Friends

"I get by with a little help from my friends"

Well, I haven't written in the last three days because I have been having too much fun with Alex and Neil, my two friends from Dallas who share my passion for service. The last few days have been amazing as I laughed a lot, responded to lots of tough questions, and somehow build a bathroom in Casa Bugambilla.

Not much on the work end of things happened this week; just more of the same. We are currently re-doing a storage / shop area and turning it into different rooms for patients. I have of course been spending more time with Jabez, Lupita, and the regulars at Casa Bugambilla.

On a different note...
It's amazing what you see down here. I have seen such suffering, corruption, and incompetancy. Sometimes it seems overwhelming. However, no matter how much I see, no matter what I simply can't change--It is important for me to do what I can. I seem to understand what some others down here, mostly another service organization, don't: That it is not enough to settle for something that is "better than nothing." I am comforted by the fact that the work I am doing is going to last. While not drastically changing entire cities, I am significantly affecting the lives of some. The houses I help build will survive a storm, unlike some of the ones I saw today built by another group. Whatever worth doing, is worth doing well right? Well for now, I am serving here; and I plan on serving as best as I can. Sometimes you must surrender you ambitions and desires to change the whole situation, and focus on changing individual problems one by one.

Sorry if I seemed to ramble or go off on a diatribe, but I did see some disturbing examples of incompetance and exploitation by people who claim to be helping and "doing good in the community". I am not so convinced, and a little angry.

Please keep e-mails and comments coming. I really appreciate them.

Paz,

Matt