Mi casa es su casa

The hotel we're staying at is nice - too nice. We went to visit the PEACH kids' homes today, and the difference in living standards is huge. They live in mud plaster boxes, two stories with the cows and pigs in their manure on the ground floor and the family on the second. They live in almost completely darkness, most only have one naked 2-watt lightbulb hanging from the ceiling which they hardly use because then they'd have to pay for the electricity. The best homes had mosquito netting, and only for the one most precious child. The worst were damp and smelly inside, so bad that you'd rather sleep outside with the livestock than inside the house. One boy's house was about to topple, his mother was dead, and his father had a mental illness. We wanted to help him but couldn't because PEACH policy requires that money goes only to kids who go to school, and he'd dropped out to work to support his family and his sister's. I really wish we could do more than just this spot treatment of one poor child at a time. I wish there were some way to bring the whole area out of the cycle of poverty. There isn't much land here available for farming but there is plenty of water and wind and TONS of sun. If we could bring some form of solar power production here it would enable other improvements.
If I had the money I'd build a resort here to take advantage of the beautiful weather and the view and the friendly locals and the miles of undeveloped land. You could put in a zip-line trail and some hiking or horseback riding trails and white water rafting and tubing in the mountain spring creeks. There's so much people could come here for, and the locals would have jobs and money would flow in and the area would blossom economically and all would be well! But bringing education and encouraging the kids to stay in school is a step in the right direction. It's something I can do right now at least. I like to think I'm bringing these kids some happiness and fun and taking them away from their worry-full lives for just a week, like a vacation. We all need a vacation every now and then. These kids haven't had a chance to take one their whole lives.
Have to go eat dinner now. Still can't believe we're staying in such a beautiful, high-class hotel when the children we are spending our days with and who look up to us so much live in little shacks and have to walk through muddy poop everyday just to get to school.
More later..