From Tulip Lanes to Slums

It’s Tulip Time in my home town. It’s an annual celebration of all things Dutch. There’s Dutch Dancing in the streets, gorgeous tulips planted by the thousands all over town; there’s windmills and a canal, wooden shoes klomping all over the place and tourists by the thousands who bus in to see the street scrubbing, eat Dutch treats (including almond bars), watch the parades, take trolley tours and more.

In two days, four of us will be in La Limonda, Guatemala City, Guatemala. Though I haven’t ever been to this particular slum, I rather doubt we will see scrubbed streets, tulips, or even authentic ethnic costumes.

I suspect we will find many kind people who are generous to four strangers, and who are fabulously rich in community.

As I explained to my daughter Lauren once when we were filming in San Salvador; there are different kinds of riches. What she experienced there in that poor community was the richness of community. People knew each other, knew each other’s business, names, took the time to talk to one another. There wasn’t a lot of material wealth, but my young daughter definitely picked up on this other form of richness.

We were living in another state at that time, and we certainly did not have that richness of community. When we got back, she was hungry for it. She missed it.

Of the four of us, two of us, Jess and myself, have spent considerable time in this region of the world. Jess is a recent college graduate with a degree in digital media production. He grew up in the Dominican Republic and speaks Spanish fluently.

The other two will have their first taste of both Latin American culture and of slums. One is John, a friend of mine from town. He’s eager to see for himself what life in the slums is all about. John has a big heart for the poor and for justice. I’m eager to see his response.

The other traveler is my dad. He’s 70 years old and though he’s followed his kids around to East Africa and Israel, this week in La Limonda will be an eye opener for him. He’ll carry equipment, hold shotgun mics, recharge batteries and generally do whatever needs doing. And like the rest of us, he’ll meet people who are part of the one billion.

And he'll wonder how some of us can live in tulip-lined lanes, while others live in slums.