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.

Pueblos Originarios de la Argentina//Native Peoples of Argentina - Part 4

You know, now that I think about it, these videos are rather truncated snippets, a type of very short pseudo-documentary of the reality and the lives of native Argentines - not an oversweeping view, just a small peek into the lives of others.

But I want everyone who visits this blog to watch these, because it makes me think of that saying, "Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente" - "Eyes that do not see, heart that does not feel". You can't care about something unless you know about it. What better way to know about something than to see it for yourself? Tony and I often think the reason we American Christians are so complacent is that most of us have not seen firsthand how the rest of the world lives. If we did, it would surely change the way we live our lives.

What I really like about these videos is that they show the people and how they live - even if just for a short two-minute glimpse. It's another world, Argentina. It is. I hope everyone takes a look. In many of these videos in this series you can even hear the native languages spoken.

(forgive the Spanish, please watch anyway:))

Northern Argentina: The Toba



Tony has a real desire to visit the Toba, many of whom live in desperate poverty. Here is glimpse (warning: strong images of poverty).


And here, also:

(watching this one made me get over myself and my previous fears - I truly pray God gives us the opportunity to go, too...)

[Native People of Argentina Series: Part 1 2 3]

Earthquakes continued, The Toba, and Carceles

Just read a very distant internet aquaintances's blog (we wrote to them once or twice years ago) that the 8.8 earthquake in Chile was felt in Patagonia. Specifically in Bariloche, one of the places we have been considering for our home base. We actually corresponded with this ex-patriot, American couple for a little bit a few years ago. Even then we had been considering moving back to Argentina, specifically to this area, and I found them on the Internet. Gotta love the Internet. They were very helpful in giving an update on the present economy, cost of living, how to make the big move, etc.. It's funny, I guess this idea has been in the works for years. What's funnier still is that recently I prayed, "Oh, Lord, if this is what you are saying, please confirm it every day!". One day, after almost a year, I clicked on their blog to read this! It was one of those "whoa" moments. I've been having a lot of them lately.

Anyway, yesterday I was doing some research online about Argentina (I should know all this by now... but, whatever, I like to read). BBC online has some country profiles. On the Argentina page was a link to an article on the Toba, the forgotten people of the Impenetrable Forest near the Paraguayan border (see little red dots on this map). Years ago we were watching a show, via DirecTV, on the Toba. The poverty they live in is extreme. Tony just stared at the TV saying, "We need to go help them. How I would love to just go and help them. Everyone's forgotten about them, no one helps them." All I could think was, "Well, I'm not going back there, so I don't know how that's gonna happen". Deep down I knew I was in the wrong; I was being selfish, or fearful, or just plain stubborn and unwilling. But I couldn't change how I felt, I really NEVER wanted to go back to Argentina, definately not to this hot, steamy, disease and poverty-ridden place with my children. So I did the smart thing and just remained quiet.

Such a great helpmate, aren't I?

A couple of years later a new show came out, "Carceles" (translated "Prisons"). Great. This one was hard core. The reporter goes into the prisons of Argentina to talk to the prisoners about their fears, their worries, their guilt, and their repentance (ha, if any). Again, Tony just stared at the screen saying, "I wish I could go there and talk to them. Amazing what sin will do to you, huh? How I would love to just talk to them about Jesus..." or something to that effect. This time I thought, "Yeah, but, that's CRAZY. You don't know if you'd come out alive! That interview guy is really risking his life going in there. They could totally kill him!". I mean, it's not like American prisons. No guards, no dividing wall with a telephone, no cameras, nothin'. Now that's dangerous. But this time I just looked at him and thought, "What is my problem? Look at him. What if this is his calling? What if he actually is called to this kind of dangerous stuff? Oh, Lord, if so, you are going so have to perform one. big. miracle. You're going to have to change my heart. I don't want to stand in the way if this is from you."

I don't know when it happenned, but it did. I honestly shake my head everyday because I can't wait to get there. I'm probably the one who is most shocked. I'm sure I am, because I know myself. Do I really want to go back to Argentina? How can I actually want this? This is WEIRD. What is going ON??? But I really do want to go. It is weird, even for me. But as Tony likes to say, "Time to apply all we've been learning!". Haha. I'll say.

Maybe I'll never go to the Toba, but I do know that if we lived in Argentina, Tony could go. Maybe we could all go, but if not, Tony could easily go. Or round up a group of people to go. Take some food, some clothes, the gospel of LIFE and HOPE. I'm sure he'd never be the same if he did. I'm sure neither would I.

Toba