» It's All About Perspective - janjanzenblog.com

There was nothing redeeming about the house. It was dirty, disorganized, and could hardly be said to have four walls and a roof. Built from scraps from the dump, the chickens and ducks had free rein of the abode. There was dirt everywhere and the smell of pigs permeated the warm air. It was all I could do to take some pictures and return to the bus.

I have seen poverty. I have toured shanty towns in South Africa, taught the Bible in homes in Ecuador where the pigs, chickens and rats roamed freely and seen the old peasant homes in Beijing where a whole street shared one toilet, but Gloria’s home takes the cake for… bad.

What Gloria’s home did have going for it was her pride. She smiled broadly as the whole busload wandered through the decrepit maze like she was offering us a tour of Windsor Castle. This grandmother of 30 had no problem sharing her home with all of us. It made me realize how hospitality has nothing to do with what we have or own. It’s definitely a Sacred Gift.

Life in Mazatlan continues to fascinate, intrigue and humble me. There is something absolutely glorious about waking up to sunshine every morning and going to sleep lulled by the sound of the ocean. The people’s kindness, generosity and friendliness constantly impresses me. Yesterday I got on the bus and was a bit short on coins for the fare and the bus driver couldn’t change my larger bill. The passenger in the front seat of the bus reached into his pocket and pulled out the equivalent of $.80 to pay my fare. I found out as I talked to him that he had just lost his job in another city and was in Mazatlan looking for work.

I love the easy-going attitude of “no stress”. There should be a thousand accidents a day the way they drive and yet I have not seen one. Despite their laid-back ways, things get done. My internet service in the condo actually arrived early. I decided to have my own modem installed rather than use the building’s wireless and the whole procedure was amazingly easy. The computer guy who took Vista off of my laptop (YEAH!) and reinstalled XP was punctual, courteous, spoke perfect English and did a fabulous job for an amazing price. The maid shows up religiously every Saturday to clean and does a great job with a smile and love for her work that lights up the place. It’s almost magical.

And then I went to the dump last week and saw a different side of Mazatlan. It’s when I got to meet Gloria. Arriving at about 8:30 at La Vina church, a bright yellow building on the main street of what is known in Mazatlan as the “Golden Zone”, I was soon put to work making sandwiches to be delivered to the poor. Working with close to 50 other foreigners, we quickly had ham and cheese sandwiches made and packed in sacks along with oranges and bottles of filtered water.

We got onto two buses with one simple problem. There were more of us than there were seats. But that problem lasted just a few minutes as plastic chairs - like the kind you sit in on your patio - were brought into the bus and placed in the aisle- way right up to the front of the bus. Everybody had a seat - although I’d hate to have had to get off the bus in any sort of emergency.

By about 10:00 we were off through the city of Mazatlan and into the country. Onto dirt roads we bumped along, passing small communities of middle class housing, government housing and shacks. Everywhere children waved at the bright yellow bus with La Vina Christian church painted across it in bright red letters. You couldn’t miss the bus and for many of these communities, this bus meant something different than tortillas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This bus symbolized safe drinking water, dental clinics, shoes for the children and ham and cheese sandwiches, an orange and a cold bottle of water.

As we traveled along the dusty roads, it was soon obvious that staying clean in my black jeans was not going to happen. The windows open, the small fan broken and air conditioning non-existent, I just focused on keeping one hand clean for snacking on my almonds and banana. I had learned while living in Ecuador that you do everything for everybody else with your right hand, while you keep your left hand clean for scratching your nose, rubbing your eye and eating. The practice came back to me very quickly.

About an hour later, many windy, dusty roads traversed in a bus whose springs had seen better days, we arrived at the dump. Several people were working their way through the isolated piles of garbage, trucks were constantly coming and going, it was plain old dusty, smelly and windy, but it was almost “clean”, if a dump can possibly be described as clean. As we each grabbed a sack of 6 sandwiches, 6 oranges and 6 bottles of water, our job was to find six people to bestow this gift upon with a kind word of blessing for each one of them. As I speak fluent Spanish I was in a unique position to talk to my recipients.

Lydia was humble and graciously accepted her food gift. A single mother of six, living on the $20 per day wage, my heart welled up with compassion for her plight and I found myself needing to move on. It was too painful to think about in the moment. Another group of 3 young people, one with a cell phone in hand, were sitting in the garbage like teenagers sit around the family room. A cell phone, a $45 per month expenditure, is certainly affordable on the daily wage for a teenager, yet it seemed oddly out of place for a dump worker.

We soon left the dump and started back through some of the communities. It’s when I met Gloria in her humble abode. (You can see photos of Gloria’s home and other shots of the trip at Jan’s Trip to the Dump.) Rabbits, pigs, ducks and chickens complimented Gloria’s open-air home, covered with tarps, scraps from the dumps and garbage.

