Growing up in America and only visiting Western Europe I have never been judged off my skin color. Being white has been the norm. Here the beggars single out the white people and instead of asking for money they try to demand it. Like it's our job to just give them everything they need.
This is the exception more then the norm but twice today I saw how we were singled out and people were trying to demand that we solve all their problems with money. That is very easy to do but it won't do us any good.
This morning we went to cien fuegos and went on a field trip with some of the school children. We got to see the fire station and the water station again. Afterwards instead of taking a bus back to the school the kids walked. It wasn't far but it wouldn't happen in the states. The school was very nice but stood out from the surrounding neighborhood. The village around it kept getting poorer and poorer.
It made me realize just how much they need clean water. We went down to the canal and saw people getting water from it to clean and do laundry with it, or so they said. There is no running water through this part of cien fuegos. Absolutely none. It was touching to see how they live and walk around the town.
After our visit there we went out to dinner with some new friends of ours here. They took us to see how the richest people live. Not to show off but to show us that there is a class system here and there is lots of money. It was a very nice country club, like one you would find in the states.
It was interesting to see how the top 1% hide away from the problems here like they don't exist. At dinner we talked about what the country needs to succeed ad how to get there.
Regulation is the key here. There is none right now. It's an anything goes type society. With regulation that is enforced it would improve living conditions of all. To set the regulations they need a base point to go off of. An example to lead the way. That's where I feel I can be of use and help shape the regulator commission and create the laws needed to maintain a good system for power, water, roads, and government as a whole.
I will be back to clean the water but I will also be setting an example of how things can work correctly and will benefit everyone. In a country where people always feel like your out to get them and that there is a catch its hard to change minds. I believe we can do it though. First we clean the water.
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