Detroit

I saw a segment on the news last week about the day to day struggles of a lady living in Detroit Michigan. Later that evening there was an edition of "Dateline" that went deeper into her story and the other struggles of Detroit. We started casually watching,you know surfing other channels at the same time, but gradually became glued to the story. It was hard to believe this was in the United States. A town, once booming from the big bucks of the auto industry and Motown, looked like a third world country. The camera panned down street after street lined with vacant homes that wont sell at any price. The city is beginning to bulldose these properties to keep out vagrants and drug dealers and to reduce the size of the area that they have to police.

Though it is nowhere near the size of Detroit, I think we both thought of our little town and the job losses we've had. We silently wondered how long it will take us to be in their situation. The lady in the story had 3 foster children, the oldest was already a father himself and had spent time in jail. She was "watching" the little ones closer so that they would not end up like him. She needed the older boy though. Since he had no job he watched the little ones after school so the mother could work. They lived off of mostly canned food because there was little fresh meat or produce available. The story said that there were 8 grocery stores in her area and 400 liquor stores. The only produce available was from a glorified ice cream truck that rode through the neighborhoods selling it. The mother's car was old and she often worried how she would get to work and shuttle the kids back and forth from school. Food stamps helped pay for groceries and at the end of the month there was nothing left.

Well needless to say this story nearly broke both of our hearts. This lady was working as hard as she could in a dangerous and dying city. We discussed the parallels with our town and Detroit, and talked about this episode until we went to bed. How could people live like this?Well Last night there was a story on the national news about post earthquake Hati. Two million homeless people living in tent cities in and around Port au Prince. Sleeping on the ground with little food or potable water and trash everywhere. Makeshift latrines that the women cannot use after dark for fear of being raped. Children playing in water that contains raw sewerage and mosquito larve. The rainy season is right around the corner and disease will follow.

Certainly conditions are this bad because the country is suffering the effects of a devastating natural disaster. This is only partly true.Though I have never been to Hati I have been to Jamaica in the West Indies twice. The beaches are beautiful, as are the massive resorts that ply rich foreigners with food,drink and luxury. But when you get off of the beaten path you see sights that would make the conditions in Detroit look like Disney world. Many residents here would trade places with the poorest and most destistute American citizen. I hear it said regularly said that we should stop sending money to these third world countries and that they are not our responsibility. This is true, they are not. As Americans we are responsible only for Americans, but as human beings we are responsible for all other human beings. Things change fast and our opinions will too when we are all living in "Detroit".