Misunderstandings

Over the summer break, some men came into the village from a local organization that does a lot of good in Guyana assisting with food and resources.  They held a meeting to see how best to continue helping the village on top of what they are already doing.  I jumped into a discussion with some of the women who asked for my help as they really weren’t discussing much without a leader.  This is typical.  Free thinking is not exactly encouraged in the school, so asking an adult to do just that doesn’t always get you the results you were hoping for.

So, when the man came to facilitate and started asking questions, the answers were slow coming.  He asked why more people don’t donate their food surplus, why no one has started small animal rearing, and if anyone would donate money to the school kitchen. 

I wanted to scream.

 

This man was just doing his job, and he was doing it well, but I wanted to pause and tell him about the women he was speaking with.  These women work incredibly hard every day, often without much help from the men if any at all.  They’re so busy doing everything they can to feed and clothe their family.  There is no surplus, no money, no time.  The crops rot out this year.  There isn’t even always food for their own table, let alone to give.  No one is about to change their ways with the possibility of further loss.  No one here can afford that. 

I often wish that people from outside the village would spend more time here before they go making decisions on what is wrong, what is best, and what they’re going to do about each.