Living a simple lifestyle among the poor is something that I am learning this year. I have recently begun serving as a Salesian Lay Missioner in Montero, Bolivia. I live and work at Hogar Sagrado Corazon, an orphanage run by the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
So what has this new lifestyle meant for me? It means there are no couches; the only soft surface I encounter during a 24 hour period is my bed. It means eating old cows, and finding chicken bones and cartilage in the stew. It means drinking wine out of a coffee mug.
Despite all of the conveniences of a home, raising children is hard work. Raising 120 girls from broken homes in a developing country is harder. It is extremely difficult to keep the young kids clean and healthy, especially when we cannot even give them clean water. There are very few good male role models for the girls. But this is infinitely better than what they came here from.
It seems that poverty and humility often go hand-in-hand. The girls are labeled as “hogar girls” at school. Their uniforms are stained. The little ones have awful teeth. They all have lice. While the girls may lash out, scream, and throw fits, they can be so sweet. This morning, I found an apology note under my door from a teenager. I don’t think I have ever written out an apology for someone. Most of our girls are truly grateful for everything they have.
I am on God’s mission here, and I rely on Him heavily every day. I trust that my motorcycle taxi will not be in an accident, that my food will not make me ill, that I will be safe walking alone, that I will be able to handle 16 young children every morning. It is so easy to see God’s blessings at work here.
Living among the poor, I have come to realize, is a relative term. I have given up many everyday conveniences and comforts to come here. However, many of the girls who live here came from families that could not afford to feed them or send them to school. There are homeless people outside the walls of our hogar. So do I live among the poor? I guess I’m not really sure. But I do know that I have been challenged, that I have called out to God when things have been terrifying or when everything was going wrong, and that He always answers.
Andrea Garton is a 2010 graduate of WVU and former member of St. John’s.
Recommended Reading:
Populorum Progressio (On the Development of Peoples) by Pope Paul VI: www.vatican.va
Or the Abridged Version with Pictures: This Is Progress http://pastoralplanning.com/This_Is_Progress.pdf
Question of the Week:
How can I live in greater solidarity with people in need?
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