The Globalizers

Right now, I am in language school, with lots more free time on my hands. I am reading this book called the Globalizers. I have really been thinking a lot about it. The book states that it is not corporations, such as McDonalds and KFC, that are globalizing ¨developing¨ countries such as Honduras. Instead, the book claims that it is the volunteer workers (mainly government programs, but also NGO´s) that are the true globalizer. The even harder thing to swallow, is that these organizations, according to the book, go to Honduras under the assumption that they are making an improvement in people´s lives and being generous by giving their time in energy. However, the authors state that any ¨work¨that is done, benefits the donor country, such as the United States, more than it will ever benefit the recipient country. I have really been struggling internally with this. It´s not as if I came to Honduras under the assumption I was ¨bettering the world¨ or making a difference in people´s lives, but it pains me to think that I´m making globalization worse. There are just tons of volunteers here, and while the book talks negatively about the volunteers who live in huge houses, drive luxury cars, and get paid almost the same salaries as they would in the U.S. with little accountability, I can´t help but feel bad about bringing an ipod and a digital camera with me, as it just contributes to the image of Americans being materialistic and rich. I was talking about it a lot with Adam last night, and he thinks that it´s God´s intention that we bring what we learn back to our home countries, not necessarily so that something can be done, but only to have a better understanding of Honduras and its relation to the U.S. It´s just so hard to get outside of my cultural reference point when I see hungry children with unclean drinking water and to not think, ¨what can be done to help them?¨ I guess I´ll just really concentrate on building relationships, as I still believe relationships are mutually beneficial, not as representatives of our culture, but because of the love one human can bring to another, in spite of how skewed the world seems sometimes.