They Are Not Dealing with Highway 400 or I-4. Nope.
Do you sometimes wonder how people living in remote areas or the world’s indigenous tribes living deep in the jungles and forests of the world ‘survive’.
My reference points are twofold: 1) as children, my father often took me and my brother to shoot guns in the Florida Everglades. I remember wondering why and how people like the Miccosukee tribe survived living in the vast swamps, bush and wildlife of the Everglades. 2) on one of two mission trips, I worked with the people of Honduras’ Agalta Valley, nine hours by bus from the capitol city of Tegucigalpa, and often referred to as the Valley of Death. What I have come to realize from these experiences is that the Miccosukee tribe and the people of the Agalta Valley, in most cases, are very content with their way of life and well being. No air conditioning, no constant source of running water, limited medical services, and a ‘bed’ made of wood and straw. So by natural instinct, heritage, and survival, they have morphed into a very simple way of life.
They don’t know what they don’t know, though the digital age has most likely brought some type of technology/communication to their villages or reservation. Yes, the Miccosukee tribe have now built a casino way out west of Miami but I am referring to their way of life many, many years ago.
Though most of the people of Agalta Valley accepted Americans helping them with healthcare, commerce, and education, I felt very strongly that our help was a ‘take it or leave it’ proposition. Their children were reared to work on farms at a very early age so going to school was not really top of mind for their head of household. Education was something they had heard about but it was obvious that they could not tie any value proposition to their children leaving their working chores to go to school.
The reality is these people live a very simple life. Yes, too simple for us as we were raised in a different spectrum. The socio-economics are quite diverse from what we consider simple and how the people of the Agalta Valley define simple. I would venture to say that along with simple, most of the people I encountered and spent time with were very happy.
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”. Confucius
There are many indigenous tribes living in very remote areas of the world. Take a look at this short clip when two members of the Awa tribe deep in the Amazon forest realize that they have a visitor. Thankfully, they are scared and decide to run or it might have been a very bad day for this videographer.
Complication in our lives stems from many things including relationships, family, finances, and expectations. It is difficult to benchmark our lives against an indigenous tribe, but the reality is that there are many benefits to keeping things simple.
Getting simple is not as easy as it sounds. Getting into a complicated situation is way easier than it sounds. Sleeping on a straw mat, not having running water, and living in a remote area does not sound easy. But if you compare that to to a 6-mile drive on I-4 or a 90-minute commute navigating Highway 400…..well, you get my point.
Adios, pay it forward, and have a Funday Sunday!!!!
