Quote of The Day: ”In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of”CIMG6741CIMG6740

CIMG6745Our day began with a 7:30 AM wake up call. The glimpsers were required to dress in protective clothing, a long sleeve shirt and long pants. After a delicious breakfast, we had a academic seminar on poverty. We learned that in the last five years, extreme poverty has fallen from 11.2 percent to 5.5 percent. Extreme poverty is measured by a daily income of less than $1.25. After we gathered our pen, journal, and water to then board our bus for a 20 minute ride to the local dump. Expecting to see loads of garbage and horrid smells; we saw much more. We met Hector Chamarro, who is in charge of the dump in Leon. He shared with us his stories about what led him to work at the dump, what his daily life looks like, and what the people in the dump do to make a living. After hearing from Mr. Chamarro we took a walk through the dump where we saw many unusual sights; we saw loads of garbage, garbage burning, people going through the garbage to find valuable materials such as recyclable materials. These people at the dump spend their entire day sorting through trash on average they make 200 cordovas on a good day which is less than 10 dollars. On a bad day they make around 80 cordovas which is around 3 dollars. Us glimpsers then shared many emotional tears and felt a sense of sadness. Some felt useless as if their isn’t anything they could do to better the situation of these people who spend their everyday in trash to support their families. Later we came back to the hostel and everyone was to take a mandatory shower for health reasons. After everyone was refreshed I as Leader Del Dia led the self reflection, making us think as a responsible global citizen. Then we ate lunch and watched a documentary called Wasteland. The documentary was very interesting and showed a more artistic side of working at the local dump or ”Wasteland´´. Free time was next upon us with a hour most of us glimpsers took a much needed nap. We ended poverty day with our nightly meeting, in which we discussed our thorns and roses of the day, wishes and pluses, and answered the daily question. How could we think and act like a responsible global citizen? We then headed out of our hostel for dinner and enjoyed pizza, a little taste of our life in America.