I recently spent 10 days in Honduras and Guatemala. It was a very interesting
trip, particularly since the time I spent in Honduras was with friends
doing development/mission work.
It's always interesting to see how other individuals and groups are
working and trying to help, and to compare it to the way the Peace Corps
and I are working and trying to help.
I would like to emphasize "trying," and apply it equally
to myself. Rich countries and individuals have been trying to help poorer
ones with varying degrees of commitment and sincerity for at least 50
years, and I think
much longer.
In many cases it is easy to see a lot of problems that haven't changed.
Some things have gotten better, others have gotten worse.
I don't have solid answers on how to help effectively. Giving a lot
of stuff away doesn't work over the long term, sometimes not even over
the short term.
My service in Peace Corps is only just started, but it's pretty clear
that I won't "fix" a lot of problems in my community. (Not
that I thought that even before I started.) I have seen a lot of government
money getting spent in ways that seemed to me to be ineffective, wasteful,
or beneficial mainly for folks that are already pretty well-off.
It is a really tough problem trying to help people help themselves,
trying to fight poverty and its many ugly compatriots.
That's some of what being here working as a Peace Corps volunteer leads
me to ponder.
Well, besides contemplating the world's problems, I went to see the
pope in Guatemala as a finale to my trip in Honduras.
That was a spectacular experience. I went with some crazy Franciscan
friars who live and work in Comayagua, Honduras.
We stayed with some mutual friends who were working in Honduras when
I was there last summer. We went to the canonization mass of Brother
Pedro de Betancourt, a Third-Order Franciscan who founded a hospital
for the poor in the 1700s.
The pope is so old and weak, and yet so strong. He spoke very good
Spanish. I've heard he originally learned the language as a young man
so that he could read the works of St. John of the Cross in the
original language.
I know the pope is a controversial figure for many people, Catholics
and otherwise. I have immense love, esteem, and respect for him that
was only strengthened by my visit to Guatemala.
Finally, I have some not-so-great news. I found out while traveling
that my dad has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I am traveling
back to Michigan to be there for the surgery.
I do not know, at this point, if I will be able to continue my Peace
Corps service.
But even in the bad news, there is some cause for optimism. The tumor
was found by accident, it is not very advanced, and it appears to be
very operable.
My family is close. Knowing that God is great and merciful, I ask you
all for your prayers for my dad's health, for the success of the surgery,
and for strength for the rest of the family.
Life continues to be very interesting and challenging. As I rode the
bus into town today I thought of how compelling and
fascinating life is, how much I love being alive. It is not easy, but
it
is tremendously valuable.
God Bless,
Ben Hasse
Contact Hasse at ben_hasse@hotmail.com
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