As temperatures in Mazatlan dropped to 36 degrees some mornings in January, I couldn’t help but remember my warm bed, three blankets, warm housecoat and hot shower I enjoyed during those nights last month. It had been uncomfortable for me and I thought about what I had compared to Gloria. I’m sure there were many cold nights for her and her loved ones. Remarkably there was a small TV on right in the middle of the house; its screen lighting the dark room. It must have come from the dump too.

We stopped and met Jonathan, a young boy of about 5 years of age who suffers with cerebral palsy. He is now starting to walk, thanks to the generosity of a foreign couple who are paying for his therapy and have taken the family under their wing. His smiling face and incredible mop of jet black hair were absolutely charming and he although he didn’t say a word, his charisma was more than obvious!

After a tour of the bio-sand water filter project that provides safe drinking water to families in need, we were dropped back at the church at about 1:30. I headed across the street to an Egyptian restaurant and ate falafels and tzatizki sauce, pita bread and salad and then headed to the big grocery store for wine, imported cheese and a freshly baked loaf of brown bread. In less than an hour, I had spent more money than Gloria probably sees in a week - maybe a month.

I sat with the experience for a couple of days, feeling somewhat uneasy and uncomfortable, a certain wrestling in my soul.

What I realized is that it’s all perspective and that’s what makes life so fascinating. I think Gloria’s home was appalling, even by the lowest of my standards. Gloria thought her home was wonderful. I found myself disagreeing with the form of charity I was participating in, as I believe in teaching people to fish, not giving them a fish, but La Vina church is well-supported by thousands of charitable dollars from people who endorse their work. I think their driving is crazy. To them, it’s ordinary. Doesn’t everybody cut people off, back up down a highway, not stop for pedestrians, run red-lights and just “pause” at a Stop sign?

But then I am forced to apply my golden rule of living. What are the results? Because at the end of the day, it always comes down to results.

Gloria is looking after 30 grandchildren who perhaps know more love than many children with parents who both work full-time and have a beautiful home to live in. There is no starvation in Mexico - people are looked after and my God, they’re happy. I can’t argue with the result. As I saw the good work that La Vina does in this community; the growth in their church and the advancement spiritually of the local Mexicans - how many have gone from hopelessness to having a spiritual faith - I felt moved to contribute and be grateful for their work. And as for their driving, well, I’ve seen two “after the accident” scenes that were minor fender-benders but nothing serious. People just move over to accommodate, wait for you to do something absolutely stupid on the road and take it all in stride. Those are the results, whether I agree personally with how they’re achieved or not.

I’m sure that many things could be done differently, more efficiently (just ask the man who rakes the sand in front of the condo twice per week, a job that takes him hours) and certainly more safely. But people are happy, kind, generous, friendly and love their life. You see it in their eyes. There’s a twinkle that is contagious.

It’s one of the reasons I love to travel. To see a different perspective of living, of eating, believing and of being, that quite simply works. Right, wrong, good, bad. I don’t know. It’s not about judgment, although I’m still quick to go there. I want to come with an open heart and mind, to learn, to discover, to explore and to grow. And of course to share with you. I hope you’ll check out the photos.

We’ve all got so much to be grateful for, in love with, and happy about. What I’m learning in Mazatlan is finally to stop and smell the roses. In this case, though I’m stopping and watching the sunsets. I’m talking to the stranger at the market or on the bus and finding out about who they are and what they do. I’m appreciating my abundance and the time that I have to be silent and meditative. I’m taking time to soak up some sun. And I’m feeling blessed for the relationships and love I have in my partner and friends who keep in touch with me regularly and share my experiences.

Can you do the same? You don’t have to be in Mazatlan to do any of this. You can do it right where you are. There are sunsets, amazing charitable work, beautiful vistas, incredible people, sights to explore, discover and learn about right where you are. And there is plenty of opportunity to be silent and meditative. I’m just not sure about the sunshine part!

Just one last thing. Can I ask that you remember all the Glorias in the world and the children who aren’t warm or clean tonight because there is no hot bath, no washing machine or heater, give thanks for what you have and then say a little prayer for them tonight?

With love and light,

JanP.S. A dear friend of mine, Wayne Kelly, wants to raise $1 million for charity this year with a pretty cool concept that I got to be part of. Check out Wayne’s site at www.52motivationalinterviews.com and see how you can help his cause and get a ton of amazing stuff for yourself.

P.P.S. If you want to join us at the Social Media Telesummit, it’s not too late. Running from the 20 - 29 of February, it’s looking hot for a line-up of amazing experts. I get to close off the Telesummit with the keynote address: How to Have an Outrageously Successful Business Without the Guilt. Love to have some of you on the line!

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