You have internet but no running water?
16 April 2009
Someone asked me how it was that I seemed to have (almost) constant access to the internet AND no indoor running water or heat. From an American perspective, it seems irrational and contradictory. But, Guatemala is filled with (seeming) contradictions and contrasts. I suspect that many of my “fellow” fellows have experienced the same in the countries where they are working.
The family I live with has satellite TV, a wide screen television (and a television in every bedroom) but they have no indoor running water or heating. They still wash their laundry by hand in a lavadero, outside. They cook over a wood stove. The water for showers is heated by a fire lit under a big black drum, which they fill with water early, every morning (before the water runs out). They make their own masa from the corn that they grow. And they all have cell phones, MP3 players and their favorite “novellas” (soap operas) on television.
- Thatched roof home with satellite television in Tulate
The office where I work has internet access (including wi-fi) and right outside my window, there is an elderly couple working their land like it’s probably been worked for centuries—all by hand, living in an adobe structure (with no running water or heat). One of my most surreal experiences during this fellowship was the day I was sitting in my little office at ASDIR, uploading Kiva borrower videos to YouTube; listening to a loan officer explain the terms of a loan in K’iche and, through my office window, watching the elderly couple plant their corn.
- the view from my ASDIR office in Nimasac
At dinner, in the weeks before Easter, my host family would sit around the dinner table and listen to the story of Christ’s resurrection told in K’iche, being broadcast over a radio on someone’s cell phone.
The inside of their stores and homes are very tidy—almost meticulous. Yet, they don’t hesitate to litter pretty much anywhere and everywhere else.
- trash…it’s everywhere!
Lori Gibson Banducci is a Kiva Fellow, working with ASDIR in Nimasac, Totonicapan, Guatemala where she blends in perfectly with the people who live here.
Lori and Kiva Borrowers
Entry Filed under: ASDIR, Guatemala, KF7 (Kiva Fellows 7th Class). Tags: contradictions in guatemala, lori gibson banducci, nimasac guatemala, tulate guatemala.
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1. Aaron deOliveira | 16 April 2009 at 06:34
The Internet in all of it’s forms is a unique technology. Compared to running water, it’s probably a lot cheaper to roll out.
It also has a lot of benefits that don’t cost much beyond the initial investment to get connected.
Let’s hope that exposure to a world of information will bring those who live without things like running water to the means to get it.
2. eldorn | 16 April 2009 at 07:45
Lori… wonderful post.
3. virtualdogsbody | 16 April 2009 at 09:46
Excellent post!
I live in India and it’s much the same. Even after being here for several years, my mind boggles at the sight of labourers in filthy dhotis chattering away into mobile phones and crumbling houses with cable television.
Even the Tibetan monks in Dharamsala all seem to have a string around their necks to hold their mobiles in place. I guess their holy robes don’t have pockets…
Thanks for sharing you story and the photos.
4. Maya | 16 April 2009 at 11:20
Yeah great post, as usual. Aaron, thanks for answering my question, “Why do you think this is the case? (That there’s internet but no running water)”
5. Lori | 16 April 2009 at 13:04
I don’t have the answers as to “why”?
I have some ideas:
much of daily life is ingrained in their culture…it’s how they’ve been doing it for decades/in some cases hundreds of years. i am not sure it is something they think much about……and, gathering at the community lavandero or at the water station seems to be a kind of social gathering….so, the incentive to change is not significant.
technology (like cell phones, satellite television and internet), on the other hand is “new” it’s “cool” and it’s not so much a “break” with tradition, as it is something additional….so, it’s an easier kind of change to deal with and assimilate.
but, i am guessing that those with a strong background in sociology might have way better insights than i.
6. Internet Access but No Running Water « Wir sprechen Online. | 16 April 2009 at 23:50
[...] Stories from the Field: You have constant access to the internet but no running water or heat? – http://tr.im/j1H7 [...]
7. Michael | 22 April 2009 at 18:50
Hello Lori!
I was just at the ASDIR office in Toto about a month ago as part of research I was doing in order to start a student organization at my university where we would among other things raise funds to distribute through Kiva’s loan platform.
Carlos Felipe might actually remember a funny gringo coming in and asking all kinds of odd questions about how ASDIR works and interacts with Kiva!
I was wondering, would you mind emailing to answer a few questions?
I would love to learn more about how MFI’s, Kiva, etc from the perspective on the other side of the middle institutions.
Thanks!!
michael.thelen@gmail.com
8. Sanjee | 28 April 2009 at 08:21
Hi Lori,
I’m a recent Stanford masters graduate working on an idea for improving healthcare that I think may be really beneficial for the kind of community you’re working in. Would you be open to having a conversation to explore possibilities? You can reach me directly at sanjeesingla@gmail.com. Thanks!
Sanjee
9. Tess Siemer | 12 July 2009 at 19:17
Hi Lori-
I’m a high school Spanish teacher in Southern Oregon and will be bringing students to Guatemala next summer (2010). In addition to some other volunteer work we’ll be completing, I wanted to have students work with a Kiva entrepreneur for the day (or several entrepreneurs for a couple of days). They are familiar with Kiva and how it operates having raised the money for the 45 Kiva loans they made last school year. Is this something that you could help me plan? Would your area be a good one or is it very difficult to get to or unsafe? Do you have any good contacts you would be willing to share with me? Is there a specific project I should look into? Any and all information you can share with me will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!! Tess
10. Christie | 16 September 2009 at 10:26
Lori,
I found much the same experience during a recent trip to Ghana. Everyone – even in the mud-hut, primitive areas – had cell phones with 4G reception. Yet, things like running water were scarce in the areas outside of urban Accra.
I figure it has something to do with the lack of infrastructure. It’s easier to build gargantuan cell towers in areas that have very little existing grids of power, water and the like, and none of the restrictions we have here.
The result: I got better service standing by a mud hut in the hinterlands than I do in my own house. Go figure.
Thanks for the article!