A reality check.

Last night as Luke and I made our way to our class, we found on the steps of the church a homeless woman. She had been standing outside the church the night before, but this time she was asleep huddled over with her old blanket around her. The night before I noticed how dirty her clothes were and how dirty she herself was. Luke and I just looked at her and walked past. One of our students said that the woman was crazy. The memory of seeing a woman dead in the middle of the road in Lima the week before, came to my mind and reminded me of the lack of dignity these people have endured and are still enduring. So, for the second night in a row, we were confronted by this image. The reality of homelessness, abandonment and exclusion. This woman was a 'nobody'. Everyone walked around her, ignoring her as if she simply wasn't there. We did too. But as I walked up the steps to class I was deeply troubled by my lack of action, so after setting up, I was compelled to decide on what course of action I would take.
When Gladys, one of our students arrived, I asked her to accompany me to the roadside kitchen and told her I intended to provide some food for this woman. Gladys ordered the food which was Caldo - soup broth with pasta and whole eggs. We then got some bread and headed back to the steps of the church. We roused this poor woman,whose age I would hazard to guess - perhaps mid to late 30 or early 40. She sat up and we gave her the food. She gathered it in hungrily as I touched her on the shoulder and told her to eat it because it would warm her and make her feel better.
She is but a drop in the ocean in this reality of ugly poverty that confronts so many in our world. These members of the human race suffer hunger, loneliness, derision, violence and rejection. Perhaps my one little act of kindness brought a moment of warmth and care into the life of this poor woman, but I guess I will never know what her reaction was. She has nobody to talk to. She is probably illiterate and anyway no one wants to communicate with her.
What was compelling me to act and draw me back? Was it the compassion of Christ? Was it just the way I am as a person? Was it the fact that I am simply another human being on this planet? Was it to placate my own conscience? Whatever it was, I thank God I responded positively and didn't just step over another human being as if she was not there. I have watched people do this and it disgusts and horrifies me. I know we can't feed and clothe every homeless person we meet, but I know that at least one homeless person ate last night and hopefully found somewhere warm to sleep. Somewhere warm and safe until the dawn of another day on the streets - begging to exist.