Today is our second full day of Conference and things are going really well. This morning Michael shared with us about his recent trips to Cambodia. He showed some pictures of where he lived and his brothers and family in Cambodia. He also showed us a pair of trousers (I've been hanging around Matt too long when I call pants trousers) he was wearing that his friend from Cambodia swiped from the garment factory she works in and gave him as a gift. It was crazy to actually see the face of someone who works in garment factories in Cambodia and to hear the stories of people passing out from the chemicals in the dyes while they only get paid $50 a month... The pants alone sell for a good 40 Euro (Michael said this, I don't know the brand but I hear it's popular in the UK). Michael told another story of one of his trips to Cambodia when he couldn't take any money out of the bank because his bank card didn't work (I've had this problem before no it was no fun). Oneo f his sisters/friends (she was pretty young and had lost both of her parents to AIDS) told him that she had saved up some money and handed him everything she had (about $10). He refused it at first because it was all she had and she started crying saying that if he didn't take it, then he didn't love her family. Sounds like a lame excuse I know but it was totally legit. In that culture it would be an insult not to take it as it was; a gift.
After Michael shared, we watched a short movie that asked the question "What Is Poverty?" Many people define it as a lack of money, but this guy proposed that Poverty was a lack of friendship. He asked, "If you lost everything, your house, your money, everything, how long would it take you to find food and water? How long would it take you to find a place to sleep? How long would it take you to find a job?" A lot of people I know would probably say a matter of minutes and maybe a week or so for a job. His argument was that if you are able to find everything you need to survive in a matter of minutes or weeks, then you are not poor. It was an interesting argument and I am not totally sure I agree with it fully, but I can definitely see a lot of that at school. All of the kids I work with are filthy stinkin rich but are so lacking in the love department that I would totally consider them poor...
I don't know. It was an interesting topic and it was neat to hear Michael speak a little. Tomorrow we are going to Vienna in the afternoon which should be a good time! For now I am going to attempt to take a little nap... I'm tired! Check out the pictures I posted on Flickr today of Conference so far.
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