My host, Alejandra, took me on a little trip today with a couple of her church-group friends to visit some individuals they help and offer support to. We drove to a neighbourhood not too far away. They call them neighbourhoods. North Americans might use the words "hillside slums". Little one-room 'houses' for the most part. Dirt floors, scrap metal/wood/plastic walls and roofs, sometimes no plumbing or power, the odd chicken or skinny little dog. Certainly no cars. You get the picture.

I'd only ever seen these places on television screens. It's a whole other experience to see them live and add-in the accompanying sounds, smells and textures. I think I would have found it even more sad than I did had not everyone there greeted me with a sincere, warm smile, a handshake or kiss, and an equally warm and inviting, "Buenas dias. Mucho gusto!" The reality is my average old Reef sandals represent two month's rent in those parts.

As these things seem to do, it ended in irony. When driving out of the area and back to the hustle, bustle, cars and motorbikes of Tegucigalpa I saw a young lady walking along the street in a dirty old t-shirt with Obama's face on the front. Underneath it said "Change".

Original: http://icowley.blogspot.com/2011/06/reality-check.html
By: Ian Cowley
Posted: June 9, 2011, 3:17 pm