the need in the north (of Argentina)

When Tony and I talk about Argentina, he will often mention how he really wants to go to the north. That's where he says he really wants to go. I ask him to just please ease me into things. I think I could handle it only after first getting over the culture shock of moving my squishy, pampered first-world body all the way to Argentina, you know, at my age. The north is very poor and very third world. Very. Like malaria and washed out roads and mud and children dying of malnutrition kind of third world.

I just read an article about the two year anniversary of a landslide in the northwest province of Salta, Argentina, in a town called Tartagal. The Toba live in this region. Since the article is in Spanish, I will just tell you that since the landslide, the problem there now is malnutrition. Five children have died in the past two weeks from hunger. One was an 11-month-old baby.

Toba children after the landslide [photo credit: Perfil.com]

And here we still are, gazing at our navels, and the tires that have begun to form around them, wondering, "What have we done for Jesus lately?".

For photos of the 2009 landslide, please click here and here.