Fleas and Beggars

Last week we had a successful Pulga at the Site.  Before you grab your Spanish-English dictionary and see that Pulga means Flea, and wonder why we’re celebrating bugs, let us explain…

Over the course of the year, folks who come down for outreaches generously donate items like sheets, towels, shoes, clothes and more.  A couple of times a year, several of the ministry sites have sales and make the items available.  These sales are called Pulgas. 

Pulga - Before

Like a yard sale back home, it’s a great place to get very inexpensive stuff.  And, like some of those yard sales, the pulgas can get pretty intense – especially if there is something several people want!

The women start their shopping!

Daisy, Chelsea and Taryn spent last Wednesday morning unpacking suitcases and neatly folding and stacking the items on the Site’s table.  Daisy assured them that this wouldn’t last long!  She was right!  Within just a few minutes of the women coming in, clothes were flying.  Pants were 100 pesos (US$2.63), tops were 50.  Towels were a big seller at 50 as well.

The amount we charge is intentionally small, but we do charge.  Why not just give the women the clothes?  After all, they were donated by teams.  Why should these people with so little be asked to pay for things we were given for free? 

On the surface, those are fair and valid questions.  Students International feels strongly that simply giving handouts is ineffective at best, and can actually hurt individuals and communities.

Poverty is far more complicated than just the need for material stuff.  This can be difficult for those of us from North America to grasp.  The poor need things, we give them things, poverty ends, everyone is happy.  Hmm... If all it took to be happy was material wealth, well, the United States would be the happiest place on earth!  Clearly, it is much more complicated.  

The truth is, we are all impoverished.  Those of us who live in the ‘First World’ can cover it up with our stuff.  But, we are just as poor.  When we come into El Callejon with the attitude that we are the rich ones who have all the answers because we have material wealth, we are fooling ourselves (and potentially hurting those we want to help in Jesus’ name!)  

If we just hand things out, we perpetuate the lie that the only thing the women are capable of is waiting for someone else to do things for them. We also run the risk of become a substitute 'Messiah'.

“Evangelism is nothing more than one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”  (D.T. Niles)  Until we recognize that we are beggars, we will never understand the true power and beauty of the Gospel, our Living Bread.

And so, we charge a small amount for each item.  Obviously, a few inexpensive shirts and towels bought at a Pulga are not going to restore dignity!  But, they are a part of the large, long-term, slow work of coming alongside the women of El Callejon.  Partnering with them in seeking Christ, the only Source of true wealth.

The end of the Pulga

Thanks to Ryan and Caroline Holloway, who have lots of Pulga experience, things went pretty smoothly last week.  When the last ladies left, we had made more than $6,700 pesos (or around US$180.00).

We will use this money to help supplement the costs for the weddings we are still hoping can happen in December.  Marriage licenses, Birth Certificates, (needed for the license, plus the children’s birth certificates needed to ‘legitimize’ the children), Attorney’s fees, and more, all cost money.  And, for the people of El Callejon, it’s a lot of money. 

We calculated the cost for one of our women today, and it was more than 4,000 pesos (US$100+).  This cost is a big hurdle in a country where legal marriage is already uncommon and considered unimportant. 

Our prayer is that by helping supplement, but still requiring the couple to contribute, like the Pulga, this can be one more way we continue to work together to find our true wealth in Christ alone.