Whenever an individual goes somewhere that isn't their norm they are forced to analyze and re-access their views, opinions and what they consider "reality." Bernard Lonergan calls this the development of the subject due to an expansion of horizon. The subject becomes uncomfortable, their foundation is shaken, what they consider real comes into question, what they know is no longer concrete but at the same time their knowledge base ironically expands. It's interesting because although I knew my perspective on life would change in my time down here I didn't know it would be completely rewired.
This past week I went back to Quiche but this time with Alas de Salud -a partner of AGAPE which provides medical services to the people in this area. While there, I got to spend a lot of time with Dr. Victor, an orthodontist, who shared his story with me. After several years of study, Victor is a successful orthodontist who has his own clinic which he runs with his wife -who is also a dentist. Though having a unique specialty which could place him in a very nice office in a more exclusive part of Guatemala City, Victor has decided to reside in an area where he can serve families. On top of that, once a month Victor goes a week without his family, without working at his clinic and thus without earning a pay check to use his skills in Quiche providing medical services and oral education to this rural populace. What's interesting about Dr. Victor, however, is how thoughtfully he reflects on the world around him.
Victor and I spoke for a very long time and I asked him why he would come out to the country side to provide medical treatment under dismal working conditions for individuals who can't afford the treatment he gives all while losing a week of income at his clinic. He simply responded "Because I firmly believe in the gospel." In a little over thirty years of life Victor has put himself through school, gained a medical degree with a specialty, opened his own clinic, gotten married and has beautiful children and yet he says that he feels fulfilled when he's out, in what many would consider the middle of no where, helping those who have been marginalized by society. He says that he isn't a saint nor a miracle but merely an individual who firmly believes that everyone has a call on their life to love God and love others through what they have been blessed with. He's been blessed with being a dentist and he says that if he comes out to Quiche and can ease the discomfort of even one person he is satisfied.
Something I did notice, however, is that he still charged people for his services. An average consult for him in the city ranges from Q900 to Q4000, but in Quiche he works with each individual and has them pay a fee they can agree on. A procedure which he might charge Q1500 for in the city he merely charges Q20 in Quiche for some individuals. Obviously that won't make him rich or even make much of a dent in his expenses so I asked him why he even bothers charging people and his answer really rattled my brain. Because of Guatemala's history and the Civil War of the latter 20th century many individuals in rural areas were placed in precarious positions. During and after the war, some of these Aldeas (small communities) received support from the government who merely poured out resources into the communities causing what some describe as an apathy for progress and contentment and dependency on receiving. For other Aldeas, the lack of government support created a culture of perpetual progress by the sweat of the people who saw their marginalized position and used it as an impetus to push forward. Though divided by relatively little distance it is not uncommon to have neighboring Aldeas with holistically different histories and thus different cultures ranging from progressive to apathetic and everything in between. When wishing to provide services or help, an individual or organization is faced with the complexity of providing services without demeaning the individuals fighting for their progress or perpetuating the content dependency of the apathetic. It is in these sociological complexities that AGAPE and partnership organizations work. Accessing this, Dr. Victor has decided to charge a much lower fee for his services for two reasons. First, realistically speaking most of the people in Quiche would sadly never be able to afford the services of Dr. Victor considering that many of them live on the equivalent of about $2.00 a day. More importantly, however, Victor considers that merely giving something for free can offend those who fight for what they have and be damaging to those who merely live dependent on others. The amount of money matters very little to Victor, what does matter to him is that he is able to uphold the dignity of each individual -what Lonergan calls Ethical Value, that each individual is treated as a free, autonomous and responsible subject. By upholding this Victor is still serving them but he is also respecting them and not belittling them. He sees each person as a human being no matter their education, resources or status and as such he not only wants to help them, he wants to see them flourish.
This has forced me to re-examine my views on politics, economics, charity, missions, marginalization and so much more. How do we promote the equality of each individual as a contributing member of society, giving them the resources and opportunities necessary for an abundant life without degrading them nor calling them explicitly or implicitly a "charity case?" How do individuals who have an abundance of resources help those who have been marginalized while still allowing them to be the prime contributors to their success? How do we quell a bubbling arrogance which can easily grow from helping others? How do we help the marginalized progress without stepping on their culture, language and views?
I don't know...but for now, asking these questions is good enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment