A different world

Today, I was focusing on doing check-ups on the Project Mexico vehicles. I was working on a car that had almost bald tires. The radio was tuned into a country station, the artist singing about, “The Red, White and Blue”. I was using the air compressor to blow out of the vents in the car, because they constantly are getting clogged with Mexico’s dust. As I do so I hear horses, I glance over to the road, and see two men riding horses up the dirt road in full gallop. I sat back for a second and thought; “only in Mexico would you have a combination of all of those things”. Yet my humor about Mexico was quickly moved to a different note only a few minutes later.

After finishing the vehicle check, I drove the car over to Karen and Madi’s house. I knocked on the door, and talked to Karen about a couple car details. Karen then asked if I had heard about one of our Mexican staff members who had their house burnt down last week. This staff member is still here working with us, I didn’t even notice a change. Seeing the shock on my face, Karen explained to me, that I’ll get used to hearing about some pretty disappointing things in Mexico. House fires while not “common”, happen quite more often than in the states. The main reason why is due to the poor wiring of houses. Many people will often wire their own house. This along with older, and less affective electric tools and appliances create a greater likelihood of a fire or other dangerous accidents.

Continuing, Karen shared with how things like that, people’s houses burning down, is accepted here. There are things that people take as, “normal” that we in the states would think was anything but normal. Karen told me about one house that she was helping build. The neighbors of the family Project Mexico was building the house for, had a small 10 year old daughter. They had notice a lump growing on her throat and saved just enough money to go to the doctor to find out what was wrong. The doctor explained that it was a cancerous tumor, and that the girl would be fine if given the right treatments, otherwise she had a year or so to live. The family had spent every last peso getting the girl to the doctor, and had nothing left for the operation and treatment. Sadly they had no other options. The girl was like any other 10 year old, except that she had been given a death sentence, (at least in Mexico). Had this girl been able to get treatment in the states she still would be living today.

This was one of a few stories Karen shared. It shows how much we take for granted up in the states. If the girl had been in the states, things would have been different. First, the family almost certainly would have had a better paying job, (even if it was minimum wage). Secondly, she could have had access to the treatments. Finally, if the family was not able to cover the costs, and they were uninsured, there is always the possibility of charities, churches and other places that they could have turned to for help. Down here, people are on their own. Every time I drive along the international road in Mexico, right along the border, I think to myself how people are not even a mile away from each other, yet people are worlds apart. It’s a different world down here.