04.23.08 A New Species

My dad loves animals.  He studied wildlife management in college.  He’d stop mowing the yard and call me over to him when he found a new kind of bug or grass snake he knew I’d never seen before.  He’d lay it out on the hand and slice it open, pointing to and describing the different organs inside it.  I’d try to be more excited than nauseous.  I could tell he really enjoyed teaching me about something he found fascinating.

I feel that way sometimes when it comes to Compassion and poverty.  It’s a strange thing to be fascinated by but I am.  So try to act excited because here I am again, in a developing nation, on the ground among the poor, learning about the causes and solutions of an entirely new species of poverty - one I’ve never seen before.

I arrived here in the Dominican Republic and was immediately taken back by the marble floors and posh shops in the Santo Domingo airport.  I didn’t expect that in a third world nation.  I also didn’t expect to discover that 50 of the world’s 100 wealthiest people own homes in the Dominican Republic.  Among them are Bill Gates and George Bush, Sr.  Outsiders come here to vacation, to soak up sun on the beach and play a few rounds of golf at one of many world-class resorts.

Which makes the poverty I saw today that much more crushing.  Because all around it is opulence, excess, wealth capable of transforming the communities next door but instead separated by fences and gates and armed guards.

Just a few miles from resort-speckled beaches, a river of sewage flows through an impoverished neighborhood where mom and dad, working hard and together, can earn about $100 a month.















More tomorrow.