Poverty

Poverty in Rwanda seems different that the US. Poverty in America is something beyond lack of material possessions. There seems to be a feeling of hopelessness of oppression. Helplessness. I do not sense that in Rwanda. Mostly, even among the poorest, I see happiness. Not that people wouldn’t want electricity, or running water or a more comfortable place to live. I’m sure they do. But they seem grateful for what they do have. They work hard for everything – even their water – even the wood they use to boil their water and to cook. Here if you give the equivalent of a dollar to a poor woman she looks you in the eye and blesses you from her soul to yours. Of course there is evil here. But there is also hope, humility, gratitude, self-reliance that do not seem so present in the US. Hard work is expected here. People do not complain. Right now a man is washing the tiles on this veranda. They look like the tiles on our kitchen floor. He is washing this very large floor on his hands and knees. Soapy water from a bucket. A rag. He stands, works the kinks out of his back and then gets back to work. Every single tile washed by hand on his hands and knees.