Before I leave the restroom I wash my hands. I wash my clothes when they get
dirty. I don’t drink water from
the puddle that collects in my driveway after a rainstorm. I know I need to save a portion of the
money I make so I have a savings account.
If I create something that people like, I try to offer more of that
product to a larger population so I can make a profit. The more I produce, the more I can
sell, and the more I can profit.
All of these statements are intuitive to the American. But not so to all of humanity. Our education system has rooted in us a
basic knowledge of these values that has become normative in our society. Not only normative but intuitive. We don’t even think about whether it is
important or not.
But the world is not America. The Filipino poor have to be taught many of these
specifics. It is counter intuitive
to you and I but that is only because it has been engrained within our
culture. There was a time even in
America where we had to learn that we shouldn’t drink water from the same river
that we also poop in upstream.
That is why ICM incorporates in their Uplift program
instruction in Health and Livelihood.
Family planning is part of the basic teaching. The washing of hands is stressed. In fact, 70% of all communicable diseases would be
eradicated if they would simply wash their unclean hands. Some have to be instructed in cleaning
their 1 or 2 pairs of clothes frequently so as not to avoid skin diseases that
can fester from dirty clothing.
When it comes to livelihood, the poor are taught they need
to save. When they bring forth a
good crop, they can sell and make money so they can multiply their
production. But often their
response to profit is to simply give it away. To family that need a little extra. To neighbors they know could use
it. They see their wealth only in
terms of today. Provide for today
and give the rest away. Tomorrow,
start the process all over again.
The Intuitive gap between the rich and poor is pretty
blatant. In fact, many of our
teenagers could easily teach the Values, Health, and Livelihood curriculum to
the poor. Is it any wonder that
having 15 children may make it difficult to support and provide for a
family? Not so to the poor. They see value in the work that each
child can contribute towards sustainable living. And they also recognize that many of their children may not
live a long life.
What is intuitive to us is not intuitive to the rest of the
world. And it is not because these
people are any less intelligent.
They just haven’t grown up in a culture that has fully adopted, developed, and
embraced some of these basic standards of living. They also do not have the accessibility that we have to
fully implement these systems.
How would you resolve the issue of city sanitation if no one
in your city slum had indoor plumbing?
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