NPR's All Things Considered Considers Guayaquil

Last month, NPR did a two-part series on Guayaquil. Check it out by clicking on the links for Part One and Part Two.

Read, take a look at the pictures, and you will get some more concrete details of life in the barrio. As a foreigner, I find it difficult to describe the everyday living conditions of the people I work with, for two reasons: (1)I do not actually live among them in the barrio, so while I do get glimpses here and there, in truth I have not experienced it; (2)I can't help feeling that the conjectures and observations I do make are somehow tainted with negative judgments. It is a constant struggle to differentiate between unhealthy lifestyle practices and practices that are not necessarily unhealthy, simply different, from those I am familiar with.

Unhealthy lifestyle practice: not washing your hands after using the restroom or before you eat. These things I can try and teach to the kids.

Unfamiliar lifestyle practice: keeping your kid cooped up in the house when they're not in school. Obviously this is not the best option, but in many cases it is better than the alternative, an alternative which caused Segunda Ayobi (in the article) to seek out another difficult option, but one that she felt was better for her son: she asked a shelter for street kids to take him in.

The business of improving options - improving the quality of life and the ability of individuals and communities to achieve their own well being on their terms - is not a simple one. Recognizing the steps we take at a (get ready for a buzzword) grassroots level, like the community banks, family gardens, motivational education and training activities with children and teens, is also recognizing we are part of a long and intentionally enduring process.