Poverty parallels

      In one area of the city…there is a sidewalk about ten feet wide with a fifteen foot wall on the side opposite of the busy Kolkata street.  For about a mile, this sidewalk is the home for family after family.  The "homes" are constructed out of metal scraps, and plastic bag roofs (one end of the plastic tarp/bag is attached to the wall and it is brought down and anchored at the sidewalk.)  We passed by two children--one maybe 7, the other 4, tops---the older with a rock, the younger holding a stake to a soft spot in the sidewalk, and they were bashing a rock atop of the stake to re-anchor part of their roof.  Mothers are cooking on the sidewalks with a baby in one arm, a man brushes his teeth with a stick, an old woman sweeps the 2 foot space in front of their home entrance, children peer out from the tent-like structures with their inquisitive, heart-melting gazes.  Kids scamper on the sidewalk, all in underwear or rags.   Everyone watches as we walk by, some children wave and giggle, some young mothers smile,  others stare…its a hardened glare, its firm but softly pleading, its wise but weathered.  Its the stare that makes my heart stretch into threads across my chest, my stomach twists into wrenching knots, my throat closes, I bite my lip. 
    I hate this.  I don't think one ever "gets used to" seeing poverty.  Its the same as in the dump in Nicaragua, the alleys of NYC, the streets in Kolkata…It never seems normal, it never settles, its never friggen fair.  I cant just give money to the little girl who came to me holding her finger up close to her cheek softly pleading "1 rupee"… her face shot me back to Nicaragua… to the other little faces saying "1 cordoba" …  my money would give her a meal, maybe lots of meals, but it doesn't fix the system.  It doesn't promote the sustainability, or improve the government….whatever. 
    I guess this is just a reminder of how much stuff I want to do in life, programs I want to support, people I want to advocate for, education I want to obtain so that I can educate others…. facilitate some sustainable something.  Sure do have a long way to go.