Flooding and Recovery

First, I have been lazy about my updates, so I will try to catch up over the next week or so. In November 2007, Villahermosa suffered devastating floods. Houses were literally flooded to the roof.

In December, we took the family to the state of Tabasco and spent some time in the city. After all of the beautiful places we have seen in Mexico, I had high hopes for Villahermosa, which literally means beautiful home. Despite the name, Villahermosa is not one of them. But the city is not what we found most remarkable during our stay, it was the people. The goal of the trip was to go and help with the rebuilding in whatever way we could. What we found when we got there, less than 2 months after devastating floods, life was pretty much back to normal. On a weekend morning, everyone was out chipping paint, cleaning dirt, or going about their lives. After reading all of the accounts in New Orleans, it was so refreshing to see people just get on with life.

The Mexican people are special in so many ways but if there is a word to summarize them, it is industrious. Why wait for the government or anyone else, let's get it fixed and get back to living. To illustrate, we met two gentlemen that really stood out in my mind.

The first is a simple man, head of household. He has his own fruit stand on the front of a bicycle. I won't hazard a guess as to what he makes in a day but I can assure you it isn't much. Their home was a very modest open cinderblock construction. By open, I don't mean the floor plan; I mean that there are big openings to the outside. Aside from taking care of his wife and children, he also cares for his sister. She is severely mentally handicapped and seemed capable of little more than wandering around and groaning. When he was asked if he needs any help, he figures there must be some who need help more.

The other gentleman was much better off, he and his family lived in a small (500sqft) apartment. They had a car. They lived on the second floor so they were largely spared from the damage. He has a spice distribution business. He spoke repeatedly about how good God has been to him. He felt like a rich man and was eager to teach us about all the products and to give us samples. He didn't do this to sell us anything or to get anything in return; it was just the outpouring of a grateful heart. You see, he felt blessed because before he found his faith, he used to try to take advantage, to use dishonest scales so to speak. Now he runs an honest business and his heart cannot contain the riches flowing into his life...

Now my guess is every single person who reads these words has more comfort, vastly more material possessions, more security and an easier life than either of these men. Yet, they feel they are not only cared for but are richly blessed... makes you think.