International Revolution

Britney Villhauer is a recent Greenville College graduate who was a volunteer in the early stages of the Dirty Roots Revolution. Britney is working with the Peace Corps now and is currently stationed in Costa Rica. She submitted the following blog post to paint a picture of the need for a revolution not just in America, but around the world. As Pete Seeger once said, "The most important place in the world is right where you are, at that moment". - Ryan Mifflin


BY BRITNEY VILLHAUER

Costa Rica’s presidential elections are tomorrow, Sunday the 7th. We hope for a change that will bring justice to the poor and exploited in Costa Rica, but prospects do not look so great. One of the candidates proclaims the encouraging campaign slogan that labels himself as “the least bad.” If that doesn’t reflect the amount of corruption in the government, I don’t know what does. Governmental leaders have been consistently ignoring the marginalized people of Costa Rica.

I had the opportunity to visit one of the poorest areas in Costa Rica, which also happens to be the country’s biggest and most financially successful port city. The inequality produced by racial discrimination and corruption of the elite was very apparent to us when we interviewed people in the streets of Limon. The $80 million dollars that President Arias promised to renovate the port city last year has never arrived to those who need it. The biggest problem facing the area, as is also present all around the world, is a lack of jobs. Another major problem in the area is racial discrimination. The majority of the people in Limon are descendents from the African slave workers who were shipped in to work for the United Fruit Company. I had the chance to talk with a homeless man named George about the struggles that he is facing in Limon. In his thick Caribbean accent, he sang us reggae songs and spoke to us a message of peace and love. All people need to do is love each other and be with God. And race does not matter. But he also showed us the scars on his legs from when he was beat up when he slept in the streets.

The inequality and exploitation that exists due to race is even more evident in the indigenous populations. I also had the opportunity to meet Gloria, an indigenous woman of the Bri-Bri tribe outside of Limon. Her people have been working hard for years to save the forest from destruction by outsiders. One aspect that they focus on is the conservation of the iguana population. They work hard to repopulate the forest with iguanas that are being hunted at an unsustainable rate. They are trying to protect creation so that their grandchildren will be able to see it how God created it. Gloria told us of how her people have consistently had their land stolen from them by the government and other large companies. The forest that they are working so hard to save is being destroyed by the same people that oppress the Bri-Bri’s. She also told us about the missionaries who came to their land to teach them the gospel. Instead of sharing the love of Jesus with them, they came with violent threats to force the Bri-Bri’s to attend the Catholic Church. The Christian God that Gloria and her people have been exposed to is not a God of love, but a God of oppression and exploitation.

Another experience that I have had here in Costa Rica that inspires me was at a family owned organic farm. We met a farmer named Roderick and his family and learned about how they live in harmony with their land and produce organically grown food. We learned about how a monoculture/chemical-dependent style of farming may be more efficient and cheaper, but it is also unnatural and hazardous for the environment, the workers, and the consumer. At this organic farm, Roderick uses compost and mulch from the plants that grow naturally in the area, around his coffee plants. Rather than weeding away the plants he doesn’t harvest, he uses them to hold the moisture in for his crops and provide completely natural, God-made fertilizers and pesticides. When we visited the Dole Banana plantation, we saw how different agriculture is on a large scale, for powerful companies from the U.S. They use chemicals to make the bananas look unnaturally yellow and perfect for picky American consumers. I just think it is important, when you shop for the cheapest, quickest, prettiest products to think about where your products are coming from. Did the people who made the items you are consuming receive fair pay? What kind of hazardous chemicals were used to make your food look pretty?

Though I have only been in the country for a short while and I have much more ahead of me to see and learn, my time in Costa Rica has already been an extremely eye-opening experience. I am struggling with ideas of imperialism and corruption of the elite and I am trying to figure out what is the best way to bring justice to people who have been exploited since the conquest of the Americas. But at the same time, I am trying to remember George’s wise words that it is really just all about love. I just need to love the people I come into contact with. That is the best way to change the world.