We were crammed in the back of the bus as we bumped through the busy streets. The air was hot and steamy and smelled like burning trash. My missions’ team was driving through Managua, the capitol of Nicaragua. We entered La Chureca through a broken iron gate. Dolls’ heads on stakes stared at us as we entered. Our interpreter with Forward Edge International told us to shut the windows because the odor and chemicals of spontaneous combustion of this waste would infiltrate our bus. Hundreds of workers were sifting and sorting through the millions of tons of garbage and stretched in mountains as far as the eye could see. Loads of garbage from over the years had literally sculpted the landscape.
Sadly, this is where about 1,500 people call home. Families work in this dump collecting recyclables to sell to the recycler. The average wage is two dollars a day. Kids wander around barefoot amidst the trash, while their parents are out working. Many children are responsible for caring for their younger siblings. The lack of health care, the sewage running through their roads, the barefoot little boy meandering through heaps of trash, the family of eleven who lives in a tiny room, the stray dog that lies dying outside were signs that struck me as being one of the saddest places on earth. Yet there was some hope.
On my day in La Chureca, I cleaned the only school in the community. The school is supported by a local church. This school is so packed with kids that the younger kids must go in the morning and older kids at night because there are not enough classrooms or desks for all the students. There was no glass in the windows, only iron bars. While I was wiping down some desks, I met Mario. Mario was probably about three. I said “hola” and he immediately lifted his arms in a gesture for me to scoop him up. As soon as I did, I noticed the dampness of his shorts against my arms. Who knows how this kid got wet? All I knew was he was one little boy who needed attention and to be loved. I asked him what colors his toy was and watched him play hop scotch with some other kids. Then these small sprouts, without anyone telling them to do so, started cleaning with us. They mopped the soapy water around the open air classrooms and swept the sidewalk. Though they were dirty, and neglected, they wanted to serve the school in their community. These boys and girls found purpose in doing these small tasks.
While I viewed sweeping as a way of showing love to the kids that would be going back to school the next day, Mario and his friends had a different motive for cleaning the school. They swept, and wiped, and mopped because they were fulfilled by it. It gave them a sense of purpose in life. It gave them direction. To serve others was necessary for them because they are not served. La Chureca is not a neighborhood where it is common to see people spending quality time with one another, nurturing one’s children, or teaching kids rules or even hygiene. Yet these youngsters found such enjoyment in being able to serve someone else, to make something clean, to beautify it. They were investing their time in something that made a difference perhaps for the first time. These kids’ volunteerism touched me tremendously because of what big hearts they had to serve others despite their poverty.
Since this experience I have continued to serve others in my home town and the area that surrounds me. I have come to realize that similar poverty to what I experienced in Nicaragua is prevalent in Portland as well. Driving through downtown Portland, I saw hundreds of homeless within blocks. The sight of such hopelessness, such a dirty situation, such dire need made me cringe inside yet appreciate how much I have to be thankful for. I also learned that there are about one hundred students at my own high school who are without a home. With many people’s basic needs threatened daily, I decided to encourage others to volunteer more instead of just volunteering myself.
This year I was part of the team that organized my school’s canned food drive. Through this canned food drive, we brought in over 15,000 cans of food for local families that need food. Each year my school puts on a fundraiser, called Bear Necessities, to raise money for needy families identified by a school counselor. With the money raised, we would buy books for the students, and provide gift cards for the families to purchase food and clothing for the holidays. I implemented a new money collecting system, and even in this troublesome economy, we ended up raising $ in just two weeks this year! We had enough excess money in the account that had accumulated over the past few years that we were able to donate $1,000 to Operation Santa, a organization of fire-fighters and police officers that collect food and toys to distribute to the less fortunate during the holidays. In addition to this $1,000, we donated $4,000 to H.O.P.E., a part of the Oregon Food Bank which operates in my home town. With the money my school donated, they were able to purchase approximately 40,000 pounds of food to distribute to families in Oregon City and the towns close by.
I have also seen poverty not just in my school, but also the area surrounding me. I have volunteered at Bridgetown Ministries to feed and clothe the homeless in downtown Portland. A few friends and I went donated a bunch of old sweatshirts and coats of ours to people on the streets in Portland this winter. I was able to have two large boxes of sample coats and sweatshirts donated by a local business which we were able to distribute to the cold that night. As our winter formal dance was rolling around, I thought it a shame to spend so much money on one night of entertainment while so many cannot even afford the basic necessities, including medical treatment. In wake of the Haitian earthquake, I thought it fitting to put on a fundraiser for earthquake relief. The question was, how could I get a bunch of teens without jobs to pitch in money when they were careful budgeters of their funds? I invited several people to my house for dinner before the dance and asked everyone to pitch in however much they would have spent on dinner had they gone out to eat. Just by having friends over for a home-cooked meal, we raised over $150 dollars without going in the red. Without finding a way to encourage others to donate to this cause, my contribution would not have been as significant, yet together we were able to make a more considerable contribution. This is a tradition I hope continues for the future seniors, and one I will definitely take with me to college.
Although Portland is a different environment and different people live here, the need is the same as in Nicaragua and around the world. Everybody needs love, clothes, and food. I cannot be in Nicaragua everyday giving my time and energy to serve the less fortunate, but I can contribute my time and energy to helping those around me, wherever I may be.
