Let's Stop Talking About the Poor

Mariah (one of our summer volunteers) & Niva
It is hard for me when we talk about the poor. I wouldn't want to be characterized and defined by my financial status, because there is more to me than how much money I do or don't make. So why do we do that to some people in the world?

To be honest, I sometimes wonder if “the poor” or “people in 3rd world countries” or any of those phrases should be used at all. Saying “the poor” is actually very impersonal. So I want to break that open today, and shatter it a little bit. Let me introduce you to some people I love.

When I try not to waste food at a restaurant, it is not the poor that I am thinking about. I am thinking about Niva. Niva is a sixteen-year-old girl who lived a couple miles down the road from me in Haiti.

Niva is very shy and sometimes covers her mouth and hides her face when she talks to me, which means I can’t hear what she says. I have to ask her to repeat herself often. When she repeats herself, sometimes she giggles, and we have to do the whole thing all over again.

"I can't hear you, Niva. What did you say?"

It's actually very cute.

When I first met Niva, I knew that there was something not quite healthy about her. After taking her to a few doctors and trying a few different kinds of medicine and soaps, we found out that Niva has a skin disorder called ichthyosis. This means that the skin all over her body is dry, scaly and prone to infection. There is no cure for ichthyosis, so Niva has to try to manage the symptoms, which is very difficult for a girl in Haiti whose family has very little money. Often she puts cooking oil on her skin to make it a little less dry because the family cannot afford lotion or even soap. Her skin condition also means that she needs more protein, more nutrition and vegetables, and more water than most people – these are all things that are hard to come by in Haiti. Many, many times, Niva has come to me crying because she has not eaten a meal in three or four days. She is very malnourished, but that is not who she is. It is not what defines her. She is a beautiful girl with a beautiful soul, and a beautiful smile.

When I try not to buy too many clothes, it is not the poor that I am thinking about. I am thinking about Remerson.

Remerson is a boy in our neighborhood who is always hanging out at our basketball court, or playing soccer in his bare feet. He has a huge smile and a lot of joy. Unfortunately, he often wears girl clothes  or clothes with holes in them - I am assuming because he doesn’t have many of his own. Last year he didn’t go to school because his mother couldn’t afford it. A couple years ago, they were living in a house with walls made of tarps. Remerson is a troublemaker, but I can’t help having a soft spot for him because he remembers my name and always calls to me to say hello.

When I hope for scholarships for children to go to school, it is not the poor I am thinking about, it is Franso. Franso is a teen who they used to call "Monkey" or "Artist" because he is hilarious in skits and should really be in theater. One day when I was talking to Franso, I asked him if he had a Bible. His response was that he didn't know how to read. He was sixteen and had never been to school for a day in his life. His dad was handicapped, and his mother was trying to raise a few other kids also, including a girl who was deaf. About a year ago, Franso went to school for the first time and started the second grade. He is turning out to be very smart and is getting really high grades. I can tell that he is proud to be going to school. He also received his first communion last year.

I don’t want to talk about the poor anymore. I want to talk about people. I want to talk about people with faces and names and lives, people whose faith and love have made a difference in my own life. These people are just as real to me as any American. They are my neighbors, just as much as you are. They are not just my neighbors. They are my friends. They are my family.

So let us remember our mothers, our daughters, our brothers who live in other places. Let us be the family of God. Let us take care of one another.

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