Here’s one big question... where is the line between crushing poverty and a simple life? I know that research studies in this post-recession world state that having a high income doesn’t correlate with happiness but the same studies do make it clear that it is hard to be happy when you are poor. So, where’s the line? Similar studies state that it is easier to be happy and poor when you don’t have constant reminders of the differences between your standard of living and the amenities enjoyed by people who are well off.
I don’t want to romanticize poverty and I don’t want to have to live in a hut but I have seen active community life and seemingly happy families living in little villages over the past week. I also don’t think that my observations are even close to sufficient for stating that “these people” are happy. Still, there is something to the feeling that I have when I am talking with boda drivers and school children that a quality of life exists here that doesn’t where I live. Maybe the mistake is to engage in comparison. There is definitely a difference and maybe that’s all I can say with any authority.
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| Three boys fly homemade plastic bag kites |
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