The Rich and the Poor Divide

The Rich and Poor live very very far away from each other. The Rich have boats, planes, cars, buses... but they don't know how to get to where the Poor are. They don't know the way there. The Rich don't know who the Poor are and they hardly talk about them.

The Poor on the other hand know where the Rich live. They see them on TV, hear about them from the radio and they've heard others talk about the Rich. But the Poor don't have the means to get to where the Rich are.

Recently Nicasio and Joannie were making their rounds on the dumpsite, begging for pesos. Why were they begging? To bury their mum who died of TB. How much could they get from the other scavengers eking out a living. Prob 1 to 10 pesos per donor. What did they have to raise? 15,000 pesos!

Having a funeral or burying the dead is not a difficulty for the Rich but for the Poor, HOW? When 1 peso matters so much, how can they grasp 15, 000 pesos? Mayb went with them to the Social Welfare Department to get some discount on the burial. There were tons of other Poor in line. All with the same problem. All with the same worry, "How long more would the formaline last? How long more could they postpone the burial?"

It's easy for the Rich to get to the burial grounds. But what about the Poor? They have to walk, across 2 rivers, trudge through the mud... in some distant corner, lies a plot, a burial for the Poor.

Being born is just as difficult for the Poor. They don't get the same privilege as the Rich do at their birth. For the rich, they're born in hospitals. The family is there to certify the birth of their child. And the family can afford the certificate. For the Poor, they are born at home or in a clinic. Often family is not present and no one to certify the birth. Anyway the Poor can't afford the certificate. The Poor lack the basic right to be certicfied born, to exist in their country. This is how they go through life without their certificate. The Poor cannot engage in meaningful participation in society. Well, they can't even enter school. The Poor will never read or write. They just have to survive: breathe, eat, sleep. They dwell with other Poor, they squat where there's space. They live from hand to mouth, worrying about their next meal. Education is but a dream. Birth certificate is out of one's reach. The Poor have to secure their next meal and that of the other 7 mouths to feed in the family. They would be starving if they were to line up 8 hours in a government building for their birth certificate. They would have to beg, borrow, steal 2000 pesos to pay for the cert, and still earn something for food that day. And if they got that far to the line with the 2000 pesos, they would have no idea how to complete the form nor have the necessary information required.

The Rich have identity. They have names, addresses and contact numbers. Their face is seen everywhere, their voice heard. The Poor cannot prove their identity. Who would remember their name? Who would bother with their address or ask for their contact number? They all look the same. Their voice is silent.

The Rich may say that's how it is. The Poor are used to rejection, suffering and hunger. Let them be. What would Jesus say?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+16:19-31
"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In hell,[a] where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'

"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'

" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "