Trash

Something happened last week that has left me unsettled and I don't know what to do about it.  George and I were walking with Eli to get a taxi for church and we stopped by the dumpster to throw our trash away.  As I went to toss the bags in, a hand reached out for them.  It was a boy, maybe age 14 or so, who wanted my trash bags.  I reluctantly handed them over to him.  I didn't want anyone to have to touch our dirty, stinky trash.  As we kept walking, I looked back and saw him looking through the bags.  I asked George what he was looking for, although I pretty much knew, and he confirmed the boy was looking for anything he could use or sell (such as bottles or scrap metal) and food.

I have seen people going through the trash from afar, but never personally handed my trash over to anyone who were looking for something to help them.  I just felt sick to my stomach.  That poor boy obviously had no other way to make money or get food than to dig through the trash, where all kinds of gross things are.

I know people do this all over the world, including in the US and I always hated the thought of it.  I have been fortunate enough to have always had food to eat.  My family went through very hard times financially and I have memories of our church bringing us food and shopping at thrift stores.  However, no matter how hard it got, I never had to scavenge for food.

I remember in 5th grade, a boy in our class was very poor.  One Monday, he came to school and was made fun of because someone had seen him digging in trash cans at the beach, collecting cans for his family.  He was so ashamed and embarrassed that he lashed out at our teacher, who had been helping him.  She was so devastated by it, she had a nervous breakdown and took a leave of absence.  It was so sad.  At the time, I didn't know how to help.

To this day, I still don't know what to do.  It makes me sick to think of all the people in the world who don't have food to eat and have to resort to going through trash.  How sad and heartbreaking.  I don't even know how to end this blog.  I can't stop thinking about it and am praying that God shows us some small way we can help someone who is hungry.