What if? What if you woke up in the morning and had no job to go to and no prospect of a job unless some American decides they want to feel better about themselves and has so much extra time and money lying around that they can fly down to a foreign country and participate in one of the ongoing mission projects? What if when that American came to town was the only time your kids ever got a new pencil or a piece of candy, or shoes, or a toy of any kind?

What if it was your lucky day and that American came to your town and you got the job for the day helping on the mission project, and you received the usual wages (about $12 US dollars per day)? You could walk through the mud to the nearest town to pay your cell phone bill for the month (thank you Digicel) you could buy a couple of chickens or a couple of jars of homemade peanut butter and a loaf of bread. You could then eat in the dark because the power only worked for a couple of hours before it blinked out again and left you in the most complete pitch black dark you can imagine for the rest of the night. What would it be like to have running water? It’d sure be nice to have paved roads- let alone regular meals and steady income. So why bother?

The UN officer says not now, but maybe three generations from now if we keep pouring resources into these communities that people will have received enough education, and the children’s children’s children will transform the entire country into something resembling an organized and healthy economy. They’ll set up a system of taxes, build paved roads, running water, reliable electrical service, public education, and all.    

Until then, it’s up to people like you and me to help them get what they need. Just a control box and a pump or a piece of 6” pipe goes a long way.