We have all sat through the Dirty Harry movies, the Chuck Norris movies, the "Goodguys vs. the Badguys", with the Goodguys usually winning as a result of some heroic act. We Americans grow up watching these stories, we read about similar incidents in storybooks, history books, comic books, even the cartoons show us that in order to fight evil, you must fight it with force.
Well, as a typical American boy, I grew up having learned that "lesson", that you must fight for what you believe in, you must fight evil, you must destroy it, punch it, kick it, shoot it, destroy it in any way possible. During my lifetime, I did what I was capable of - fighting evil in whatever tiny ways I could. In most of my encounters, I could never figure out why the laws and circumstances were always on the side of the Badguys when it came to real life - quite the opposite as in the movies. It's common knowledge that there are, and have always been, problems in the world. There has always been greed, and pathological lust for power; and those who are afflicted by such defects are almost always the ones who aspire to positions of power. There have always been the greedy and the ruthless being in power, while the rest of the subjects survive in any way they can - some such situations being worse than others, but all basically the same. Those who do not succeed at attaining such positions inflict their damage in other ways.
We have had our share of heroes in history, the ones who ride in out of nowhere, annihilate a few Badguys, then ride off into the sunset. More often than not, those brave souls have died in battle. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with fighting evil if you are cabaple, in fact, I wish there were more such people, especially in today's environment, where lawlessness is a direct result of laws being put in place by those who seek to dominate the world. The sad fact is, though, that it is more difficult nowadays to be such a person, as they will usually end up in court, in jail, or murdered at the hands of some hired nutcase who can, and have been, easily be groomed to be the scapegoat.
All this being said, just recently, I came across an opportunity to volunteer my services at a school/church/orphanage. This is a place where 400 kids live, get schooled, and learn about the life and beliefs of "San Francisco", as he is known here in Peru, or St. Francis, as we Americans know him as. These are kids whose parents cannot take care of them, or who have been abandoned somehow. The conditions at this "Franciscano Capuchino" are dire - especially by American standards. For the record, I'm not giving the actual name of the school, as I don't want this to sound like a solicitation or any sort of advertising.
The buildings are falling apart, the plumbing barely works, there are holes in the roof, and the food is barely enough to keep them from starving to death. They have one source of income, they bake and sell a Peruvian pastry called "Paneton", it's a sweetbread with pieces of fruit mixed in it. Being that I'm new there, and won't actually be starting my sports programs until after the first of the year, I don't know all the details, but I do know this after taking a tour of the place, it is a mess, and the kids have barely enough to survive. Over the years, the school has been able to acquire a few things. They have a woodworking shop, with a small handful of tools, where they teach the students woodworking skills, and they have an automotive shop of sorts, where they teach them basics of auto mechanics. There is a small gym with a few weight machines, three basketball/soccer courts, a cafeteria, classrooms, the sleeping area, and a little store that sells water, sodas, little snacks and a few necessities - for the public to shop at; this brings in a tiny supplement to the income to help with expenses.
With all of this, these kids are learning about life, they are being prepared to live in the reality that is Peru. They are very polite and respectful. They are learning how to survive. What prompted me to talk about this is that I started to think about what I have to offer these unbelievably poor children. I was thinking about the fact that not only will I be teaching them the mechanics of the various sports, but I will teach them sportsmanship, fair play, respect, ethics, and how all of these things relate to real life - it's just the way I do it. Yesterday while I was talking with my wife about all of this, it hit me. After all these years of "fighting", I finally realized that the way for me to (try to) better the world is to teach young people virtues, teach them how to be decent. The full grown adults who lie, cheat, steal, and murder, there is nothing I can do to stop them or change them (people have been telling me this for years, but I never believed it), seems the only thing to do is wait until they are dead and buried, and do my best to replace them with people who have some sense of respect, decency, honesty, and who will respect, and even love, the environment.
What I do at the school will not be so big, there are about 400 kids there, and I will only be working with a few of them - the ones who choose to take part in my sports programs. My wife will be doing something similar, she will be presenting (after the holidays) her ideas about conducting some creative classes. She is looking forward to this every bit as much as I am. This is all very new to me. I'm the guy who has spent most of his life in America, wondering how things got to be so messed up. I could never figure out how there could be such blatant trickery in just about every aspect of society as we know it, and even worse, why people just seemed to be ok with it. When I see Anderson Cooper's programs, showing what humans are capable of - the slaughtering of all the beautiful animals of the world - for their (the humans') greed, their lust, and whatever other strange reasons that I will never understand, I feel such rage and sorrow.
When I see people dying because they don't have food, I feel the same rage, the same sorrow, and horrible sadness. I can't begin to imagine what is must feel like for parents to watch their children die because they could not get enough food to feed them. When I watched that one African boy take his bucket to the sewer to get water for him and his family to drink, well, I guess I don't need to tell you. I have often wondered what happens to the billions of dollars that people from all over the world have donated to "Charities", that are supposed to be feeding and caring for these starving people - with all those billions, why are so many still starving, and still dying so needlessly??
Well, I've spend most of my adult life - besides trying to survive myself - causing myself such grief thinking about these things. Well, now I'm in a third world country, because my wife is Peruvian. I never, in a millions years, thought I'd end up here, but well, I guess the universe is smarter than I am, and maybe now I can be of some good to the world, and maybe I might even learn a thing or two from those poor Indian kids. The new head priest of the School/Orphanage is a friend of my wife, that's how I was introduced to him, and to the school. I'll do what I'm capable of doing for those kids, how ever little it might be. I don't have money to offer them, all I have is me, and the few skills that I have. I hope you will take this in the spirit that it is meant, which is to share with you my new lesson. I've not always been the most together guy, I've been somewhat selfish, and I've often wondered, "What the hell did I do to deserve this???". Hopefully now, I've found a better and more effective way to "fight" evil, I'll keep you posted. Well, goodnight all, talk to you another time.
Lee K. Jones
fidlin@hotmail.com
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