Blog 1: “Triangle of Solidarity”

Visiting the triangle of solidarity or triángulo de solidaridad undoubtedly left an impact on me, but not in the way I had expected. Before walking the streets of the poor ridden community I prepared myself for the worst, picturing horrific scenes and suffering people. I expected to see sad faces and people living in very unsanitary conditions. What I expected was for the people living in this community to act poor, beaten down by life, and defeated. My expectations were clouded by my first-world views and personal biases. Sure, I saw plenty of unsightly things in this community, including stray dogs, unsafe structures, dangerous wiring, piles of burning trash, polluted streams, and ankle high mud covering the streets. What I had not seen was a lost of spirit, instead, I saw people running businesses, children smiling, neighbors engaging in conversation, families spending quality time together, and above all else people living. I had gone into the community expecting people to be suffering not living their lives.

In fact, after leaving the community I had questioned myself as to why I had not been more impacted by what I saw, why did I not feel more sorry for these people (do I have a heart!). Then after reflecting, I realized that the question I should be asking myself is “why would I expect these poor people to be poor in spirit and broken?”. I can only attribute my falsehood and ignorance to my first-world view. I am accustomed to thinking that the poor suffer, because surely without money or resources they are unable to live comfortably or live a “normal” life. Even when I had seen two little kids crying as they were walking with their mother, I quickly assumed that this had confirmed my suspicions- people are suffering here! However, after taking a step back, I realized that what was more likely the root cause of these children sobbing was they had gotten in trouble for fighting or misbehaving- just like any other children their age. It was far more likely that these kids did not spend their days crying because they were poor or because they did not have material things, especially if they grew up here and this community was their home.

Again I say, I had entered this community assuming that poor in terms of money and possessions was almost equivalent to poor in spirit. If anything, I saw the direct opposite of this, as these Nicaraguan squatters were rich in sense of community and spirit. One example of community, is that the neighbors all share electric bills because there is no way to determine which house is consuming what. Therefore, the entire community makes sure that each other has a job, is working hard, and is fully capable of supporting the community. An example of a person with rich spirit, is a local man who had said “esta es mi pequeña aventura” when referring to his new house, which translates as “this is my little adventure”. This quote took me by surprise, imagine this man calling his small, dingy, and poorly constructed house an adventure!

Above everything this community seemed full of people creating a life with the resources they had, rather than focusing on what they did not have. I saw neighbors helping neighbors and everyone working in some form or another toward a common purpose: to live their lives to the best of their ability, whether that meant constructing homes, cleaning the house, earning a living, or cooking meals. After all, the community is called the triangle of solidarity not the triangle of suffering, and what I saw was rich mutual support and common interests.