I spent a week in Guatemala. As a first worlder, secure in my knowledge that my needs are many and my appetite vast, I witnessed, however briefly, just how the other nine tenths of the planet lives and was momentarily knocked off balance. Being an audio guy means I do not speak, lest I ruin a take or change the outcome of how a scene takes shape. Unfortunately that becomes how I also view the world; as a detached observer, somewhat less passionately than those in participation. It was hard not to see what was going on and want to help. We were shooting a team from Providence hospitals putting in cook stoves in the homes of indigenous Mayan people of central Guatemala because their traditional fire benches cause respiratory infection in their children. The houses are small- some as small as 10' x 14'- and house sometimes three generations on dirt floors, with no water or electricity (though many do have some electricity) In a way the mission is a fake: the villagers do not need North Americans to put in their stoves- they are intelligent and capable people and could easily do it them selves- the crew from Seattle found that out quickly. The reason they need North Americans there is to experience the poverty and inequity first hand and then go home and try and do something about it. I very much want my kids to do this and see that the world is not just about adequate wi-fi connection. Guatemala is the destination of numerous charitable missions from the developed world and it needs them desperately. It is however becoming increasingly dependent on them. The clinic we shot, who bring teams of surgeons down from the states to do marathon surgery in their two affiliated hospitals, has almost inadvertently become the 3rd largest healthcare provider in Guatemala, a country of 14 million people. There are many, many problems crime there: drug and gun running, disease, corruption and most visible, it is a police state with every corner patrolled by either a army unit of 19 year olds with AK 47s or rent-a-security patrolman with a ubiquitous silver, pistol gripped shotgun at every bank, pharmacy or fast food restaurant. There are also many American missionary Guatemala junkies who are like a woman who marries a man and wants to change him in order to "fix" him, but is always disappointed that he never changes, but keeps trying because, he would be so perfect if it worked.
I spent a week in Guatemala. As a first worlder, secure in my knowledge that my needs are many and my appetite vast, I witnessed, however briefly, just how the other nine tenths of the planet lives and was momentarily knocked off balance. Being an audio guy means I do not speak, lest I ruin a take or change the outcome of how a scene takes shape. Unfortunately that becomes how I also view the world; as a detached observer, somewhat less passionately than those in participation. It was hard not to see what was going on and want to help. We were shooting a team from Providence hospitals putting in cook stoves in the homes of indigenous Mayan people of central Guatemala because their traditional fire benches cause respiratory infection in their children. The houses are small- some as small as 10' x 14'- and house sometimes three generations on dirt floors, with no water or electricity (though many do have some electricity) In a way the mission is a fake: the villagers do not need North Americans to put in their stoves- they are intelligent and capable people and could easily do it them selves- the crew from Seattle found that out quickly. The reason they need North Americans there is to experience the poverty and inequity first hand and then go home and try and do something about it. I very much want my kids to do this and see that the world is not just about adequate wi-fi connection. Guatemala is the destination of numerous charitable missions from the developed world and it needs them desperately. It is however becoming increasingly dependent on them. The clinic we shot, who bring teams of surgeons down from the states to do marathon surgery in their two affiliated hospitals, has almost inadvertently become the 3rd largest healthcare provider in Guatemala, a country of 14 million people. There are many, many problems crime there: drug and gun running, disease, corruption and most visible, it is a police state with every corner patrolled by either a army unit of 19 year olds with AK 47s or rent-a-security patrolman with a ubiquitous silver, pistol gripped shotgun at every bank, pharmacy or fast food restaurant. There are also many American missionary Guatemala junkies who are like a woman who marries a man and wants to change him in order to "fix" him, but is always disappointed that he never changes, but keeps trying because, he would be so perfect if it worked.
