Living On One Dollar

I have a tendency to spend a good portion of my free time on Netflix. Just recently I was browsing and stumbled upon the documentary called “Living On One Dollar," a short film about two college students (Chris and Sean) who travel to rural Guatemala to see for themselves what it’s truly like to live on $1 a day. Here are my thoughts on it:

While watching I was often surprised but what I found most profound was the amount of research and commitment these young men gave to this social experiment. These guys thought of nearly everything, including an organized “random pay day” that would simulate what it’s like to be paid like a day laborer. Not only were they organized, but when they came up with a plan, they executed it with heart and purpose. These guys took an idea and engaged it with full force, not holding back. They were committed 110%, they even made a transition from a lifestyle filled with nearly everything to a lifestyle filled with remotely nothing (materials). And to me, making that transition would be the hardest part, but also maintaining it when having the clear option to opt out for an entire 56 days.

While watching this documentary, I felt that I had similar personal values with the Guatemalans of Pena Blanca. I have to thank CGA for this because over the last two years they brought me that opportunity. Over the last couple of years, I have developed the personal values of a strong and trustworthy community member, a reliable individual, and an individual who gives it all thanks to my service trips to Nicaragua, Cambodia and Tanzania with CGA.

When watching films I tend to tell myself “Oh I could do that” or “psh that would be easy.” However in this instance, I sat down and seriously reflected and thought what it would truly be like if I set out to live life in which every day involved the battle to live on $1. After a long, well thought out fantasy trip in my head I came to a conclusion…. I think I would die.

Let’s get down to the basics. If I were to live in the rural village of Pena Blanca, I would most likely be a day laborer. I would be fueled by a rigorous rice and bean diet that would give me roughly 1600 calories for me to burn through while working hard manual labor for an entire day. Presently, I eat about 10 times that amount in calories and produce about 1/18 of the manual labor that laborers do in Pena Blanca. I’m 6’2” and barely weigh 130 pounds. Plain and simple, I am not cut out to survive that life. If I was put into that lifestyle, I would most likely be taken down by parasites or disease.

After breaking down the reality of that situation, that is “If that was me, I would be dead”, I've come to realize the reason I go on these service trips. Every day I strive to push myself for those who can’t. My drive to do new things comes entirely from the inspiration that someone else simply can’t. 

I plan to use that 'can't' as fuel to take advantage of the life that I live EVERY DAY.