After three months of living in a third-world country, my life was changed. Almost a year and a half later, I am still affected everyday by what I saw and experienced.
The people in the town of Lugazi live in utter poverty. The average family resides in a one or two room hut without electricity, a door, and a dirt floor. There are usually between five and seven adults and children living, cooking, and defecating in and around this small space. An average family in the United States lives in a three bedroom, two bathroom house with a television, a computer, a flushing toilet, and a lock on the door. Feel guilty yet? Oh and the average house size is now 2.59, according to the US census.
Above average house in Lugazi.
Let's add a little more on top of that. In Lugazi there is large population of "street kids." These are kids averaging between ages 4 and 10, who could not get into an orphanage and now have to live on the street in alleyways or under store awnings. Street kids have to beg, steal, and pillage to survive and support other street kids--their family. They scour the city for odd jobs to get a few shillings to buy bananas and steal what they can't afford. A street kid will boldly approach a white person (Mzungu, we are called) and beg for money. Their swollen bellies and boney bodies are hard to walk away from, when you know fully well that you have shillings to spare in your pocket.
Street kids enthralled by Mzungu cameras.
The money exchange is approximately 2,800 shillings for one US dollar. A bunch of 6-8 bananas runs about 1,000 shillings while a large bottle of clean, cold water is about 1,200 shillings. I walked around with anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 shillings in my bag (depending on when I went to the bank last) and I could afford to buy anything I wanted for anyone I wanted. But that can't be done.
Those kids understand the value of a dollar or a shilling because they don't have any. They know that money means food and food means less stomach pain while they try to sleep on the side of a road under the stars.
Do our American kids at age 8 or even age 15 know that value of a dollar? Are they being taught that "money doesn't grow on trees?" Or do they think that you just swipe a card and get anything you want?
Does the $10 salad at Cafe Rio or the $7 mixed drink at the bar taste good because it costs so much? Next time you throw away your leftovers at a restaurant or even at home, think about how many bananas you could have bought for kids in Lugazi, Uganda. Or how many water bottles could have been distributed among them. Think about how far your dollar could actually go in the life of a child.
Mathius, a Mzungu's best friend
