January 25, 2013: Passion

Yesterday we went to visit a potential village that is much more remote that Rio Azul.

The comparison was incredible…here were some people who were literally carving out their livelihood from nothing…disconnected from the world!

Rio Azul is located on a main highway, about 10 minutes from the city of Nebaj.  This means that if they need to go into town to get supplies, or if they want to send their children to University, transportation is reasonably straightforward. It’s expensive, so not everyone can afford it, but enough people can afford it that the town’s stores are reasonably supplied with necessities. A van goes back and forth daily…and costs about $1 a trip (most people earn about  $3/day).

But today we visited Jakana…a village far off the beaten path! The FH staff had never even been there!

It was raining pretty hard all day long, so we were wet by the time we left this morning.

To get to Jakana, we drove about 30 minutes past Rio Azul, past Xonca (a town that is partnered with VernonAlliance Church) to a town called Xish. Xish is another town that FH is looking at partnering with.

We then walked for about 40 minutes, downhill along a dirt path. I can see why the people of Jakana don’t have much contact with the outside world!

When we arrived, we were greeted warmly. We met with about 6 of the village leaders in their schoolhouse – a one-room building where 27 children in grades 1-6 are taught by the same teacher five days a week.

210 people live in Jakana, without electricity, access to enough water (clean or otherwise!) or medical care. They grown beans, corn, pigs, and chickens, and that provides almost all of the food that the villagers eat. They are good farmers, but they know that they need to do more to create healthy lives. They have heard about what is happening in the larger villages, and they are anxious to find a way to improve the lives of their own children.

The passion that they feel about improving their lives is inspiring. Despite the challenges, and the high cost ($15 per month per child), 6 children go to middle school in Xish and 2 go to Vocational School.

Inspiring.

These people want the same things that we want…better lives for their children. We just need to figure out a way to make it happen.

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Water: anything that God uses in and through us to make the world better. How are you bringing water to your world today?