MINORITY REPORT

As a white, middle/upper-middle class American man, there have been very few times in my life when I have not been in the majority or in a position of "power." I first started to realize this when a college professor of mine did a little experiment in class one day to help us understand what it felt like to be the minority. She asked everyone who wasn't white, conservative, heterosexual or male to go stand on one side of the room. Moments later, I realized I was the only one left at their desk. Although it was an uncomfortable feeling, it only lasted until the class ended.

Today I live in Guatemala, where I am, for the first time in my life, truly "the minority." It's a strange feeling to walk through a village and be the only white person, the only one in Western clothing, the only one with a high school degree. The reaction has been mixed. In some places, Guatemaltecos are used to foreigners and think nothing of my presence, but at other times, in smaller, more remote areas of the country, the people have stared at me like I'm an alien. I guess it's possible that they've never seen a white man before, at least not one in person.

Despite being the minority wherever I go, I don't believe I'll ever truly know what it means to be a minority. I say this because most minorities in the world share one thing in common: they have little to no power. As an educated American man, however, that's not true for me. Even though I am often frustrated by my inability to fluently speak or understand the Spanish language, I am STILL in a position of power here:
- People often assume I'm a doctor even though I don't know the first thing about medicine.
- I have more money than just about everyone I've ever met here.
- I'm assumed to be a "boss" because of my color, education, and position.
Contrast my experience here in Guatemala to a Mexican immigrant (legal or illegal) in the United States. He or she has little to no power, they are rarely assumed to be the boss, and they are publicly disrespected if they can't speak English fluently (whereas I'm patted on the back for being able to speak Spanish at the level of a 1st grader). I have felt great embarrassment on several occasions when one of our volunteer teams from the States come into this country like they "own the place." This doesn't happen very often, but I can't imagine a Latin immigrant coming into the U.S. and acting like that! Only the "powerful" can act in such a way.

I think it's important to experience being "the minority" at some point in our lives, if only in some small way. This experience has helped me understand the great responsibilty I have as an American citizen in a foreign country, and also to be more aware of the minority and those without power in my midst. In many ways I think the best measure of a society/person is how it/we treat the powerless minorities in our midst.

GRINGO?
I have been called a "gringo" many times in Guatemala. I don't take offense to it. It's nothing like the "n..." word for African-Americans. It's basically come to mean any person from the United States (or an European who is mistaken for an American.)
I always was told that the term developed during the Mexican-American War, when the Mexicans would cry out to the uniformed American soldiers, "green go," meaning "leave our country." But it turns out that the Americans actually wore blue uniforms during this war, so it probably came from the Spanish word, "griego," which means "greek." Or I could be wrong. It's all greek to me.

Peace,
Jay

Street Life is Ruff

Panajachel has a perro problem. There are wild dogs everywhere in Guatemala. Most people here do not consider dogs pets, nor are there resources available to prevent strays from multiplying rapidly. Sadly, the only thing that has prevented them from multiplying faster is that many of them starve to death.
Until now, Carey and I have resisted the urge to adopt one of these pups. Recently, however, we found an organization (Mayan Families) in the town where we live that gives out free, already spayed/neutered and vaccinated dogs to good homes. So...we brought home a very rare breed called the Panajachel Street Terrier (as my father-in-law calls her, without the slightest hint of sarcasm) on Monday. This came about because a) I am away from home a lot traveling with teams, b) Carey doesn't like being home alone (I don't blame her), c) Carey is very convincing, and d) Carey's mom, Linda, and stepdad, Tom (who's like the Dog Whisperer), are visiting and can help train her.
She was found a few months ago on the streets looking starved and scared. We have her right now on a "trial basis," but are hopeful that it will work out. Her name is Ati, after the lake we live on, Lake Atitlan.

By the way, the director of Mayan Families says that they are in desperate need of donations for spaying/neutering (the procedure costs about $20). If you are interested, you can make an online donation through their website (http://www.mayanfamilies.org/) or search for them on Facebook. Be sure to designate the donation for animal welfare. And even if you don't make a donation, check out all the incredible work this organization is doing for Guatemalan families (both human and canine)! Salud y Paz often collaborates with them to find patients and rural towns in need of doctors/dentists.

Be Happy You've Got Yours
I blame Coke. Many rural Guatemalans have lost quite a few of their teeth. When they come into one of our dental clinics for some work, you can see where the soda has literally eaten a whole through the front 2 teeth. Our dentists do what they can for them, which usually means pulling 2-4 teeth. The Salud y Paz record so far for teeth pulled on one patient is 11. Ouch.This denture is called a "placa." They are very common in Guatemala. Once your front 4 teeth have rotted out, you go to a little store to get your placa made. It's popular to get fake gold teeth and stars on the false teeth. It's very strange to see a 16 year-old girl take out her dentures, but I see it a lot. In the picture above, a woman came in with severe ulcers in her mouth b/c her placa was rubbing her gumline. In true rural clinic fashion, we took a metal file and filed down the placa to make it fit. Another happy customer!

Carey and I hope you and your families are well.
Love,
Jay

Bad Religion?

Last year I read a couple of the top-selling, so-called "Atheist Manifesto" books: The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins, and Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris. I read them because I'm interested in why someone would choose to be an Atheist, and also because I want to know what the current arguments are against Christianity and belief in general so I can see how my faith stands up.
Atheists used to argue that belief in (a) God/god was simply irrational, but today their argument has changed somewhat. Now many Atheists such as Dawkins, Harris, and Christopher Hitchens (god is NOT Great) are taking a new approach. The argument today goes something like this: not only is belief in God irrational, religion in general is downright harmful to humankind and "poisonous" to society. They site obvious examples from the past, such as the Conquests and witch-hunts, and more recent examples such as Islamic extremism in the world and Christian Pro-Lifers who murder abortion doctors.
For some reason I had these books on my mind this past week as I was with a mission group from West Texas. As I watched them work in the scalding heat and humidity in coastal Guatemala I could only think about one thing: THE reason 20 people, young and old, have come all this way and spent all this money to bring much-needed medications and health care to the poorest people in Central America is because they love God and desire to serve in the Way of Jesus. Watching them work simply made the argument that religion is "poisonous" seem suddenly really lacking. Even though I'm sure religious people (read: human beings) will continue to do really dumb and even evil things at times, believe me when I say that there are those in our world today that will continue to be the hands and feet of Christ. They won't be highlighted in best-selling books or even make the footnotes. They'll simply continue to try their best to be "religious" in the best sense of the word, the way God defined it, "Religion that God accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..."
20 West Texans made me proud to be religious this week.
Peace,
Jay