this school from the rest of this world. If you look to one side of the road it is brown and dirty and void of color. When you look to the other side of the road it is vibrant with color, it is clean and there is grass.
Children are fed nutritious meals and the day we visited, they were giving haircuts. This next generation, going through Safe Passage, has a chance to change.
Safe Passage has also started a program for parents. Nutrition, parenting classes health and education. They found when kids brought their homework back it wasn't signed...it just had a thumb print on it because the mother's didn't know how to read or write. Most have no more than a 2nd grade education. So, Safe Passage started educating the mothers and teaching them skills. Jewelry making was what we saw (and bought). It is beautiful and for the first time these women are proud of what they do. Their jewelry is being sold downtown and they are being taught how to work in stores and how to use credit card machines. They are so excited to be paying taxes for the first time (can you imagine?). To be part of the program, they get to set up their own schedule and they must attend 75% of time. Fathers are also being educated in the evenings, although not as many. But...some are coming. Safe Passage is an incredible organization.
We also ate a meal with a dump family. Joel, a while back, went door to door in a neighborhood and asked if they could bring people to visit and bring a meal. This was the only family that said yes. They know that every Thursday they will have a hot meal and some good conversation. Marlee and I didn't say hardly a word...we were overwhelmed by the trash, the animals and the day old kittens somewhere beind us crying. There were no words. (By the way, the nieghbors are a little jealous now, seeing what they could have been given.)
Over all, the day was good. Difficult, but good. What I tried to show Marlee was that one person can make a difference. The woman who started Safe Passage, Hanley(?), had a vision. She saw that nothing would change unless she educated the next generation. One person changed the lives of countless more. And I looked at Marlee and I told her, "Just think what you could do? Let God use you to change the world."
Friends...it just takes a spark to start a fire. Don't fear it, embrace it. See what God can do with just one.
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