Charlie's rainy night thoughts

A cloudy morning after

***Sigh***

I hate it when this happens. I get thinking about a problem, and my brain churns it night and day until I see a solution. So here I am, at 3:00 AM, trying to organize my thoughts as part of the process.

I’ve been here a month now, trying to get my head around why I inherently know this is important beyond the obvious, and trying to decide how committed I want to be to an ongoing relationship with this organization. I’m also learning (slowly) about this place and these people, because the tough problems are never technical.

Observations so far:

Despite what they might tell you for a coin, nobody goes hungry here. Food is everywhere – just go into the jungle or go fishing.
Shelter is simple – you only need to get out of the rain. It is never cold enough to need a window that closes, although a fan is nice sometimes.
Things are cheap – we’ve lived comfortably for a month on less than I would have spent on gas at home, including doing some touristy things
If you want something, you can trade, or sell fish or fruit, or spend a couple hours with a machete beating back the constant growth.

Those exposed to philosophy 101 will remember the hierarchy of needs. If you do not need to focus on survival, (and you don’t – see above) you focus on the next level, then the one after that, all the way to self-actualization. In this environment, beyond survival is where money starts to come in, beginning with a few luxuries and a feeling of self-worth.

This is also where the problem lies.

With little industry beyond plantations here in paradise, what does the potential next Einstein or Schweitzer do for a living? Where are the patent clerk positions, or a corporate ladder to climb, or other competition beyond soccer to hone skills, or even to simply stimulate the thirst for knowledge?

By way of example, there are literally thousands of species of plants here that are not even catalogued, let alone investigated for their medicinal value. The cure for cancer could be right over there – and the person with the natural talent to discover it is too busy chopping bananas because his/her curiosity was never nurtured in that direction, and if it were, it would be tough to find a job in that field here. No wonder folks feel frustrated and boxed in.

So where do we start? Playing a couple games on a computer lets a child get comfortable with the machine. An encyclopedia on that computer, and the internet to explore the world’s libraries stimulates curiosity, and awareness of the rest of the world. A generation of computer literate young adults in a low cost center can attract knowledge-based industry, including software development and the fastest growing industry of all is a natural fit here – biomedicine. With today’s environmental awareness, maybe even the jungle can stay intact… we really have plenty of bananas. (one less now – they are excellent at 3:00 AM )

So I think I’ve talked myself into a deeper personal commitment. The next question will be what form it takes. The 38 computers I’ve brought back to life so far can support maybe 4 schools – there are 10 times as many that need machines. Not to mention transporting them, and the guys that repair and support them can easily fix them without me. However, they have not been paid for some time. Neither has the rent.

***Sigh***
I’ve always hated fund raising.
***Sigh***

We do have some opportunity to earn some income to meet ongoing needs, so maybe clearing the backlog will be sufficient. I hope so. Because, well… read between the sighs.